Small Area Games let kids explore and learn
If I could write a blog post every week, I would. In fact I might. No, I will, I’m sure of it. As kids procrastinate home work, cleaning their room, or getting out the door on time, coaches must realize we are not much different from the kids we coach. Professional players are most certainly just grown up kids playing a kid’s game. Therefore coaches must be grown up kids trying to manage the fun, and the chaos! Summer hockey camp time for us is a time to meet new players from all around the world, and to reconnect with kids I haven’t seen in 12 months. We love it. We reflect on what we do well, and what needs improvement.
One of my favourite parts of summer hockey camp season is meeting up with those players I haven’t seen in 12 months, and have them ask if we can play a specific game, or run a particular drill that they remember from last year. Imagine being 10, or 18 for that matter, and have such a fond memory of a game or drill, that it’s the first thing that comes to mind when you see your coach 12 months after the last time you played it. To Tanner in Victoria, thanks for asking if we were going to play our odd man situation game called “Poker,” you’ve inspired this post.
My point is that coaches need to think like kids. We aren’t that much different, so we should be able to handle the challenge. We have to think: What makes these players tick? What makes them want to come back tomorrow? Why are they back at hockey camp this summer for the 4th year in a row?! Kids need order, instruction, boundaries, rules, structure. This is for certain. A group of 10 year old players that don’t know what you expect of them are a bit like a tornado. Once they get spinning, there is no stopping them! But a group of 10 year old players that can explore the game within specific boundaries, have fun, try new moves, learn new tricks, feel success through trial and error, and be given a certain amount of freedom to make mistakes and discover success, and they’ll be back for camp as long as it’s running. My mother has been a teacher for 30 years. In 2012 teachers call it Inquiry Based Learning. For simplicity sake, coaches may want to call it Logical. Kids want to learn, they want to have fun, and they want to feel good about their success at the end of each day. Let’s be game changers. Coaches, let’s help kids love hockey.
Nate
