Pee Wees: Confessions of a Youth Hockey Parent, by Rich Cohen, is an insider's look at the Darwinian forces at work in metro New York youth hockey. Published in January, Cohen's book recounts how he and other parents brood and obsess over their kids' success on the ice, usually more than the kids themselves, as well as the ego-driven, intramural squabbling between parents and coaches.
"The Fairfield County Amateur Hockey Conference (FCAH) fields four travel teams. From highest to lowest, it goes AA, A, A1, B. The season is long, 50 games culminating in a state tournament. For the parents, this means waking up early, staying up late, and driving for hours. It means living like a long-haul trucker, making the same sort of calculations and drinking the same amounts of coffee. It means visiting each town in the state, coming to know every mascot and jersey as well as the net income, fashion preferences and pedagogical style of every sort of hockey parent."
This is nothing new. I played Pee Wee and Bantam youth hockey in the Mid-Fairfield Youth Hockey Association in the late 60s and early 70s, and well remember the pre-dawn practices, long drives every weekend, and the one-upmanship between certain parents and players. I later coached a championship Squirt youth hockey team in Westchester County, New York. It was a blast.
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