With hockey becoming a more faster and more physical game each season, there's the high risks of injury whether it's a concussion or other major injuries that can occur or even worse... someone loses the love for the game.

That is about to change at the levels of Bantam and Midget, Hockey Alberta announced it's support to non-body checking divisions in certain minor hockey associations, including the Okotoks Minor Hockey Association.

OMHA Operations Coordinator Jamie Steer says the non-checking divisions will keep players engaged in the sport.

"It becomes a physical game and we just want people to be able to play and have an option to just have some fun," he says. "Cause most of us in the end in the game of hockey are going to being playing men's league and playing a game and there's no contact in that so the longer we can keep kids playing the better."

Steer says when players make that jump from peewee to bantam hockey it can be overwhelming in some cases and that's where injuries and the less desire to play increases.

"At the age of bantam you can have a kid that's under 100 pounds and you can have a kid that's over 200 pounds it's definitely a safety issue," he says. "We know right now from the NHL down the number of concussions and the severity of concussions lately."

The non-contact bantam and midget leagues have already gained popularity within OMHA.

"We've teamed up with Airdrie, Cochrane and Canmore this year and we have a little inter-league play going on and we're calling it the Rocky House League," Steer says. "We got our one bantam, two midgets and two peewee teams playing in this league and it's non-contact."

Other hockey associations adapting the non-contact bantam and midget leagues include Calgary and Edmonton with interests starting to show in the Lethbridge area.

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