A Message to My Favorite Parents & Players

(An Idea For Team Coaches)

Okay, I’ll need to explain this post some… You see, a number of years ago I decided to create a website just for my team — and by that, I mean for my team’s parents, their kids, and my assistants. The majority of the posts were videos, with some diagrams, photos and a few audio files mixed in. I had to explain the site to our members when they first arrived, of course, and the following is the way I did that.

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A Message from Coach Chic: For the longest time, I’ve searched for ways to deliver video presentations to my players and their parents. Understand that it’s the icing on the cake when it comes to teaching, and here are just a few reasons why:

• Each of us has different learning capabilities. Some learn better and retain information longer if they see it, some need to hear the information, while others feel a need to be actively involved in an exchange of that information. In fact, many of us are more comfortable experiencing the information in a combination of these methods. (It’s now believed that there are as many as 7 different learning types.)
• It’s certainly true that “repetition is the best teacher.” So the following videos present the opportunity for my players to review any given strategy or tactic as many times as they’d like.
• So do these videos allow players to learn at their own pace, or to study certain videos more or less according to their individual needs.
• Then, I’ve always attempted to keep parents as informed as possible, and this is even true when it comes to the various skills or principles I’m attempting to teach the players. For one thing, parents might better understand the challenges their kids experience down on the game-ice, if they first understand what our team is attempting to accomplish. And, parents might be better able to assess their own young player’s success in carrying-out the team’s aims. Better yet, I know that the following videos will help those parents who wish to help their own youngsters behind the scenes.

Among all my aims, I’m attempting to gradually (according to a player’s school grade) prepare him for high school hockey. Each element of our team system has been selected for that purpose — not necessarily so we can win games, but so that the players will ultimately be able to handle just about any X’s and O’s a high school coach will throw their way. And, even though my players will surely learn solid defensive principles, I’ve selected lots of our strategies and tactics to “open-up” their game. (Frankly, I feel it’s a lot easier to later bring a wild and flying player under control than it is to suddenly bring an inhibited player our of his shell.)

A few last points… My long-time players tend to REALLY know the game when they arrive at their respective high schools. I mean, they can “think the game” as well as just about anyone (including college and pro guys). They also tend to be really “coach-able”, perhaps because they appreciate what their high school coach is attempting to do. I think my older guys end-up being extremely confident, this because they really know their stuff.

Of course, the following videos serve absolutely no purpose if they’re not watched and watched and watched. I promise it’s going to make the world of difference.

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I hope the above makes sense to CoachChic.com members and site visitors, and I truly encourage youth coaches to do something like I’ve explained above.

Of course, if you have any questions, just fire away.