How to Ensure Your Child Has a Great Coach
The following article was posted as a reader comment in response to our recent Q&A article titled “How Do We Get Better Coaching in Youth Sports?” It offered such great advice, we thought it would be beneficial for our entire readership. As a thank you for sharing his advice, HockeyShot.com is giving Tom a gift certificate to HockeyShot.com. If you have advice for how to improve the youth hockey experience, please click here. If your idea is selected, we will reward you with a free prize.Parents need to expect more from their associations in the pursuit of coaching excellence. I have coached under four different hockey directors and found each of their interaction, education, communication and coach training grossly inadequate. It is simply a matter of more effort and better leadership.
First, the association leadership should decide what traits they want in their coaches and charge the league director with getting that accomplished. For example, do you want a competitive program or one whose philosophy is to have fun and learn the game? Those traits need to be communicated with parents, so their expectations are in line with the association’s, or they can choose to go elsewhere.
There is a real misnomer that the best coaches must be extremely experienced at hockey. While that can help, especially a beginning coach, it really should be low on the priorities for coach selection. Let’s face it, there are a tremendous number of players in all sports that are in their respective Hall Of Fame, but are horrible coaches. The same can be said at the youth level, with former youth, junior and college players. Keep in mind that some of the best coaches in the history of the NHL would have made terrible youth coaches.
What are important traits for a coach? First, he needs to be dedicated to the sport, kids and upcoming season. He needs to be open minded, and willing to do it the way the association wants it done. He should be constantly attempting to coach better. The association must train him for what they want and then monitor and tutor him as it is needed. This is essential! Too many directors build relationships with coaches and expect them to come in and do their own thing. And all too often, their “thing” is not in line with association expectations.
A level 5 certificate is not necessary, but I do recommend a Level 4 CEP (or equivalent) to coach squirt ages and above. The association’s hockey director must make sure the all coaches are coaching the association’s way. And this only comes from proper recruiting education, training, mentoring and monitoring - no matter what it says on the coach’s resume. Furthermore, while fathers make fine coaches, it can be a problem with team selection and dynamics. It is up to the hockey director to make sure this is not happening.
Parents - you should expect your hockey director to provide your child with a great coach. It really is his most important job. If he does not do it - get another director.
Editor’s Note: A special thank you to community member Tom, for his permission to reprint this comment. As a thank you for sharing his advice, HockeyShot.com is giving Tom a gift certificate to HockeyShot.com. If you have advice for how to improve the youth hockey experience, please click here. If your idea is selected, we will reward you with a free prize.
Q&A – How Does My Child Get Noticed on a Travel Team?
With hockey tryouts just around the corner, many parents are looking for ways to get their child’s abilities noticed. Jim Johnson, Founder and Directer of the nationally ranked PF Chang’s Hockey program, gives his best advice for cutting through the politics at youth sports tryouts. Joyce asks: How do you get around the politics of youth sports so players gets noticed and put on a travel team? I have a high school player, who has played for 11 years and has participated on travel teams in the past. Last year he tried out for our local hockey organization. He had what he thought was a great tryout. Not only did he not make any of the travel teams, but he didn’t make any of the house teams either. When he tried out for our high school team he made the varsity team in division II and ended the year among the top 5 players in his division for the state with regard to stats. This fall he wants to try out for travel again. How does he get noticed by a travel team when he doesn’t have a father who coaches any of the teams and we are not on the board of directors?
Answer: The best way to get noticed at a tryout is to have a great foundation of the broad based fundamental skills, starting with what I feel is the most important skill - skating. The best skaters are quickly identified and stand out from the other participants. It really does not matter on which team a player is selected to play to as long as they continue their development. Every player develops skills at different stages in their lives. A few areas that I concentrate on as a coach in the selection process is the player’s effort, attitude and their ability to take instruction and implement that into improving their overall skill set. As far as the politics in the process, it is important to recognize that sometimes the process is not fair, however, as we set goals that are attainable through efforts that we can control, we grow. Personally I believe that good players with a solid foundation of skills will get recognized at some point and great players are rarely overlooked.
Editor’s Note: Thank you to Jim Johnson for his helpful advice.
Let’s Play Hockey Expo 2009 – Hockey Shot
This article is part of the ongoing Let’s Play Hockey Expo 2009 series presented by DailySportsDeal.com. The Let’s Play Hockey Expo is the largest consumer hockey expo in the U.S. In this segment, Executive Editor TK Stohlman interviews Chris Gautreau of Hockey Shot.Hockey Shot sells a variety of hockey training aids to help enhance skills and make it fun to practice the fundamentals of the game. For more information on Hockey Shot visit their website at www.hockeyshot.com.
What Are The Lessons Learned in Youth Sports?
Helping a child develop in youth sports is as much physical as it is emotional. There are so many things a player can learn by being involved in competitive situations such as sports. The following article is from an interview Executive Editor TK Stohlman conducted with Jim Johnson, founder and director of flexxCoach, on the subject of the lessons children learn through youth sports.
Stohlman: Jim, you’ve coached at all levels, recreational programs, youth competitive programs and pro sports. Can you discuss your philosophy on youth sports when it comes to the important lessons they teach young athletes?
Johnson: Absolutely! I think coaching youth sports is a tremendous responsibility. Kids look up to coaches as teachers and role models and they can be the biggest influence in a child’s entire life. They have an enormous job to teach young athletes about sportsmanship which includes a respect for the opponent.
In addition, it is important to teach respect for the team, coaches and officials. Officials are just like players at the youth level because they are trying to hone their skills and get better too. Practicing sportsmanship, to me, means practicing an attitude of respect. I think that is one of the best things we can give kids as they are learning. Good sportsmanship means that we teach kids character, integrity, class, dignity, respect, honor and humility. Those are good character traits to emulate.
Another component to this is the fundamental skills that are taught in youth sports. In addition to character development, the second goal of a youth coach should be to teach and develop broad base, fundamental skills. This means not even looking at winning versus skill development at the youth level. Just look at developing the broad base fundamentals skills. This is a key to helping young athletes feel good about themselves, which will build their self-worth and self-esteem. Sports provides an arena for self development to improve strengths and weaknesses in each and every player.
Editor’s Note: Special thanks to Jim Johnson for this advice.
Q&A: How to Deal With Problem Parents
A travel hockey team is not only made up of coaching staff and players, but also parents. Often times the team and parents become quite close during the season, however, sometimes parents can over step their boundaries and create a difficult situation. In the following article, author of the Hockey Made Easy Instruction Manual and President of an Ontario junior ‘B’ hockey league, John Shorey, addresses a reader submitted question on the precarious situation of dealing with problem parents.Dale Asks: How do you cope with parents who create problems during the travel hockey season? There are some parents who try to coach their kid from the stands and some who complain about everything from the amount of playing time, the coach and drills, to a multitude of other items. It also appears that these parents complain in front of their kids which results in the player having a bad attitude. These parents make it difficult for the rest of the team. Please discuss the responsibilities of the coaches in this type of situation and what, if anything other parents can do. In a long travel season, one bad parent can really disrupt a team.
Answer: At the start of the season, the head coach and his assistants should schedule a team question and answer meeting with parents and players. Doing this alone could, quite possibly, reduce the number of problem parents.
This information sharing meeting will break the ice and give the coaches a chance to answer everyone’s questions and explain their coaching philosophy, including: team goals and objectives, rules and consequences, earned or equal ice time, on and off ice practices, length of shifts, power play and penalty killing make-up, tournaments they intend to enter, cost for the season and anything else that seems reasonable.
Both parents and players should have the opportunity to ask the coaches questions. If the parents and players agree with the coach’s philosophy and other input, they can choose to join the team. But, if they disagree, they still have the opportunity to gracefully decline.
This meeting is important because it eliminates major surprises for parents and players during the season. However, having said that, some problems, concerns and situations will arise during the season - they normally do.
The team should have a protocol in place to address periodic issues. This might include scheduling a private meeting with the head coach and the parent or player to discuss the situation. A parent liaison could be appointed to set up such a meeting or bring the issue to the coaching staff to address.
If a resolution cannot be found and the player or parent continues to disrupt the team, the only course of action for the coach is to bench the player or even suspend him. If the situation is so serious and cannot be resolved, a last resort would probably be to release the player (and parent).
Editor’s Note: Thank you to John Shorey for this answer.
Let’s Play Hockey Expo 2009 – CCM
This article is part of the ongoing Let’s Play Hockey Expo 2009 series presented by DailySportsDeal.com. The Let’s Play Hockey Expo is the largest consumer hockey expo in the U.S. In this segment, Executive Editor TK Stohlman interviews Ross McCracken, Jacques Chiasson and Corry Kelahear of CCM Hockey.CCM manufacturers a variety of hockey equipment including innovative one-piece sticks and customizable hockey skates. For more information on CCM, visit their website at www.ccmhockey.com.
Key Factors to Consider When Selecting Hockey Sticks
While a hockey stick might seem like a simple piece of equipment, there are many considerations when shopping for the right stick for your hockey player. Choosing an inappropriate size and type of stick might actually be detrimental to their game. Here are a few tips to consider.Overview: Hockey sticks are available for right-handed or left-handed players in a wide variety of sizes, lengths, stick flex and curvatures. The length of the stick is cut down to match the height of the player. Curved stick blades and flexible shafts are for more advanced players. Beginning players should use a stick that fits their hands and has very little curvature to enable them to master both their forehand and backhand shots and passes. Cheaper sticks are just as functional as more expensive sticks and younger players aren’t strong enough to take advantage of more flexible shafts. Additionally, players need a different stick for off-ice practice since off-ice activity is very hard on equipment.
Stick Sizing: When sizing the stick to the player, don’t cut it too long and wait for them to grow into it. A proper length is essential for optimal stickhandling. To measure the stick correctly, place it on the ground in front of a barefooted player. Put the stick on its toe and measure to the player’s nose. Mark the stick at nose level and cut off any excess.
Editor’s Note: Special thanks to Sports Esteem for this article.
Q&A: How to Deal With Cliques During Hockey Tryouts
Breaking into hockey at the travel level can be very difficult. Add to this the problem of favoritism and cliques and you have the recipe for a less than positive experience. Former NHL player Lance Pitlick and founder of SweetHockey and OnlineStickhandling.com offers the following advice regarding how to avoid this unfortunate scenario.Chris asks: I’ve only been involved in travel hockey for 3 years. Unless your kid is a superstar, it seems hard to get into certain teams. The coaches and parents already know each other and ignore the other kids and parents. I’ve been to tryouts where there are 40, even 50 kids on the ice at the same time. The coaches watch a few kids and ignore the rest. Do you have any suggestions for coaches and parents to avoid this situation?
Answer: Where I am located in Minnesota, there are two hockey seasons, winter and then AAA. Players skate with their own association during the winter months and migrate to different AAA teams for the spring/summer & falls months. Each association has a tryout process that lasts roughly 1-2 weeks. Players are slotted for teams based on scores received during the tryout evaluations. Most associations in my area bring in independent evaluators or use individuals within the association that do not have a vested interest in the kids trying out. At the end of the tryouts, most players are put on appropriate teams and levels, based on what they showed during ice sessions. There will always be a few players that are on the bubble and could probably play up or down a level, but from my experiences, the majority end up on teams they should be on.
The AAA season is different. Teams are put together with players from a number of different associations. These teams are more like all-star teams and can be more difficult to get a foot in the door. Most have tryouts, but the more high-end organizations recruit players year after year and scout players during the winter months.
At the end of the day you have to be realistic about your player’s ability, passion for the game and willingness to improve. If you think players in your association are getting preferential treatment, I’d suggest getting involved in the process.
Looking at tryouts from a parent’s perspective, typically, all they want to know is how a player makes a team and the criteria that is part of the grading or scoring process. A parent within the association I’m involved with suggested having an open forum for parents to attend. At the meeting, parents will be informed of what to expect during tryouts. This can include the format that will be used, who will be evaluating the players and what criteria will be a part of making the final selections. At the end of the meeting, open the floor to questions. I have found that this process has great merit and should be implemented year after year.
Editor’s Note: Thank you to Lance Pitlick for his valuable advice. For more information about Lance please visit www.sweethockey.com or www.onlinestickhandling.com.
Let’s Play Hockey Expo 2009 – Bauer
This article is part of the ongoing Let’s Play Hockey Expo 2009 series presented by DailySportsDeal.com. The Let’s Play Hockey Expo is the largest consumer hockey expo in the U.S. In this segment, Executive Editor TK Stohlman interviews Evan Baker of Bauer Hockey.Bauer Hockey manufactures a variety of hockey products include the two hockey sticks featured in this video. For more information on any of Bauer's hockey related products, visit their website at www.bauer.com.
Colorado Amateur Hockey Association Signs Up Over 300 New Players
In this Grow the Game success story, Rich Smith with Colorado Amateur Hockey Association explains how they signed up over 300 new hockey players for their One Goal event. Rich also has valuable advice for other hockey volunteers looking to increase their hockey registrations. Thank you to Rich Smith and Colorado Amateur Hockey Association for sharing their success story. As a thank you for sharing his success story, Total Hockey is giving Rich a $25 gift certificate to TotalHockey.net. If you have a success story that you would like to share, please click here.Grow the Game: Would you please provide a brief bio of yourself?
Rich: I was born and raised in Colorado Springs, Co the youngest of four kids. I have a wife-Julie and 3 kids, Logan, plays U18 Major AAA for Thunderbirds, Lauren, who is cheerleader for Littleton High School and Kyra who is a goalie for the Colorado Select U14 AAA Team. I starting skating at the age of 4 and started playing hockey at age 6. I got involved in hockey because I asked my mom if I could do karate and she said “no” its way to dangerous, so then I asked her if I could play hockey because my best friend played hockey. She said, “ I don’t know anything about hockey but sure” I grew up playing hockey and fell in love with the sport. I played through high school at Cheyenne Mountain High School in Colorado Springs. After school I continued to play off and on in men’s adult leagues and when my son was 6 he asked if he could play, so I got into coaching. I’m currently a Level 4 CEP and I’ve been coaching now for 10 years. I have held various board positions over the year and I am currently Co-Director of Coaching for the Colorado Select and Director at Large for CAHA. I’ve coached at all levels from 8 and Under through High School to AAA.
Grow the Game: What programs to grow the game have you implemented in the past?
Rich: In 2008 I implemented the state's first “One Goal Program." In 2009 we implemented an all “Girls One Goal Program."
Grow the Game: Which grow the game program would you recommend for other hockey associations?
Rich: I think any program that gets kids out on the ice to have fun and learn how to play is the ultimate goal. I have found that the One Goal Program is most popular and the One Goal Brand is recognized around the country.Grow the Game: Would you please provide a brief overview of the most successful program? (How to implement, lessons learned, marketing of the program, etc.)
Rich: 2008 One Goal Program was where we learned the most about growing the game. The program was planned about 4 months in advance. The goal was to get 200 kids to come to four sessions over 2 days. As a selected city the One Goal program provided funding and a PR firm that allowed us to communicate the event through the public via radio and limited print media. We put flyers and posters up all around Denver. Each association was given flyers to distribute to schools and other public places.
The first thing we had to do was find support for the program. One Goal, Colorado Amateur and USA Hockey provided funding for the event. Players Bench hockey stores provided the staff and the One Goal equipment. Their staff also helped fit the kids in skates and equipment and ensured no player went on the ice with gear that didn’t properly fit. Denver University and Denver Pioneers Youth Hockey provided the ice and skates at Magness Arena to host the program. We also had the support of the Colorado Avalanche that advertised the One Goal commercials on Altitude TV Network during the games. This prompted people to go to the website. All media steered the interested party to the One Goal website which provided a direct registration link to Colorado Amateur Hockey Association. We capture all-important information including the sizes of skates, age, address, email etc.
The next concern was filling this program up. After the first 2 weeks we only had around 30 players signed up. We were concerned until the radio ads aired on 8 local radio stations. The next 3 weeks we ended up getting almost 300 kids sign up. We now had a new problem, what to do with all these kids! We opened it up to 60 kids per session and were able to support a total of 240.
The next part was organizing how we would handle the 200 kids over 2 days and 4 ice sessions. We reached out to all the local associations, tier teams and others involved in hockey for assistance. The goal was to get around a 1-helper- to 2- One Goal players ratio so we needed 25 on ice coaches. We also needed help getting the kids dressed and ready to go and also needed a 1 to 2 ratio. We ended up having players from many of the local hockey associations in the Front Range area, which gave up their Saturday and Sunday to help.When the kids arrived we gave them a bag and had a player go with them to help them get dressed. Once dressed they were escorted out onto the ice and a on ice player would take the new player and skate with them until they felt comfortable of being on their own. We had bumpers on the ice that the kids sat on. We had some player who would push the One Goal kids around on chairs or spin the bumpers in circles. The kids had an incredible time. We had well over 25 players on the ice helping including the DU Pioneer players. We had a good mix of female and male One Goal players as well as our volunteers were also mixed of female and males.
The biggest challenged we faced was the ½ hour between the first and second sessions and we had to get the first group undressed and the second group dressed ASAP. Our volunteers pulled it off by getting the kids undressed in 1 hall way and bringing the bag over to another hallway where group 2 was waiting to get dressed. It work well but I would schedule the second group 1 hour after the first group.
After the program the players all left with smiles on their faces. The volunteers said it was the most fun they have ever had putting on an event. Local associations reported a lift in 8 and Under enrollments that year with one club stating they had over 28 kids register for their U-8 program as a result of this program.
Grow the Game: What is the participation/turnout that you received from implementing this program?
Rich: We ended up with over 240 kids because the demand was so great. We also had additional 90 kids on the wait list. We ended up giving the list to all the associations to market to the One Goal Players.
Grow the Game: Do you have any other suggestions for other associations and teams who are trying to grow the game?
Rich: The best advice I can give is to get a lot of help when running these programs. You have one shot to make a great impression and you need to have a lot of on ice and off ice help to make things run smooth.
Grow the Game: What is your favorite thing about hockey?
Rich: My favorite thing about hockey is its face paced, fun, exciting, an awesome workout, and the great friends you meet along the way!
Editor's Note: Special thanks to Rich Smith with Colorado Amateur Hockey Association for sharing his Grow the Game success story. As a thank you for sharing his success story, Total Hockey is giving him a $25 gift certificate to TotalHockey.net. If you have a success story that you would like to share, please click here.
