Key to a Winning Team

A good coach is the key to a winning team. No matter how much skill and talent a team may have, a good coach is vital to bringing everything together by establishing structure and realistic expectations. It is no coincidence that you often see a team with a good coach, and less talent, defeat a team with all the talent in the world and an incompetent coach.

Constructive Practices

Each team practice should have a specific purpose or skill-building goal. If your team played poor defense last game, then focus on defense. Likewise, if they couldn´t score, be creative with drills. At the end of a practice, play a game so they can apply the skills. Give your players positive reinforcement if they show improvement in these areas.

Encouragement

The most important element for children playing hockey is to have the support of their parents. Encourage participation in practices, good sportsmanship, and attend as many of the games as possible.

Slapshots

Coaches should never let young players take slapshots. Kids are often too young and underdeveloped to have an effective slapshot. Give them time to develop their snapshot, wristshot, and backhand first.

Backchecking

Good hockey players should be willing to do anything to help their team. Backchecking is a skill that hockey players should master. By backchecking, a forward creates many more opportunities for the team, thereby helping out the defense by picking up a player from the neutral zone.

Don´t Forget Goalies

Very often coaches are so focused on developing their team play they neglect their goalies. Every goalie will complain about this, so ask them what drills they enjoy most and which will help them improve their skills.

Encourage Goalie Play

Not many kids want to play goalie. It´s always been that way and is unlikely to change in the near future. Encourage children to try the position; goalies usually get the most credit for playing good games!

Experience All Positions

Never limit any young hockey player to one position at an early age. Let them experience all positions, even goalie, to find what they really enjoy. In addition, it is an asset to any team, at any age, to have a well-rounded player.

Starting Age

The best age to begin skating is around 3 to 4 years old. As your child develops ice skating skills, they can start to learn hockey basics around the ages of 5 to 6 years old.

Skates for Beginners

The best skates for beginners are the ones where the entire shoe goes into the skate boot. Children maintain their sense of "walking" as they develop their ice skating skills.

Getting Started

So you want to be a coach? Not a problem. Coaching the game of hockey requires knowledge of the sport, involvement in hockey in previous years (either as a parent or player), the ability to work well with children, and a great deal of patience and understanding around your players.

Positioning

As a coach, make sure you don´t limit your right-handed players to right wing and your left-handed players to left wing. Some players find it easier to play their off-wing because it allows them to cut across the middle and now be on their forehand. Let the players decide where they are most comfortable.

Fitting Skates

One of the most important things for children beginning to skate is to make sure their skates fit. A popular complaint for kids is that their feet hurt which could be caused by skates that don´t fit or muscles that need to be built. While standing, a child should be able to brush their big toe against the front of the boot. If the toe is jammed against the front, the boot is too small, and if they can´t reach the front of the skate no matter how hard they try, the boot is too big. Both problems will hurt their balance and hinder their development.

Dealing with Referees

Not only should you never allow your players to speak to the referees (except for Captains), but you should never make a scene in front of your players. It distracts them from the game and they will lose their focus. There is plenty of time between periods and after a game to tell them what you really think.

Learning Aids

Youngsters can easily learn to play hockey by using a chair or something else to lean on for balance. This is very effective because it helps the kids begin working on their stride. The chair is similar to training wheels!

Do Your Best

In the NHL, there is room for only one championship team. For young players, it is important to remember that even though your team may not be in the #1 position, it is always possible for you to shine and play well, earning credit from your teammates.

Make Learning Fun

All in all, if you want kids to learn, make it fun. Standing in front of them drawing a million lines on a chalkboard is not effective. Design games where they can compete and apply the skills you are teaching them.

Establish Competition

The best way to condition your players AND have them improve their skills is to establish competition. Create games your players can play against each other and I guarantee they will skate much harder (than just going from goal to goal). Small zone, short and fast games are extremely beneficial and you will see a big difference in your team´s longevity during third period play.

Rule Application

EVERY RULE APPLIES TO EVERY PLAYER! The last thing you want is team dissension and for certain players to feel inferior. If your best player violates a rule, you may not want to establish a punishment, but who else is the best example to learn from?