To think hockey is too dangerous for primary?

[trice]

I picked up dd from a school last night. She had been hit in the face by a hockey ball leaving her with a lump on her forehead and a black eye. The teacher encouraged her to go back on the pitch saying "the team needs you - you are our best player". She went back on and was tackled - injuring her hand.

Teacher suggested an ice pack. Her hand swelled up overnight and turns out two bones are broken.

Can't they play with lighter balls and sticks? They are only little. I am glad they won't be playing again until next autumn.

So we're agreed that the issue was the inept coach and not the sport?

Grand.

'Winding a bunch of ten year olds into a frenzy and then setting them loose with heavy sticks and hard balls with no reasonable precautions in place is just daft.'

That's an incompetent teacher problem.

Not a hockey problem.

YABU, my DD has never been seriously injured by a hockey ball and has played since the age of 6 (now 15) apart from almost breaking her nose once and seriously rolling her ankle that had already been flared up and that includes rep, club and school hockey.

They were doing hockey as P.E unit in year 7 and a girl broke her ankle after being hit by a ball but that would be because she was not wearing shin pads. All depends on the right protection IMO. At DD's primary hockey was a regular sport and nobody ever was seriously injured in the 6 years she attended there.

From everything you've said, I think I would have concerns about the competency of this teacher to coach hockey. If your DD enjoys hockey, if you haven't done so already, maybe consider finding her a local external accredited (with England Hockey/Club First) club?

Sounds as if the referee didn't have much control of the match. I'm passionate about PE and especially hockey. The kids do get over excited. At that age they tend to go through the 'headless chicken' stage where they all go for the ball at one time and don't keep to one position. This leads to accidents. Your daughter's injuries do seem quite extreme but it shows how competitive she is. It would be a shame if her enthusiasm was dampened. Too many girls give up on sport after primary. Perhaps the school would be better playing unihoc with plastic sticks and a softer ball which is a playground game. All sports have an element of risk. The worst injury I had was from playing netball.