Thought i might pick up on a thread of discussion in the worlds post regarding juniors at worlds. As this also seems to be one of the points of difference between CMAS and Aqua Challenge signalling it out for some discussion might be beneficial.

How quickly you rush juniors into representing their country or competing at an elite level has been a constant note of contention. I played three years of junior southern hemispheres and enjoyed everyone of them, meeting some great people and learning what is required to perform at an international level, as a result I am probably a better player for it.

The flip side is that for every one or two players that come through the junior ranks their seem to be a dozen or so that you never see again, burnt out and dissinterested in going further as they have already in their eyes reached the pinacle of the sport.

A good uwh player can play for 14+ years at elite level if they have the motivation and then if they are still keen, keep playing in masters. This is plenty of time to experience a world championship, without needing to play juniors. As an amatuer sport this can also become a fairly expensive excercise both for the players and in some juniors case their parents.

The second point is that at U19's the top players should already be pushing for selection in the mens and womens team. Having juniors can act as a disincentive to push yourself further. i.e. you can do a little bit of training, make a national team and be the best player in the team or you can work your butt off to try and make the elite level. Too many players take the easy option, stunting their progress and shielding them of the reality of elite level hockey.

While this may be a fairly elite centered view, when it comes down to it, the elite competition is what countires want to win, this is where reputations are made and the level and quality of hockey are judged.

I am all for junior hockey and it is critical to bring juniors along but this can be done at club, national and hemisphere level (probably more in the northern than southern), as games exist at all these levels that can help junior players take their game to the next level, without having to travel half way around the world.

Hamish