I thought that might catch your attention.
I just spent my first week assisting BC Hockey run the Hockey Coach 2 Certification for recreational level and new hockey coaches. Within minutes of participant introductions, I was hooked, inspired, motivated, and frustrated. I’ll get to the frustrated part in a second, after I tell you why I think we need to make a Swedish American Canadian Hockey Coach.
Part 1: Swedish:
A colleague of mine, Faez Kanji, returned from coaching youth hockey in Sweden a few months ago, and shared his experience. He was very impressed by the involvement of the Federation in all youth hockey. Innovative and age appropriate ideas on skill development flow like water, and coaches are mandated to follow them. We have so many incredible ideas/people in Hockey Canada and our Provincial bodies delivering great hockey philosophy and coach materials, I just wish youth coaches in Canada could execute it as efficiently as the Swedes without bending to external pressures!
Part 2: American:
Spending my first few years coaching youth hockey in the States (New York and Maryland), I had the priviledge to see how many innovative steps USA Hockey has taken to improve skill development and participation in the States. My brother is the Hockey Director of the Baltimore Stars hockey program so I hear about it weekly as well. Mandatory cross ice, lighter pucks, smaller nets, station based skill development, small area games, and statistics based research backing up all the above are just a few areas USA Hockey is taking bold action despite criticism from some people. Does anyone know if Massachusetts Hockey still disallows penalty killers from icing the puck (by blowing it down as icing)? I heard that once, and thought it was an incredible tool to force players to make more creative decisions with the puck. Why should you get to slash someone, then kill 2 minutes by firing it off the glass?! I was very happy to see the initiatives recognized in our Coach 2 program this past weekend.
Part 3: Canadian:
I was hooked the minute the coach participants openly shared their stories. Their lack of coaching experience, but desire to learn from other coaches and make a real difference in the lives of young hockey players was a true inspiration for me, and a reminder why I focus our business on coach mentorship and player skill development. We have passion, enthusiasm, cultural ties to the game, and to be a Canadian in hockey is something of which I am truly proud.
I was frustrated because I realized that coaches are getting the right information. The BC Hockey course material was full of great ideas to teach skills, have fun, and put the positive experience of the kids at the heart of everything we do as coaches. This was awesome. The opportunities for learning are there. The green passion of the incoming coaches is absolutely brilliant. BUT: Somewhere along the line coaches feel pressure to depart from their core values and bend to pressures of external influences (desire to win at all cost, reduce any risk of failure/mistakes, parents, etc).
My 3 Questions for You:
- So why do the minority of aggressive parents have such a strong voice? Why do they demand age inappropriate training? (“My 7 year old should play 12 months a year, and needs to work on the breakout a lot more. He also needs to play more games than practice.”)
- Why do 50% of young officials quite within 1 year of officiating?
- Why are so many parents so focused on keeping score in games on big rinks where 90% of the kids don’t even touch the puck?
To every new coach with green passion and your heart in the right place: Don’t let the haters get you down! Do what you know is right. There is a wave of change coming, and I think your timing to ride that wave is going to be perfect.
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