I hope all the readers here are having a nice summer break as we all know the inevitable preseason hockey will be starting within the next few weeks.
For me personally, I recently took a job with a higher level AA program out on the Northshore of Chicagoland that is in a great position of growth and has a ton of potential to be a real powerhouse program for teams and players. I’ll be dropping down age groups to the 12U level, but I’m excited to be able to work with a club that has a lot of the same ideas and philosophies that I have. Plus I have much more range to do the things I think are right for player and team development and I don’t have to worry about being micromanaged by those who are not as keen in the hockey world.
During this summer break, I’ve actually taken a bit of a step back for myself as I was feeling overloaded for the longest time about the game and the business aspect of it that I was accustomed to the past 4 to 5 years. Honestly, I needed this break so that I could regain some of my passion for the fun of the game.
Typically, July and August were nightmare months for me in the past as the Director of a small hockey program. Usually, I would be dealing with rumors of players leaving the club for higher levels, putting out the flames on rumors that teams for fall were already picked (I’ll discuss this another time), and just other small BS that rolls downhill into bigger snowballs.
I would usually be making phone calls to 100+ families making sure they were signing up or registering with our club or would be having a board looking over my shoulder wanting answers to why registration was low (again, I have plenty of answers but that’s for another article/time, maybe when the scabs and fully closed the sores a bit more).
All of that said, I have still been keeping track of things within the hockey world and other musings that come with it.
I recently read “Peewees: Confessions of a Hockey Parent” by Rich Cohen.
It was a brief insight about a season of Peewee hockey on the East Coast, going from tryouts to the end of the season. Rick did a great job detailing some of the more intense moments parents and clubs go through (tryouts, coaching issues, team issues, politics within a club), but it also left a bit to be desired. At times reading it, I felt like Rick would be a parent I wouldn’t want on my team, and he fully admits that what he does probably isn’t the best way to go about things. That said, it was a short and fun read and I recommend it to anyone in the hockey world as you will surely notice that the club you are with isn’t the only one with the same issues (the grass isn’t always greener).
Random shower thought:
Hockey camps… I’m beginning to think families would be better off saving the money for private skills instruction where it might be a 4 to maybe 5 to 1 player to coach ratio. After seeing how some of these “big name” hockey camps work, 3 reps of a drill in a 5-minute span, only to sit in a line and have someone talk is probably not a good ROI.
That said, how do you know you are getting a quality skills instructor and not some Instagram “flashy” coach who just runs yourself or youth players through drills that are not tailored to their game?
I still think USA hockey should put together a skills instructor course/certification process to at least help guide people and give some accreditation to the teachers of the game. Not saying that you can’t still run your own hockey school or do skills sessions, but it might create a bigger portal for networking and developing new ideas on how to train individuals. Hockey Canada has been doing this with its National Coaching Certification Program and their “Instructional Stream” which includes:
The Instructional Stream is a series of clinics that assist coaches and players in developing the skills required to play the game. These clinics are composed of in-class and on-ice sessions and are facilitated by instructors trained by Hockey Canada. Coaching clinics are offered on seven different topics:
Skating
Checking
Goaltending
Developing defence
Skills
Shooting and Scoring
Small-Area Games
It’s a lot of work, but I think it shows people how dedicated you truly are in growing the game and being the best coach possible.
That’s it for now… Keep enjoying the break and hopefully, I’ll write something more specific and detailed soon.
-Trevor