I recently read a blog post on Youth Hockey Information outlining the author's perceived benefits and drawbacks of the American Development Model (ADM). If you're not familiar with the ADM, I encourage you to visit the USA Hockey website for more information.
Anyway, a bit from the blog post:

One key observation I had was that this model didn’t seem to align itself to game preparation very well. Since there were 3 different teams on the ice for a practice, the focus was always on the fundamentals (which isn’t necessarily a bad thing). The problem was since my son’s mite team was playing full ice games later in the season, I was concerned with how they would be prepared for game play.

Our organization is a strong advocate for the ADM, and we have been using this model in our beginner and introductory programs for over a decade. With that said, I have to agree with the author that the ADM focus on skill development for Mites does not prepare them for game play.

My follow up comment to that would be: So what?

If your objective for your seven or eight year old is to have $2 plastic trophies cluttering his already overstuffed room, then this is a problem. If your goal is for your player to develop as an athlete in general and as a hockey player in particular, as well as developing as an individual, then this is not really an issue.

Parents often argue that the ADM will ill-prepare their children for games, or more often that the kids won't have fun if they aren't playing full-ice games with referees and scoresheets. In our experience, this is simply not true. Players ARE competing in small ice games, and it's MORE fun for them because the game moves faster, they touch the puck more, and they score goals more often. And they are learning to compete in an environment that is not so fraught with pressure. My suspicion is that the real problem is that small ice games are less fun for parents to watch, but that's for another blog post.

Research clearly shows that seven and eight year old children are not intellectually prepared to learn positional play, and the time coaches spend during practice trying to force a square peg into a round hole is time that is NOT being spent on teaching them developmentally-appropriate skills. Anyone who has watched a youth game of any kind, be it football, soccer, hockey, or whatever, can tell you that the players pretty much just chase the ball/puck. It's like a force of nature. That's not an argument against the ADM; it's an argument in it's favor. If that's their inclination at that age, then why fight it? Why not go with it by giving them a small ice surface to play on? When they are older, and ready to learn positional and game play, then it will be taught much more easily and they will have the foundational skills in place to implement systems more effectively.

At the recent Level 4 Coaching Clinic held in the Atlantic District, one of the speakers cited an interesting statistic: the number of youth hockey players in the Atlantic District (New Jersey, eastern Pennsylvania, and Maryland) is roughly equal to the number of youth hockey players in the ENTIRE Czech Republic. And yet, anyone who has followed pro hockey can tell you that the number of American players who are drafted and play in the NHL is dwarfed by the number of Czechs. Why?

The ADM, and the tens of millions of dollars worth of research that supports it, would argue that the American focus on pushing younger and younger children into competitive play at the expense of skill development is the reason for the lag. And for the player who isn't going to the NHL - ADM or no ADM - she'll have a better chance at a D1 scholarship, or maybe a D3 club opportunity or prep school spot. Or, at the very least her enjoyment and mastery of the game will be increased. Because let's face it, for some people games are fun, especially if you win. But for some people, the stress of that kind of intense public competition - especially if you lose - is enough to drive kids from the game in droves, as evidenced by the huge dropoff in numbers of registered players from Mite to Midget.

So, in conclusion, please keep in mind that this is a marathon, not a sprint. Relax and enjoy the ride.

KCD