Lemmy Lemmy:
I used to be a staunch traditionalist. "Suck it up and learn to take a check". But after having officiated many hundred Bantam and Midget house-league games, my opinion has changed. It's just too dangerous for kids of that skill level and that size.
Instead of taking bodychecking out at YOUNGER ages, it seems smarter to me to do it the other way around: let novice and atom aged kids body check, so they learn to do it safely when they're young and too small to really hurt one another doing it. Then, when they get to Pee Wee, take it out of the houseleagues. The vast majority of kids know, by Pee Wee age, whether they're going to be rep/junior/pro players or houseleague/beer leaguers. But if anybody thinks that there's a place for body checking in midget houseleague hockey, you've never been on the ice with it going on two feet away from you. It's insanely dangerous.
IMO, bringing it in earlier would be just as dangerous.
In the younger age groups, skating isn't the greatest, nor is the balance and often when kids are very different in size.
My son is in novice and he's got some kids in his league that looks like the drove themselves to the rink.
CKA Uber 
