We’ve all seen overly zealous hockey parents. Perhaps we’ve even been one in a weak moment. Sometimes it’s more entertaining than what’s happening on the ice. Sometimes it’s ugly.

For whatever reason, we tend to behave differently at the rink. You know exactly what I mean. We’ve all seen the accountant father of the goalie, so quiet outside the rink, but he turns into this raving lunatic when an opposing player drifts into his son’s crease. Screaming and clawing at the glass. Demanding that one of his son’s teammates rip the 9-year-old player’s head from his body.

Then there’s how we treat our own kids. We tend to put demands on our hockey-playing children that we would never apply to other activities meant for enjoyment. In fact, I’ve always found it particularly disturbing how so many parents place much higher demands on hockey than they place on their child’s schoolwork.

Several years ago Hockey Canada and USA Hockey teamed up to develop a series of ads called ‘Relax, It’s Just a Game’ meant to show parents how they look when they ice their normal parenting guidelines inside the hockey rink. If you’ve never seen these, I’ve included links.
And for those of you that stand by your right to misbehave, or would like to make a tongue-in-cheek confession, I’ve designed a t-shirt just for you! It’s the official ‘I Didn’t Sign the Parental Behavior Form’ t shirt.

More “Relax, It’s Just a Game” ads:
Manhole
Grocery Store
Traffic Ticket
Potato Sack
Golf