Sask. professor says young hockey players should be grouped by size and ability, not age

A researcher at the University of Saskatchewan says minor hockey teams should focus on the maturity, not the age of its players.

Adam Baxter-Jones is dean of the College of Graduate Studies and Research, and is a kinesiology professor who has conducted extensive research on children's growth and development.

"I think a child can be a different size, not based on their age of birth, but on their maturity," he told CBC Radio's Saskatoon Morning. "You can be a 12-year-old boy, but have the body of a 10-year-old. At the same time, you can be 12 years old and have the body of a 14-year-old."

It's more important to get into a good team, and have a really good fun experience.- Adam Baxter-Jones

Baxter-Jones said one of the solutions is making better use of Saskatchewan Minor Hockey's tier system, where players are grouped together based on size and ability.  

"There's nothing wrong with being a tier three player," he said. "What we've found is that it's more important to get into a good team, and have a really good fun experience."

He says the tier system provides a good opportunity for players to improve over the year.

"Each new year is a clean slate," he said. "It's just saying, this is where your abilities are this year, and this is where you're going to have the greatest amount of fun. Because you're going to be playing with people with the same ability."

Meanwhile, in the world of soccer, the England Premier League is going further, using something called bio-banding which uses maturity rather than age. Last year, the league held its first bio-banding tournament.

"It was a great success," he said. "You're basically saying put all these big kids together and all these small kids together and they'll play against each other, rather than the big and small playing at the same time."