Many hockey specialists and coaches profess that before anything else, a good hockey player should be an athletic player. What this means is that in order to achieve their full potential, young hockey players should develop skills beyond hockey and practice other sports.

“The ability to learn agility, balance, and coordination that comes from playing a variety of sports builds a solid foundation for athletic success, physical fitness and more importantly, staying active for life,” says Corey McNabb, director of player development with Hockey Canada.

Hockey Canada is not alone in believing that encouraging young players to play baseball, lacrosse, soccer, or any other sport help them improve their hockey abilities too. Legends such as Bobby Orr and professional coaches profess that complete athletes make better hockey players and that specializing too early is not best for player development.

So, to ensure a young player achieves their potential in hockey or other sports, and to develop to their potential physically and mentally, they should develop their athletic abilities and physical literacy by being involved in other sports and activities.

Hockey Canada’s top six sports and activities to develop better hockey players:

Lacrosse : Develops hand eye co-ordination, balance and agility

Soccer : Great for fitness, stamina, foot speed and reading team play

Baseball : Awesome for developing hand-eye co-ordination, athleticism, focus and lateral movement speed

Team handball : Develops overall athleticism, agility and power

Racquet sports : Excellent for hand-eye co-ordination, lateral mobility and quickness of body and mind

Gymnastics and yoga : Develops balance, agility, coordination, flexibility and athleticism