So you just read the title of this entry and are wondering to yourself, how are those two related? Let me see if I can connect the dots for you. I am currently training for my second marathon and am in week two of an eighteen week program. In marathon training you typically have one long run a week. Yesterday’s was an eleven miler. In case you didn’t know, you have a lot of time to think while running eleven miles no matter what your pace is. At about the seven mile mark I got to thinking about training and then my thoughts wandered to hockey. I thought to myself, imagine if I had to run a full marathon for training every weekend. Truth be told two things would most likely happen. First, I would be extremely sore from jumping right into a 26.2 mile run and Second, the likelihood of me finishing my training would be slim to none. The thought of running 18 full marathons would be way too much- too much pain, too much time, too much of almost everything and definitely not fun. So how did I connect the dots between training and cross ice hockey? I then started thinking that this is what we ask of 6, 7, and 8 year old hockey players. Right now we ask them to jump right into playing on a regulation NHL sheet. There is no progression for them. No Tee-ball to Little League to Babe Ruth League. Nope, we go right to full size out of the gate. It dawned on me that no wonder so many kids quit our game by the time they are 14. After a few years of playing on a scale that is too big for them, I wonder how fun that really is. So I ask you this, why the rush to play “real hockey” right away? We don’t teach our kids algebra or calculus before they know their multiplication tables. We need a progression in hockey and cross ice at mites is the place to start. Even though our society is such an instant gratification society, we don’t need to project that onto the children in our game. Let them be kids, let them play, let them have fun, let them fail, and let them succeed at their own pace.

ADM & LTAD (Long Term Athlete Development) focuses on the physical, cognitive, mental and emotional development of our players.  Women are not men and children are not small adults.  One size does not fit all.  When coaching females a coach may need a slightly different approach compared to the male athlete.  All coaches should consider the psychological and sensitive needs of their players.

“with women, your effectiveness is through your ability to relate.  They have to feel that you care about them personally or have some kind of connection with them beyond the game…to be an effective leader of a men’s team, you don’t need personal rapport as long as there is respect.  That’s the extent of the relationship.  That’s all that’s really required.  But in a women’s team, respect is only part of it, and it is derived from a relationship.  Women have to have a sense that you care for them above and beyond their (athletic) abilities.”  Anson Dorrance comments on motivating females.

Michele Amidon, Female ADM Manager, speaks to 2010 Olympian Karen Thatcher regarding some of the best coaching strategies for communicating and motivating female athletes.

What are some affective coaching strategies used when working with female athletes?

From personal experience as a coach and a player, I would say the number one most important strategy when working with female athletes is COMMUNICATION! Girls are notorious for wanting to know “why?” This extends to the sports realm as well. I believe Nietsche, in all his brilliance, had a very good point when he stated: “He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how.” (Although, I do believe it should read “she who has a why…”) If you give female athletes a WHY, that is, a defined purpose and direction for what they are doing, the results are staggering. Communicate to female players what their role is, why we are doing this, what is the purpose of this team system, etc. They may not always agree with you, but if they understand that you do have logic and a purpose behind whatever is happening, they will respect it and be more effective in whatever task you are asking of them.

Furthermore, it is important to respect female athletes as people and athletes separately, and coach in this manner as well. Females respond a lot better when you treat them fairly and with respect as people first and foremost.

What are some of the least affective coaching strategies used when working with female athletes?

 Embarrassing or degrading her in front of her teammates is the worst strategy with a female athlete. It does not motivate the athlete to improve; instead, it encourages her to feel poorly about herself and may cause her to be fearful to even attempt to improve. Female athletes also tend to emotionally carry this type of experience along with them, leading to perhaps inhibiting her develop in the future as well. This strategy often causes more harm than good.

How do you, as a female athlete like to get feedback from a coach?

I like when a coach talks to me. I usually know when I do something wrong (don’t we all?) as it did not “work.” So, I enjoy when coaches do not simply tell me what I did wrong (I already knew that!), but give examples of how to do it next time. Yelling about the mistake does not seem productive to me, and I don’t consider that constructive feedback.

What are some of the assumptions male coaches have made about you (or your teammates) as a female athlete?

I have been fortunate that my male coaches have not been ones to make negative assumptions about myself or my female teammates. Usually, male coaches who are involved in women’s hockey are involved because they are impressed with the athletes and love the sport. I experienced more assumptions from players and parents of players on boys’ teams that I played on or against, but not usually from the coaches. These assumptions included that I wasn’t tough enough or good enough, or that I must be older than the boys (when in fact I was younger). Or, worst of all that I was taking the place of a boy in a male world…. the assumption that I just did not belong. I, however, always had the support of my coaches and this helped me persevere. I realize in talking to others in the sport that I was extremely fortunate in this regard.

Sometimes I feel that female coaches are harder on the female players and that female players are harder on female coaches.  Do you agree with this statement?

Yes. Absolutely. Female players tend to accept male coaches and male players automatically as being “legitimate.”  Conversely, female players have to “prove themselves” to each other. And female players expect their female coaches to “prove themselves” as well. I do not know to what to attribute this, but I have observed it mostly at the highest level in the sport. Perhaps it is due to the sport not being widespread or strong at the grassroots level, and so high-level girl hockey players are used to other girls “not being good enough” to challenge them, and boys being where they found challenge. Thus, this typecast stuck with them, leading to female coaches and other female players having to prove themselves before they are accepted as legitimate sources.

 Do females hold their own gender more accountable or are they just willing to approach certain topics that make male coaches uncomfortable?

I believe females hold other females accountable in different ways than they would males or that males do with other males. I believe this has a lot to do with the way that females process information and experiences and the way that we attach emotion to our world. Females have a need to be “seen, met, and heard” as a person; that is, they want to understand their own emotions and feel that you have an understanding of where they are coming from as well. This is “respect” to a female: to acknowledge their emotional standpoint, explain your own, and help them understand the situation as a whole. I have found that men have trouble and are uncomfortable attaching emotion to experience within a professional setting, such as coaching. Females, conversely, view emotion as a natural and necessary component of any situation. Thus, I think the way that females approach situations and their view of emotions differ vastly from that of males, and this leads to notion of varying accountability and male discomfort.

Karen Thatcher graduate Summa Cum Laude from Providence College in 2006, a member of the 2010 Silver medal Olympic Team and currently is an assistant coach of women’s hockey at Providence College.

The only coach in NCAA Division 1 Hockey history, George Gwozdecky from the University of Denver, to win a National Championship as a player, assistant coach, and Head Coach (twice) calls the American Development Model a “defining moment” and “great moment” for USA Hockey.  Take a listen:

As we continue to implement the ADM, a new sentiment is beginning to take hold across the Country. The tide is turning for the Best! Here is an email that was sent to one local CEP director from a recent clinic participant:

Terry,
You really did a great job today and pointed out some painful things to me. When I got home I apologized to my son for being such an *** about hockey. It was good to be reminded that it was his game not mine. He said that’s OK dad just wish you wouldn’t get so mad about how I play, you can tell me stuff but don’t get so mad. That cut to the bone, I am now going to read all the USA Hockey materials available to enhance his positive experience and I will not interfere with his enjoyment of the game.

I came from yellers and **** coaches so I thought that’s how you do it, before the season started, the head coach I am working with said we don’t yell, this was a new concept for me, so I adapted the positive model for everyone but my kid! Thanks for the story about your wife video taping and helping me to reflect on my conduct with my son on the bench and in the miserable car ride home. I enjoyed every segment today and thought you and the other speakers did an outstanding job. I am sincere when I say starting today, I will do everything in my power so my son can now begin to have a great time in hockey.
Thank you
Keith G.

This is another example of a parent realizing by creating a positive learning environment his son will have a better chance to excel. AGE appropriate training along with Constructive coaching will contribute to a child reaching his/her full potential! In today’s world of over-stimulated kids, it’s crucial that extracurricular activities are fun!

Christmas time’s a coming. Here’s to a Great Hockey Holiday for all. No doubt that many of us will be watching some great hockey over the the next few weeks. Many of us will have the opportunity to watch Team USA compete in the 2012 World Junior Championships. http://www.usahockey.com/world_junior_championship_2012/default.aspx?id=310020

This is a showcase for many of the best young players in the world. We will undoubtedly see some amazing plays in these games. We always do. Many of our young players will be watching these plays hoping that they can do the same one day. As parents, coaches and hockey leaders we should know that the best opportunity for our young players to imitate these skills is in practice. Remember, our players are only going to touch the puck for a very short time in games. Practice is the time for skill development. Lot’s of practice time.  This article by Chris Pryor of the Philadelphia Flyers reminds us of the merits of practice. http://www.letsplayhockey.com/1055pryor.html 

Lets be sure plenty of fun, skill-based practices are filling up Santa’s list for all of our young hockey players this season. Keeping practice fun with a high concentration of skill drills is the best Christmas present we can give our young players.

Youth sports can be time consuming, challenging, and expensive.  Parents are often faced with juggling schedules, transportation, budgets and emotions to make it all happen. It is often these same parents who get wrapped up in pushing their kids to pursue the game at higher levels, in pursuit of the elusive college scholarship. Unfortunately, more times than not this parental pursuit overshadows the appropriate athletic development path for a child. Allowing a player to dream is important but the adults must put development and fun at the forefront of their child’s hockey career.

Coaches and parents must realize that about 5% of high school athletes play college sports, and only about 1% obtains scholarships.  However, allowing your child to compete trains them to be goal- and team-orientated, effective communicators, ambitious and strong leaders- qualities they will carry for life.

Thousands of sport opportunities have been created for girls and women since the implementation of Title IX.  USA Hockey is a great example.  In 1990, USA Hockey had only 6,000 registered girls playing hockey, and neither the NCAA nor the IOC had endorsed women’s hockey.

Today USAH has over 65,000 registered females, the NCAA now offers 86 DI and DIII collegiate options- sanctioning 2 Frozen Fours every year- and women’s hockey is now an Olympic sport (since 1998).  It is amazing to see the progress the game has made in just 2 decades.

There are many elite female hockey players who have become great role models through sport.  Hockey legend Cammi Granato and young heroine Hilary Knight are two examples.  Their accolades and accomplishments stand alone.  In addition to these two Olympic athletes, USA Hockey is fortunate to have a new era of 65,000 plus females paving the way to the future.

So what does the sport of hockey offer a young girl beyond the possibility of becoming the next great collegiate or National Team player?

1) It provides the opportunity to be coached and to learn a variety of intangibles essential for success in life such as team building, interpersonal skills, leadership, communication, goal setting, health through fitness and healthy nutritional habits.

2) It also provides a medium for exposure to competition.  It helps young girls understand that women can be aggressive and competitive, and provides role models that affirm these behaviors.

Dawn Redd, the Head Volleyball Coach at Beloit College and of author at Coach Dawn Writes, a blog devoted to coaching coaches recently posted

4 Reasons Our Children Should Play Sports (Or My Love Letter To Athletics).

Why play sports?

Well rounded: Aside from the small minority who are talented enough to merit intently focusing on one sport, I believe that we need to encourage young folks to play multiple sports.  Play field hockey in the fall, basketball in the winter, and run track in the spring.  For years and years (before age-group sports became the financial juggernaut that it is now), this was the formula that elite athletes followed…and they were still elite.  In order to lessen the repetitive motion injuries that we see, as well as to increase the fun of sports, let’s go back to encouraging our athlete’s participation in multiple sports.

Healthy living: Even if you know that your little one is not bound for glory on the field, they can still receive the benefits of athletics participation.  Learning to work with others, goal-setting, and being a part of something bigger than themselves are all hallmarks of sports teams.    Beyond that, our children can learn to love working out and eating healthy and to enjoy living life in a balanced manner.

Love it: Some kids just love their sport.  It’s how they identify themselves and they truly cannot imagine their lives without it.  Many of those kids turn into student-athletes at small, liberal arts colleges where athletes can sometimes make up 25 to 40 percent of the student population.  Those colleges don’t offer athletic scholarships, but they do offer a student who loves their sport and values their education a place to compete and excel.

Future success: As I’ve said on this site before, girls who play sports are more likely to be successful in their future endeavors.  Sokolove agrees in his book, Warrior Girls.  He says that a 2002 survey of female executives revealed that 82 percent of them said that they had played team sports.  Learning to lead is just one of the fabulous benefits of sports participation!

Dawn Redd Coach Dawn Writes

As parents and youth coaches we need to be process-driven versus results- driven when working with female athletes. In general, females are more process-oriented then males and even if they don’t win they feel a sense of accomplishment when they reach a training goal.  We need to help females set milestones/goals and to focus on the process versus immediate outcomes.  In general boys are more result-oriented, thinking “we won because I scored a goal” where as, girls might think “we won because of great team work”. Teaching them the intangibles within a team sport, like hockey, will help them succeed by preparing them for college and the work environment as adults.   We will have well-rounded individuals with leadership qualities, armed with dynamic team building skills. They will appreciate the hard work and preparation that goes into victory while being able to lose with dignity and respect. Hockey is a great arena to outfit our female athletes for years of success.

To borrow a quote from John Stackhouse in his short story, The Healing Power of Hockey- from the Greatest Hockey Stories Ever Told- ‘Hockey is not just a sport, it’s a lifestyle, the development of a human being.’

Now that we are a couple of months into the season, we’d like to share with you a little bit of feedback on Pee Wee hockey being played under body contact rules instead of full checking rules. The following email comes from former NHLer Doug Zmolek. Doug was a multi-sport athlete in high school. He excelled in football and baseball in addition to hockey. Doug was a 1st round draft pick who went on to play for the Minnesota Golden Gophers and enjoyed an 8 year NHL career.

“Wanted to let you and Mac know that so far, so good with the change (body contact / no body check) at peewee. I was at the Eden Prairie Tournament this past weekend (Bantam A, B and Peewee A levels were playing). I was involved at the Peewee A level (as coach). It was great hockey! Time will tell, but so far I really enjoy the change. No more Rock’em, Sock’em, knee on knee, hands to the facemask, 30-foot runs at guys, etc… just good, hard, fast hockey.”

“The refs let the body (through the hands) contact go and called anything more than that. Was great! Everyone had a chance to play (big kids, small kids, medium kids). The checking had gotten out of control. Rock’em Sock’em needs to go away. Play the body by having good gap, by staying in the skating lane, control a man with your FEET, not with a head shot or knee on knee. I am sure you are getting tons of sissy comments, not true so far. We have had physical games, but within the rules, staying in skating lanes, trying to establish good gap.”

“So far I am really enjoying peewee hockey. Who knows, maybe this will bring back checking the way it was suppose to be? Play through the hands / lower body to impede progress toward your net. Think of the great skating skills our kids have the potential to develop if we have to control another player with CORRECT BODY POSITION. I think you guys are on the right track, so far I really like the change.”

-DZ

The best part (of many) of Doug’s email is when he mentions controlling a man with your FEET! I ask kids all the time what the most important part of their body is when it comes to body checking and without fail 97% of them say “your shoulder”. When I inform them that they are incorrect and the answer is your feet, they think about it for a few seconds and then they get it. If you can’t skate and angle someone, you have no chance to apply a body check.

Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em hockey is a thing of the past and certainly has no part in youth hockey. Thanks to great coaches like Doug, we are making our kids more skilled, better skating hockey players that will help us dominate the international stage for generations to come!

If we do only TWO things as coaches at 8U (and you could really make this case at any age certainly through 12U) we’ve hit a home run:

#1 Sending the kids off the ice sweaty haired and red faced (speaking to the activity level of your practice)

#2 With a SMILE on your player’s face and asking their parent’s “when is my next practice?” (speaking to the FUN level of your practice)

David Hoff, Coach-in-Chief of Northern Plains District, recently penned a great article on this topic…take just a couple of minutes and check it out!

Active Practices-David Hoff

With all the chaos that comes with the holiday season, hockey people find one more way to make this time of year just a bit harder – tournaments. I can’t remember a time in my adult life that I wasn’t on the road with or without my family at holiday time for hockey. Christmas day in airports or another country, early curfews new years eve for games on new years day. Winter Classic this year means new years eve in a hotel in Philly. Families that have two kids playing split up and go two different directions. As we choose to make these decisions and celebrate the holidays in a less than -traditional fashion I encourage everyone to find some time to reflect on how good we all have it just to be able to make the choices we do. Men and women have fought and sacraficed for  years so we can choose to go to tournaments. You can agrue whether its right or wrong to live the way we do. A lot of people think its crazy. Sometimes I do when I am alone in a foriegn country on christmas day. But we should always be thankful we had that choice and that opportunity. This is an exciting time of year in our game. Enjoy the time with your family and friends.

A friend of mine sent me some disturbing news about an association who is hosting a jamboree for 8u players. It seems that this association is only hosting the event because it is their turn.

They are following the 8u guidelines that they have agreed to follow but they just haven’t committed themselves completely to the ADM model at 8u. I find this unfortunate but I know that it is not an isolated situation. In fact, it is a situation that I have seen played out a number of times in a number of a different ways. Sometimes, it takes the form of a coach who gets on the ice and teaches a station at one of the practices but doesn’t really have his heart into it….maybe he is staging his own little protest at what he doesn’t like about the ADM, maybe he is intimidated by the fact that the ADM asks our coaches to be more engaged than ever before or maybe he is just uncomfortable in trying to do something differently than the only way he has ever known. Sometimes, it takes the form of the association president who answers the challenge of presenting something better for player development, a model that is backed by sports scientists and educators as a better way to train and develop players, by simply saying that change is impossible because ‘we have always done it this way.’ Sometimes it takes the form of a treasurer, or rink manager, who is reluctant to follow the recommended guidelines of the ADM and to look for new and innovative ways that cater to both the development of the players AND meet all the challenges that our budgets demand. In the end, I find that it is these people who are hurting the development of hockey in the United States. It is these people who, well intentioned as they may be, are doing a great disservice to our ability to move forward with a development model whose bottom line is to have each boy or girl who joins USA Hockey fulfill their potential. It is these people who are keeping associations and teams from providing the very best possible program to the kids, a program that each and every child who joins USAH deserves.

On the opposite end of the spectrum from these people are the ones who have fully embraced the opportunity to coach in a different and better way, ones who are willing to put in the time and effort to try something new and those who have changed what they have always done to create a new model, a better model and a more financially healthy model. Yes, it seems that every place I have visited where the ADM at 8u has been embraced, where the coaches and administrators have given it their all and where they have welcomed the chance to try something new, a great story is happening….bigger enrollment, better retention, more development and dare I say it…more fun for the kids! It is simple and much like everything else in life, if it is worth doing, it is worth doing right…anything less is just cheating the kids!