Toronto Star - When hockey legend Bobby Orr began his campaign to keep minor hockey safe and fun more than a decade ago, his message, advice and energy went right to the kids: learn some skills, laugh a lot, get some friends, make some memories.
He stresses the youngsters will always be his “No. 1” but — somewhere along the way — he realized it was the moms, dads and coaches that, perhaps, needed a bit of guidance.
“My dad supported me all the way, but his advice was simple: ‘Go out and have some fun and we’ll see what happens’,” recalls Orr. “He was right, and that’s the advice I give to players and parents now.”
But Orr, the Boston Bruins star that many insist was better on the ice than Wayne Gretzky, says he’s painfully aware of the parental pressure to perform that many girls and boys are under.
