Breakaway, The Minor Hockey Podcast · Ontario Minor Hockey Association

Episode 157 | Is Playing 'Up' Best for My Child?

·52 min

Aaron and Ian start by catching up on how busy hockey people feel once the season gets rolling. Teams are back on the ice, and house leagues are getting underway too, which gives the episode a familiar minor-hockey pace right away. The conversation then turns to the question behind the title: when is it actually the right move for a child to play up? Ian does not treat that as a simple yes or no. He argues that every age group will always have a best player, even if everyone lines up and runs the same race. Being the best in your own group, he says, does not automatically mean the next step is the right one. Macklin becomes the example that gives the idea shape. Ian says one thing that stood out was how little effort it took for Macklin to be the best player where he was. That matters, because ease is part of the evaluation. The episode then moves to what happened when the door opened for Macklin to go up and play with older kids. He was again the best player in that group. Ian notes, though, that this was not a super strong team. The situation gets more complicated later in the year. The team runs into turmoil. A coach is removed. Ian has to step in. By then, parents are carrying a lot of tension, and for understandable reasons. They have paid a lot of money and mostly want to get through the season without more disruption. That context shapes how the call-up decision lands. Ian describes how easy it can be for coaches to keep nudging a strong younger player upward because it helps the team win. He pushes back on treating that as the whole answer. The discussion stays grounded in the realities of youth hockey rather than slogans. It keeps returning to the idea that development decisions should fit the child, the team, and the moment. The episode does not try to solve every case. It does, though, give listeners a clear way to think about the tradeoffs. The closing note comes back to the same practical point. Find the level that is right, and keep hockey fun.

As heard by us

A practical talk on when moving up helps, and when it may not.

Aaron Wilber and Ian Taylor take up a familiar minor hockey question: if a player is clearly the best in the room, does moving up automatically make sense?

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Why you'd press play

If you are deciding whether a young player should play up, start here.

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