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Good Intentions
Are Not Enough Yes, I am convinced all of us involved in amateur hockey in the United States have only what is in the best interests of the participants in our hearts. Coaches, parents, administrators, and officials, in fact all adults associated with the game in some way, play an important role in providing hockey participants with the opportunity to participate in a challenging, rewarding, and enjoyable hockey experience based on the individual participants personal level of interest, skill, and aspirations. In a perfect world,
that would be the end of it and we could pursue this worthy mission without
having to examine our path or our conscience. But it is not a perfect
world and we do have to evaluate our methods and techniques regularly
to assure that we do continue to provide the highest quality programs
to our constituency. As leaders in hockey, that is our responsibility.
Let's take a look at all of the great things we have.
These programs and their
participants are composed of players who have participated in our youth
programs. In fact in the majority of cases, they are products of our youth
programs. I submit that the most important program that we need to continuously
evaluate, expand, and enhance are these youth programs. Particularly the
12-under ages. They are the very foundation of our hockey program and
all of the other levels are highly dependent on the success of the youth
programs for their success. So lets take a look
at our current youth 12-under programs. We need to concentrate
on the 12-under participants. There is a corridor between 8 and 12 where
there is nothing specific. Yes, we have curriculums, but nothing "hands
on". If we don't provide specific programs and education for these
ages the benefits of the earlier age programs will soon be waylaid or
forgotten. Why?
Skill development is a process that requires patience and considerable repetition to be effective. The development cycle is, advancing from:
That is the process
for each skill. Once you get to the unconscious competence level for that
skill you move to the next skill. Obviously, this is not an overnight
process. It is my opinion that we are short changing our younger players
in many cases because we either are not aware of the process, we do not
believe this is the process, or we do not really care about the process.
USA Hockey as the leader of the amateur hockey community in the US has
in my opinion the responsibility to provide the best programs possible
for it's participants. To accomplish that will require a great deal of
research and study in order to determine exactly which is the best way
given our culture. USA Hockey has the resources and in my opinion the
responsibility to develop a "USA Way". Other countries have
their "Ways" based on their cultural parameters. We need
to develop our "Way" based on our current cultural parameters.
In other words, what may be good for Sweden may not be good for
the USA simply because of cultural differences. What may have been good
for the USA 10 or 15 years ago probably would not be effective in today's
culture. The dilemma is that
while the our younger participants enjoy the culture, when we become adults
and proceed to the workplace we go back to the achievement ethic.
We all know the good fairy doesn't come to us one night, tap us on the
shoulder, and the next day we have a promotion. It seems to me that
we need to be able to integrate the "instant gratification mode with
the achievement mode or we lose some of the primary values associated
with athletic performance. The challenge is to motivate players to succeed
in the "instant gratification" culture. Ask any coach how that
works. Certainly a subject worthy of research and study Once we have determined
what is the best "Way" then we have to educate all adults involved
in whatever capacity with youth hockey. Education must precede implementation.
In my opinion all adults
involved in youth hockey have only the most honorable intentions and strive
to create the best possible hockey experience for the participant. The
problem is many adults do not have the appropriate knowledge and skill
regarding the many growth and development variables involved in the personalized
growth and development process for the younger youth hockey participants.
Given that (and some may dispute the given) there is a critical need to
educate those who are involved. Who has that responsibility? USA Hockey
(period). As leaders of amateur hockey in the USA it is not only our responsibility to educate but also our duty if we are indeed going to provide the most effective as well as efficient programs for our younger players. We have many programs for our older more advanced performers. What we need to work on is developing the foundation from which these older players can develop and flourish. We need to take the time to properly prepare the younger player so that when he or she is older they have the tools to advance. Where they have achieved the level of unconscious competence in their fundamental skills and are ready to proceed to a more advanced level of training. It is really investing in the future success of our player development programs. Playing 30-40 or 50 games as a 10-12 year-old really doesn't allow much time for fundamental skill development does it? That means that eventually when the participant advances to higher levels he/she is not equipped with the appropriate tools necessary to move on to more advanced skills and techniques. That is really a shame and we are shortchanging our youngsters. So we need to first
study the current methods using the wealth of expertise available, adjust
where necessary based on changes in our culture, develop and adopt the
best possible methods ("USA WAY"), educate our adult constituents,
then implement the most effective and efficient programs for our younger
performers. Education is the key. Understanding the sophisticated and
complex process of human growth and development for the 12-under participant
can only make our programs better. By understanding the process, many
of the current problems with adults would be minimized. For those
adults who remain a problem there is always the "adult police"
concept. I think it is unfair to the parents to have all of the blame
for our behavior problems in hockey. I believe that there isn't a parent
alive that would deliberately do anything to disrupt or disturb their
child's hockey experience. The problem is that many just do not understand
the process. That goes for coaches, administrators, and officials
as well. Perhaps instead of telling adults "how" to behave we
should also include the "why". I firmly believe we as an organization
need to move forward in this initiative. Certainly there are political
implications involved in implementing these programs as well as cost factors.
However, as the leaders of hockey in our country we need to have the courage
of our conviction. I know all of us want what is in the best interests
of our younger performers. That being the case let's get it done.
It is an initiative well worth the effort and the expense. No matter how you slice it the game is for the kids and our responsibility is to assure that they receive the benefit of our best efforts. Steven Covey's Law of the Farm is the underlying message that needs to be communicated. You prepare the soil, you plant the seeds, you water the plants, you pull the weeds, then you watch and hope. That's all you can really do anyway. It's the same with our younger players: You do all that you can to help them prepare, then you watch and hope. Patience is the key: Ralph Waldo Emerson says it perfectly: "Patience is a virtue...for which we all strive and seldom reach". We need to change the ending of his statement for the benefit of the kids.
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