Top 10 Things NOT to do...for young athletes

1. Do not eat fast food more than once per week. But, once per week is fine.

2. Do not eat fries and pizza everyday for school lunch. Eat pizza on Fridays, every other day pack a sandwich and a piece of fruit.

3. Do not drink more than one soda per day. But one soda per day is fine (diet is much better).

4. Do not be lazy; do your off- ice training, skate hard at practice, clean your room.

5. Do not take things for granted; be thankful you have the opportunities you have to go to good schools, play hockey, and have families who love you.

6. Do not lift weights unless you have a good teacher, trainer, or strength coach, you will just be putting yourself in position to get injured.

7. Do not watch TV every night. Watch TV 3 nights per week. Every other night go down in the basement and shoot pucks or stickhandle, read books, do homework, spend time with your siblings. Make a schedule for which nights are TV nights.

8. Do not play video games more than two nights per week. Use nights after school to play football or basketball with your friends.

9. Do not be difficult to coach. If a coach asks you to do a drill, or pick up some tape in the locker room, or pick up pucks, do it at 100 miles per hour with no questions asked.

10. Do not take shortcuts. If you want to be a good athlete you have to practice hard, train hard, play other sports, and make sure you enjoy what you are doing.