Teaching Life Long Lessons to Today’s Youth Hockey Players
by Coach Tom McDonald
Introduction
Hockey is a wonderful, fast paced, and exciting game to play and watch. Hockey is also one of the true team sports, where every player on the team gets to play in the game. The only time players are sitting on the bench is to catch their breath and rest fo a short period of time between their shifts on the ice, especially in youth hockey. The game changes from offense to defense, back and forth in the bilink of an eye. The hockey player has to possess a number of skills. He or she must be able to skate forward and backwards, stick handle a puck, pass a puck, catch a pass, and shoot the puck. In addition, they must be able to read and react to actions on the ice. This is what makes the game exciting.
As coaches we are challenged to teach our players a wide variety of skills, and something about how to play the exciting and fast-paced game of hockey. Depending on the age group you are coaching you teach the sme skills in different ways from mini-mites thru high school, from junior or minor league to the Nationl Hockey League. I am going to focus on the twelve to eighteen year olds playing youth club hockey. I want to look at what we, as coaches, can do to influence and teeach our teenage hockey players about life besides the skills of the game of hockey. Coaches spend a lot of time with players from moths to years at a time in their life when young players are molding their own individual traits, characteristics, and morals that they will have for the rest of their lives. These are some suggestions that coaches can teach our youth hockey players about life that will help them become a better person.
Failures
Why as a hockey coach, or even as a parent, would I want to teach players on my hockey team to fail? First, what is the definition of failure. The Webser’s dictionary defines failure as the falling short of something, a breakdown in operation, not succeeding in something. What do I mean by teaching hockey players about failure? We see failure in practice and in games every day by hockey players, no matter what level they plan, from mini-mites to the National Hockey League. It may be they make a bad pass or miss a pass or miss the spot or even the net altogether when they are shooting. They may not be able to stop on the ice, or only stop in one direction. It is beneficial to teach our youth that in order to succeed at something, sometimes you must first fail at it. Our youth must learn to keep trying to perform skills time and time agin until they succeed.
How, as a coach, should we teach our players to deal with these failures? We teach them that it is okay to fail as long as they are try8ing their best, because they will experience failure at times prior to being successful. We want them to learn from these failures so they will eventually succeed and master the skills they are attempting. If we fall on the ice we pick ourselves up and try it again, and if we fall again we get up again and again. Under no circumstances do we give up, we need to keep trying our best until we succeed. This relates to teaching a hockey player how to skate, pass the puck, shoot the puck, stick handle the puck, among other skills. This also relates to what a person experiences in life. Do we accept failure lying down and quit, just because we failed, or do we do what we were coached? If the coach has succeeded, no matter how wackey a curve ball life throws at us, we never give up. We learn from our failures an keep on trying until we are successful.
Teamwork
Every coach wants to teach each and every player on his hockey team about teamwork. What is teamwork? The Webster’s dictionary defines teamwork as a group of people working or playing together, a joint action by a group of people. How does this relate to a hockey team? It means that we, as coaches, need to take a group of individuals who may be different genders, ages, nationalities, cultures, and so on, to form a team. As a coach, our job is to mold all of these different personalities together to form a team, instead of each individual going teir own unique way and thus not cooperating as a cohesive unit. This in itself is a very daunting task to any coach. We face it every season, every game, and every practice. We teach this through drills and practices, so that in games our team can excel at playing together. We teach our kids a wide variety of important skills to be used in hockey and to be used in life. We teach them how to get along with each other. We teach them how to communicate with each other. We teach them it is okay if they do not always like everybody on their team, but that they can still get along with each other well enough to act and function as a team. Players need to learn to depend on each other and work together as a team if they want to be successful. As a coach, it is imperative to teach hockey players how to work and communicate as a team in order to be successful on the ice as well as being successful in life.
Setting Goals
One of the greatest things to teach a person is how to set goals, and how to reach those goals. What is a goal, how do we set a goal, is it realistic to meet, and how do we accomplish it? The Webster’s dictionary defines goal as: an end that one strives to obtain. So a goal is simply something that we want to obtain as an individual or a team. Why, as a hockey coach, would I want to teach my players to set goals for themselves and as a team? The Main reason is because we want to succeed and get better as a team as the season progresses.
If we want our team to improve and to be more competitive with other hockey teams, we need to first improve the players’ individual skill levels on our team. We accomplish this by teaching our players to set individual goals. We can help them by teaching them the sills of hockey and by teaching them about the game of hockey in practices and in games. This helps them to obtain their goals and they have set forthemselves and for their team. W need to teach them the difference between realistic goals, dream goals, and unrealistic goals. A realistic goal for a youth hockey player may be to learn to skate forward and backwards by the end o fthe hockey season, how do do a hockey stop or be able to stop in both directions, how to pass the puck and catch a pass, and how to shoot a wrist shot, backhand shot, snap shot, or a slap shot. These are all realistic goals that a hockey playher can set for themself. If they can achieve these goals, then they will help the team achieve its goals. The team goals could be to win ten games this year, to win their league, take first place in a tournament, or maybe even win a state or national title. Some of these goals may be realistic and some may be dreams, but if we only set goals that we can achieve easily, we will never be able to reach our dreams.
A good example of goal setting was demonstrated by a group of college kids from the United States of America that played in the nineteen-eighty Olympics. They set goals fro themselves and for their team. They were not the most talented or the most skilled team in the Olympics that year. The European teams from Russia, Germany, Czechoslovakia, and Sweden were more skilled and talented that the United States. Coach Herb Brooks set some dream goals for his team that year. One goal was to beat the super power Russian team and win the gold medal. you ask anybody except for those college kids from the United States and they would have told you the same thing, the United States did not have a prayer of winning the gold medal at the 1980 Olympic games in Lake Placid. Somebody forgot to tell the Americans, because Herb Brooks and his so called college kids set their dream gols of beating the Russians and winning the gold medal at the Olympics. They accomplished the Miracle on Ice. I believe this to be the greatest feat ever in sports. Not to mention that it started the biggest boom in kids participating in grass roots hockey programs around the country. If we teach our hockey players how to get goals then through hard work on their part, no matter what type of goal they set for themselves in life, it can be reached. For our players to improve and get better in hockey and in life they need to set goals. Who knows, one of our players we coach could someday become a Wayne Gretzky, a Patric Roy, or a Mario Lemieux. The possibilities are endless, but unless we teach our players to set goals this can never happen.
Work Ethic
A good hockey coach tries to teach his players to work as hard as they can not only during a game, but also in their practices. The Webster’s dictionary defines work as: effort exerted to do or make something, and ethic as: a system of moral standards. What does work ethic mean to a hockey coach? We want our players to work as hard as they can at developing their hockey skills during practices. This is not a very easy task for the coach to get across to his players all the time, or even some of the time. How can a coach convince all of the players on his or her team that the way they practice is usually the way that they plan in a game? Not every person on our team may buy into this theory. Some of your kids will be more talented and maybe more of a natural athlete that the other kids on the team and because of this may never have had to work hard before to improve their skills. Sometimes we will have teams with one or more leaders that will lead by example.
Here is the hard part, how do we, as a coach, get each and every on of our players to work hard in practices and in the game? We can use kids natural instinct to be better than the best player on the team. We do this by structuring our practices to challenge, and to push the best player on our team to be a better hockey player. Sometimes we have to find innovative ways to motivate all of our players to make them work harder on the ice. Some teams and players are really easy to coach, because thay are highly motivated and are very hard workers. If this player or players are our team leaders thas can make your coaching job much easier. If they are not your team leaders, then make them your team leaders. Otherwise we will have to find different ways to motivate and push our team’s buttons to get them to work hard. This motivation does not need to be negative all of the time either. Try to use positive motivation as much as possible. Tell or show them the good things that they accomplished. Then point out the thins upon which they need to improve.
Make your practices fun. The more fun the kids are haveing, the harder they will work for you. Make the games in which our players participate fun for them. Try not to stress to your team that winning is the one and only thing, and that the team will do whatever it takes to win every game. Even if that means that some kids, because of their skill level will see very limited playing time depending on the score and the period of the game. This may be true at the highter levels of hockey like in the pros, college, juniors, or the minor leagues where coaches an maybe even the players are getting paid to play hockey. At the grass roots youth hockey level all these kids want to do is play in the game. How can our team or an individual get better at playing hockey if they do not get to play? Teach them that we are always trying to win the game as a team, but since that is also what the other team is doing, sometimes in the end you win a few and you loos a few. As long as everybody tried thier hardes and had fun it is okay to lose. I think it is important foa kid to know how to witn with dignity, and also know how to lose with grace. Unfortunately every game has a winning team and a losing team, unless there is a tie. We can show that the harder they work in practices and in games, the more they will improve. Good things do come to people that work hard. Sometimes the difference between winning an losing is that one team worked harder and wanted to win more that the other team, even if the winning team had less skilled players. This teaches kids that in life, if we have a good work ethic, we can do or be what ever we want to be. Many employers are looking for workers that want to work and do not mind working hard at their jobs. If we as coaches can teach our players to do this, we can help these young people obtain the goals that they set for themselves in life.
Respect
Respect is an important thing to teach our youth hockey players. Webster’s dictionary defines respect as: to feel or show honor or esteem for, to show consideration for. What is respect as it relates to hockey? I think respect is showing honor or esteem to our opponent that we played in the game, to other players on our team, to the officials overseeing our game, and to the fans and parents. We, as coaches, can teach our players to respect each other when they are among their teammates at practice. Teach them that we need to interact with each other. We have all seen it as coaches, down in the corner the kids are lined up to d a drill on the ice. Johhny and Stevie are hacking at each other with their sticks, or are shoving each other around. Do we as coaches let the kids continue to do this to each other, or do we put a stop to it immediately? This is just one of many ways coaches can teach respect for all of your teammates on your team.
Another way that respect can be instilled in your players is how you and your team deal with the officials during your game. Do we constantly ccriticize and yell at the officials about every little call that they make or do not make on the ice? Do we let our players criticize and yell at the officials on and off the ice as well? Are we the type of coach that teaches by examle, by showing the officials respect by not challenging or yelling at them about their calls? If you have a question or would like an explanation about something that happened on the ice, you or your captain should talk calmly to the officials about that incident. We let the officials call their game and we concentrate on coaching our team.
As a coach, we need to teach our players about respect for the other team. Especially when we are coaching in the chcking age groups. We need to teach our players about the proper way to check and angle our opponents. Teach them why and what checking is used for in the game. Teach them that checking is used to separate the hockey player from the puck. It is not to separate the player’s head from their body, or to intimidate or hurt the player. We need to teach our players about why checkeing another player from behind is so dangerous and in certain areaos on the rink can cause injury to another player even if the check was not very hard. If we teach them proper checking technique and to respec their opponent, they will avoid being called tfor a serious penalty such as checking from behind.
We need to teach our players respect for the other team by refraining from running up the score in games. This happens much too frequently at the youth hockey levels and demonstrates that coaches lack respect for their oponents. They believe that if you can win a game big, then run the score up on them. What does this teach your team? Only that we played a weaker team than us and that a feew of our players can score a bunch of goals or hat tricks against that team. Why not teach our kids respect for their opponent by working on their passing and refraining the kids from shooting the puck on the net every time they are at their opponents end. Require them to pass the puck severl times before they shoot on net. Allow only the player that has not scored all year to shoot on net and require teammates to continue passing him or her the puck. If they refuse to pass the puck, inform them that you are the coach and you expect their cooperatioin. Otherwise let them have a nice cozy seat next to you until they learn that you are the coach and they are the player. What will leaning about respect do for a hockey player in life? It will teach him to have respect for authority, his boss or supervisor, his elders, fellow co-workers, and for his parents. IT will teach them that respect is not always give to people, that we must earn it through our actions.
Conduct
Hockey coaches need to teach their players that both the coaches and team’s conduct on and off the ice reflects upon the coach, the team, and the association. We are not only representing our self, but also our team. Webster’s dictionary defines conduct as: management, behavior, to lead, to manage, to direct, to behave, to transmit or convey. People observe what we are doing on and off the ice. MOre than at games, our conduct is observed at practices and outside the rink. We need to teach our players that their conduct on and off the ice is seen by more people than wthey know. This is why it is important to display proper conduct. We need our players to play the game of hockeythe way it is intended to be played. It is a hig speed, ever changing, actioin packed game. Especially at the grass roots youth hockey level. We do not want to see our players fighting on the ice, giving a player the old two handed tomahowk chop to the body, spearing, kicking, or any other detrimental action that is harmful to the game of hockey. Not only does this conduct make the player look bad, it conveys that the coach teaches or encourages it. This also reflects poorly on the team’s association or league. This is why we need to teach our players that their actions and conduct on the ice in games and practices not only reflect upon their coach but also upon their association. Every coach wants to be looked upon as a class act and every association prefers these type of coaches in their hockey programs. If a player can learn that their conduct reflects upon who they are, what their morals are, and how public perceives them, they will have a better chance at success in life.
Role Model
Coaches take on the huge responsibility of being a role model for thier players. The Webster’s dictionary defines role model as: a person so effective or inspiring in some social role, job, etc, as to be a model for others. We want our team to play in a positive fashion and in order for this to occur, we must first set an example ourselves as to the way our team should play and behave on the ice. Are we the type of coach that is always criticizing his or her players, bing extremely negative around his or her players, then we might expect our own players to do the same. We as coaches mus consider these things and provide our team with the role model that we would like to have if we were playing for a coach. Some coaches need to change their attitude to provide this positive and important role model that our young players need. This may not be easy for some, but we need to try for the sake of our youth today. These kids are looking up to us as their role model. We may not be aDominik Hasek, a Wayne Gretzky, ar a Brett Hull, but to our players we may be this great role model. Teach our kids by example, be a positive role model in that young hockey player’s life. Teach them that someday they can do the same for someone and that this is the type of role model they shoule be for that person.
Conclusion
A hockey coach in a grass roots youth hockey program must wear many different hats at the same time. MOst of us receive no pay to coach, we volunteer our time because we love the game or are among the few parents on the team that know about hockey. We are not only the parent to our son or daughter on the team, but also their coach. This can lead to difficult situations at times between us and our children. Each season we start ourt fresh with a new team. Ths team may be composed of the same players that we have coached over the years, or can be an entirely new group of kids that we have never coached before. All the kids want to do is to play hockey and have some fun with their friends. The parents want us to teach their kids to skate, play hockey, and hopefully win some games along the way. With all of this responsibility and expectations from the parents to teach their kids about hockey, we as coaches need to learn as much about the game as possible.
We need to create a positive environment where learning is easier and we also need to be a positive influence upon them. Nothing turns off a kid from participating in a sport greater that a bad coach or a coach that rarely plays him or her in a game. This is especially true when the kids are younger than high school age.
We, as coaches, need to teach our young hockey players that winning is not everything. They should try their hardest to win every game, but sometimes that jus does not happen. Or opponent may be better than our team, and the puck might not bounce the right way for us in that game. Our opponent may have worked harder and wanted to wint the game more than our team. We might have lost the game because it jus was not our day to win. Whatever the reason for the outcome of the game, there must be a winner and a loser unless it is a tie. Not only do these kids need to learn how to win with dignity, they must also learn how to lose with grace. Our society, as a whole, teaches our children about winning, bu rarely does it teach us how to handle losing. This is a job for sports and coaches.
If we take it upon ourselve, as coaches, to be a positive role model and teacher for our oung hockey players, we can teach them how to handle these situations. We need to be a teacher on the ice. These young minds must be taught that it is okay to fail as long as we learn from these failures. What do we learn from these failures? Do we quit and give up on something just because we failed at it, or do we keep on trying and work even harder until we are successful?
We must teach our players about teamwork. We need to show our young players that if they work as a team and think as a team, they can accomplish great tasks as a team. We must teach them how to get along and work together with each other. This will be especially important for them when they become old enought to decide to join the workforce independently, or work for a large business or corporation. Employers are looking for individuals that can be team players and can work well with other people.
We must teach our kids how to set goals for themselves, why goals are important, and how to go about reaching those goals. We must teach our players why it is also important to have various types of goals. They must have both realistic and dream goals. Without dream goals we cannot push ourselves enough to excel. We cannot do what we cannot imagine.
We must teach our players why it is so important to have a strong work ethic. Show them that the harder they work the more they can improve. With hard work we become more involved with our activity, making it more fun and productive. The effects are cumulative. Effort makes it easier so we can try even harder. Coaches and employers desire individuals that will go the extra mile and do what ever it takes to improve or accomplish things.
We must teach our players to respect other people, other teams, officials, and people in authority. We do this by setting ourselves as an example with our own conduct on and off the ice. We must teach our players what respect means. Our conduct arouond our players is crucial in providing a positive environment for them. We need to remember that these kids are looking up to us to provide them with the knowledge and skills to be a better hockey player. If we want our hockey players to conduct themselves in a positive manner on and off the ice and to positively represent their team and their association, we must first be the leader of our team by setting an example of the conduct we desire from our players. Sometimes we must be stern and strict, where it is necessary to set your player or players straight. By expressing that their poor conduct and behavior can not be tolerated if they want to play on your team. Just as it is so easy to find thing that our team is doing wrong, make it easy to find things that our team is doing right. Be sure to praise them for doing things well.
When we accepted the role as coach for these hockey players, we became a role model for these yhoung people. We may not be as famous as Wayne Gretzkey but we will be well known by all of the hockey players on our team. In their eyes we ar the role model. Try to be the best role model that you can.
Ther are manyh other things that we can teach our team. I have touched on a few of them. The main thing is to have fun on the ice while trying to be a positive role model and coach to our hockey team. Years from now, few will remember what the record of our hockey team was or the score of any game that season, but it is guaranteed each playher will remember their coach. If even one player approaches us some day in the future to thank us for being their coach and teaching things that help them deal with the ups and downs of life, then that is the true meaning of being a coach. Like the great Bob Johnson would say, “IT IS A GREAT DAY FOR HOCKEY”.
