Because of this, Hockey Canada will likely be sent a series of recommendations by the study’s authors to ban physical contact in peewee. Author of the study, Dr. Carolyn Emery, a sport epidemiologist and athletic therapist as well as a hockey coach and parent, said more than 1,000 game-related injuries and 400 concussions could be prevented each year in Alberta alone.

Cochrane Minor Hockey President Blake Fleming said the study’s findings are valid and should be taken seriously by all those involved with the game.

“I think hockey’s going to have to pay attention to what (Emery) has to say,” Fleming said. “And what she’s saying is hit hockey is substantially riskier than non-hit hockey.”

While Fleming said Cochrane Minor plans to wait and see how Hockey Canada and Hockey Alberta react to the proposed ban, at least two local coaches who teach the game at senior levels believe removing bodychecking from the peewee ranks would be a mistake.

Bodychecks in peewee hockey, like this one laid on Bow Valley Timberwolves winger Andrew Forster, right, last October could soon be outlawed if Hockey Canada accepts the recommendations of a recent University of Calgary study. Photo by Jeremy Nolais

Dana Boothby coaches young adults on the Junior B Cochrane Generals and has also had three sons come up through the Cochrane Minor Hockey system. He said the longer kids wait to begin bodychecking the more likely they are to hurt themselves or others.

“The way I see it is you need a certain amount of time to learn a skill,” he said.

Boothby said he feels studies like the one led by Emery tend to focus on a few “remote examples.”

Boothby added that his sons progressed through the bodychecking training just fine.

Kevin Willison, head coach of the Edge School Prep team in Springbank, echoed Boothby’s comments.

“It certainly is tougher at our level to teach them how to bodycheck than when they’re younger,” Willison said.

Willison said even at the atom and tyke age levels kids are constantly running into each other.

“It’s really about teaching kids how to protect themselves,” he said. “Also, when you talk to scouts a lot of them fault kids who are unwilling to play in the high-traffic areas.”

To gain their results, U of C researchers compared the frequency of injuries in Alberta peewee hockey to Quebec peewee hockey, where bodychecking is not allowed. Fleming pointed out that elite players in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League don’t seem to be at a disadvantage despite learning to bodycheck at a later age.

“That would suggest that certainly for the elite player it doesn’t make a difference,” he added.

Despite this, Fleming said he is not advocating for a ban on peewee checking, he is simply suggesting the U of C study be taken seriously.

All coaches with Cochrane Minor Hockey have to gain Hockey Alberta accreditation and all peewee players must participate in a hitting clinic before being allowed to compete.

Both Fleming and Boothby said there is a very natural progression through the various age levels in the current system.

“Still, the evidence suggests that kids are getting hurt more than they should be,” Fleming noted.

Boothby said as long as precautions are being taken, he sees no problem with continuing to allow bodychecking in the peewee game.

“Bodychecking is a part of hockey and it’s not going anywhere.”

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Local hard courts will be busy in the weeks ahead as high school basketball teams battle it out for a coveted spot in the provincial finals.

And for the Cochrane High Cobras senior boys team to be successful they will need serious input from two team members living under the same roof.

Head coach Jamie McLellan and his son Jared, a senior guard on the team, will be looked upon to lead a spirited Cobras team that has eyes on making a run all the way to the big prize.

“The goal is to win provincials,” Jamie said bluntly. “I think when we started the season off and I told the parents that they said ‘Yeah sure, whatever,’ but the kids have really started to believe in themselves.”

Cochrane High Cobras head coach Jamie McLellan, left, and his son Jared believe the Cobras have what it takes to contend for senior boys 3A provincial title. Photo by Patrick Price.

Basketball, and winning for that matter, have been in the McLellan blood for a long time. Jamie led Winston Churchill High School to the 4A provincial title in Grade 12 and starred as a shooting guard at the University of Lethbridge for five years. He also coached Jared’s team in Grade 9 at Calgary’s Montgomery Junior High School as the team ran all the way to the city championship.

Jared, meanwhile, is no slouch in his own right. He played on the Cobras football team, first as a receiver and then as a quarterback this season before being sidelined by multiple injuries. As well, during this year’s basketball campaign, Jared has consistently found himself atop the Cobras scoresheet.

“He’s a really good shooter,” Jamie said of his son. “Football has been good for a lot of these kids because it’s taught them to be tough and aggressive. Jared certainly has benefited from that, he’s become more aggressive. It’s a more physical game than it was 10 years ago. The refs let the kids play now.”

Jared said that if he had to choose between football and basketball he has always felt more at home on the court.

“I’ve grown up with it, played it (basketball) my whole life,” Jared said. “I am better at it too.”

Jared noted that he likes having his father as his coach because, “He pushes me more than other kids because he expects more and that helps me to become a better player.”

Having said that, Jared said he and Jamie make sure to keep their work on the court separate from their family life.

“He makes sure that everyone knows I am just another player on the team and we make sure that he is my coach on the basketball court, but when we leave there he becomes my dad again,” said Jared, who hopes to follow in Jamie’s footsteps by earning a spot on the U of L basketball roster next season.

But before any post-secondary aspirations can be realized, the father-son duo will first face a tough road to the 3A Provincial Championships in Medicine Hat March 18-20.

Jamie said that while the Rocky View basketball division is not as strong as last year — when Springbank and Chestermere finished one-two in the province — the south-central zone could be very tough, with the Cobras, Canmore and Springbank all contending. The south-central zone will be only granted two automatic berths to provincials, but teams can also qualify through one of two wild card spots.

Jamie, who is currently in his second season at the helm of the Cobras, said his team’s best asset lies in their depth.
“You look at the games we have won and invariably at least eight, nine kids are on the scoresheet and most games it’s more like 10 or 11,” he said.

The McLellan duo and the rest of the Cobras senior boys team, ranked third in Rocky View behind Springbank and the 4A squad from Airdrie’s Bert Church High School, kick off post-season play against the Bow Valley Bobcats March 3 at 7:45 p.m. at Cochrane High.

The Cochrane High senior girls team will also face Bow Valley in the opening round, with that game going at Cochrane High at 6 p.m. on March 3.

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