The Mites-Age 6 and Under
On ice “quotable quotes”
The light blue puck is the focus of attention of players whose jerseys almost touch the tops of their skates and think stopping is a luxury. While they are scooting around the rink chasing the puck like a magnet, they have time to think about things to comment on and questions to ask the referees. Here are some of the more curious words of wisdom from the six and under crowd.
Before the start of a game a player skates up and says to me: “My dad says all referees are blind. Are you blind?”
Nine of the ten players on the ice are all clustered around the puck near the goal in typical mite fashion. One unnoticed player is at center ice lying on the ice. The ref spots the kid, blows the whistle and skates over to see what is wrong. He asks, “Are you all right?” The player answers, “I told my dad I was too tired to play hockey this morning. So I’m taking a rest.”
The referee notices a player standing on the blue line looking into the stands for his two minute mini-mite shift. During the line change he still is just standing there failing to notice that he needed to get off the ice. The ref inquires if he needed help. The player responds, “Do you know where my mom is? I have to pee.”
The referee noticed the goalie had been lying on the ice for the entire period stretched out across the goal line. He asked why he was on his belly for the entire time and suggested that he stand on his skates. He answers, “I can’t. My coach says I’m a caterpillar and I have to stay down on the ice.” The ref has heard of the butterfly and stand-up goal tending styles, but never about the caterpillar. So he had to ask the first year dad/coach about his technique. The coach’s explanation, “At this age kids can’t lift the puck, I figured if my goalie lies down and stretched across the goal line no one will score.”
During a mite travel game a player break his hockey stick and not only fails to drop his broken stick to the ice per the rules, but goes over and picks up the broken part from the ice and skates around with both pieces. The ref had no choice but to assess a penalty with an explanation of the rule to the player. When asked why he did not drop the stick, the player’s answer, “My mom would yell at me for not picking up something I broke.”
A rare checking penalty was handed out during a mite game. The player’s reasoning, “I told that kid he was in my way and he did not listen.”
A mite player on the way to the penalty box for his first tripping penalty asked the ref. “Can I go and tell the kid I tripped that I am sorry? I’m supposed to apologize if I do something bad.”
As you can tell kids do listen to some of the thing that the parents are saying. It is curious to note when they feel it is necessary to prove that they understood the lecture.
