About That Student-to-Coach Ratio Thing
Breaking with tradition, the following question isn’t from a single site visitor. Instead, it represents a lot of calls I received years back when I ran traditional-type hockey schools. So, listen in, if you will, as I attempt to deal with the many hockey moms and dads who so often began a telephone conversation with, “Sir, could you please tell me what your student-to-coach ratio is?”
Ugh.
Shoulders slightly slumped, I’d at least try to be polite (while also half-teasing), “Just read a magazine article, huh?” From there, I’d suggest the folly in such a seemingly dreamed-up numbering system…
I might have also teased a bit more by asking the parent, “How would you like it if I hired enough bodies to reach a great ratio, but then my coaches were either inept, or they paid little attention to your child?” (Slightly connected here… I’ve often joked at coaching seminars that I could teach a chimp to blow a whistle at the head of a line. But, I wouldn’t count him among my “teaching staff”!)
Personally, the student:coach-thing didn’t work for me. So, I’d explain how I cared more about getting different jobs done — correctly, I mean…
Like, I’d appoint one great teacher and a young counselor to work in our classroom; I might assign one really intense coach plus a couple of helpers to man our outdoor off-ice (or dryland training; then, I’d have about four pretty dynamic guys and gals supporting me at our on-ice station. And, following that explanation, I’d often ask the caller, “Now, what numbers should I use for MY student-to-staff ratio?” (I might also ask the reader, “Which method do you prefer: my worrying about just satisfying numbers, or my trying to get the job done right?”)
Actually, it wouldn’t take long before a caller and I hit-it-off, so that we could move-on to deal with their youngster’s needs. Still, let me add a few more thoughts on what I’ve previously suggested is an arbitrarily concocted game of numbers….
You see, the real crux of the matter is that good teaching starts in a coach’s heart. And, at least so far, no one has devised a way to measure that on a sliding scale. Furthermore, no Duncan Hines-type has ever eaten at all of the hockey schools across North America. And it’s doubtful a modern-day George Washington has slept in any of their dorms. That’s pretty much what would be needed, though — as in a visit to every single camp, in order to reduce their efficiencies to some sort of comparative system.
Finally, I know I’ve needled a lot — here, and in my past conversations with prospective customers. However, I sometimes find that necessary in order to undo the nonsense occasionally heaped upon the general hockey population. And, praying I’ve put the above issue to rest. I also hope I’ve contributed what are some very positive suggestions on the subject.
