The summer is half over. There, I said it. It’s the end of July and the hockey season is just around the corner. I can actually picture half of you double fist-pumping the sky while the other half have covered your ears, saying, “La-la-la! I can’t hear you!”

Even if your child plays year-round hockey, there is still a palpable shift in the hockey cosmos come the beginning of August (if the changeover in the display at your local sporting goods store hasn’t already tipped you off!). Any day now, hockey associations will be sending out their “welcome back to another season of hockey” emails looking for not only your kids but also your time and money.

Despite the fact that summer is half over, there is still time to get in tip-top hockey shape before fall tryouts or sort-outs begin. There’s training to do!

You’ve heard the old adage, “Eat, Sleep, Hockey, Repeat”, right? Well, here is my summertime version of that saying – and what I consider to be the most important off-season training exercises to get your child in top form for the upcoming hockey season.

1. Eat.
Fresh ice cream, corn on the cob, strawberries, green beans on a vine, blueberries, watermelon, peaches, raspberries, sweet peas in a pod – all those foods so fresh in the summer and so scarce during the hockey season!

2. Sleep. 
Those early morning school busses and hockey practices are going to start soon enough. Let your kids catch up on some Zzzzzz’s. Part of the summer ritual is having no ritual at all. Sleep in a hammock, in a tent, in the Bunkie, in the screened-in porch, under a canoe! The best part of summer is they don’t always have to sleep in the house in their beds! 

3. Forget hockey!
What? Forget hockey?! Yes! Tell your kids to go out and play. Go out and play soccer, baseball, football, pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey. Go for a walk (fine, I know you’re going out to find that blessed Pokemon!). Go for a swim. Go for a bike ride. Go camping. Get lost – just be home before the street lights come on. It’s not a bad idea to take a break from hockey. Oh, I know I’ve written several posts about summer hockey camps, even one last week, but those hockey camps are more for the preserving the sanity of the hockey mom, right? Not everything in your child’s life must revolve around hockey. Summer is short in Canada; the hockey season is not. Enjoy the few respites from hockey that summer has to offer. 

4. Repeat!
There is still enough time left this summer to do the whole thing all over. Eat, Sleep, Forget Hockey and Repeat – at least until the summer is over!

I know from experience that even if your child does not play a single minute of hockey over the summer, they will still remember how to tie their laces, how to hold a stick and even how to skate once they get on the ice – unless of course they’re Initiation level players. Then, they don’t know how to do any of that! Sadly, no matter what they level of hockey they play, your kids will also have remembered how to beg you for money for canteen food too.

Three cheers for hockey – eat, sleep, forget it and repeat!