Hockey players shouldn’t be bodychecking until age 15, U of O review suggests

Medical researchers at the University of Ottawa are making the latest call for hockey organizations and lawmakers across Canada to raise the age bodychecking is allowed from 13 to 15.

A recent review from the university's department of medicine found eliminating bodychecking — a significant risk factor for traumatic brain injury — could decrease concussion rates in Canada by 20 to 90 per cent in all age groups.

Its authors are recommending youth hockey leagues adjust their regulations accordingly.

Dr. Kristian Goulet, medical director at Ottawa children's hospital CHEO's concussion clinic, led the review. He said head injuries have a "huge impact" on young brains and mental health.

As players mature and grow, concussions become more severe. Goulet said new regulations in hockey are imperative to protect kids.

Rules vary by jurisdiction

Hockey Canada, which governs the sport nationally, defines bodychecking as a player's deliberate use of body contact to gain advantage over an opponent.

"Body-checking results when a player makes deliberate contact with an opposing player with opposite-directional force, when a player leaves their skating lane to make contact, or when a player extends an arm, shoulder, or hip after angling an opponent," according to the organization's online rule book.

Currently, Hockey Canada's rules say referees must enforce minor penalties for bodychecking for players under 13, female leagues and any other leagues "approved by a member of Hockey Canada."

In 2015, Hockey Quebec was the first to expand rules preventing bodychecking at the lowest levels of its competitive divisions, which include 14- to 17-year-olds.

Rules for body contact of all types vary across provinces and divisions. In Ontario, bodychecking is not permitted at any age division of recreational hockey, but is introduced at the under-14 level in "representational" (competitive) divisions.

Jeff Baker, director of operations for Hockey Eastern Ontario (HEO), said no one at his organization has read the review and they are not currently considering any changes.

Baker said HEO would likely wait for guidance from Hockey Canada before making a decision one way or the other.

Goulet, similarly, recommends the country take a unified approach to bodychecking policies.

Evidence doesn't support early exposure

Critics of past regulation changes have said that early exposure to bodychecking better prepares players to withstand injuries later in life.

Goulet's review details a convention that took place in 2017, where "more than 150 pre-eminent stakeholders in youth hockey" met with the aim of making the sport as safe as possible.

After reviewing dozens of studies, the convention set an aim to eliminate bodychecking in bantam-age hockey, which is for players under 15.

The pervasive opinion that kids should "learn to take a hit," Goulet said, has been debunked.

"That's been refuted now," he said. "Quite substantially. Undeniably."

Dr. Charles Tator, neurosurgeon and leading expert at the Canadian Concussion Centre, corroborated that point in a 2022 study in the Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences. It found bodychecking "was the commonest mechanism of prolonged disability from concussion."

Tator's study included the recommendation that bodychecking should be prevented before the age of 18.

Goulet said his review arrived at the conclusion to set the age at 15 based on data from the American Academy of Pediatrics.

"Right now we have to act on the most appropriate literature out there," said Goulet. "That would be to delay the body contact to that age of 15."