Creativity – PARADIGM Sports

Why Coaches need to teach character

Posted July 25, 2019January 27, 2022 Glen MulcahyPosted in Athlete, Coach, Organization Executive, Parents

For all the years that I have coached various sports, one of the most stressful times of the year for coaches, parents and players are the tryouts for competitive teams or even skills evaluations of recreational (formerly known as house) teams.

As the upcoming hockey tryout season for rep teams is fast approaching and all associations will be hosting their respective tryouts here are some tips for coaches to look for (and parents to share with their aspiring rep player son or daughter)

Rep player evaluations consist of three areas

#1 Core Skills

This is when evaluators will look at players go thru various ice sessions to evaluate players core hockey skills, skating, passing, shooting, balance, agility, and contact (body checking if applicable bantam age groups and up). Players are scored either out of 5 or 10 then after each skate evaluators (hopefully organizations have independent or ones not involved with the age group for impartiality) to compare notes and then players are ranked.

Many organizations have policies that the top X forwards (5-6) and 2-3 defencemen will receive spots on the rep teams and then the coaches have the discretion to fill the remaining spots on the team based on the holes they are looking to fill.

#2 Game Play

Players will be randomly put on to teams to be evaluated in terms of their performance during gameplay, this is where coaches not only reaffirm their skills but how they play positionally, what they do without the puck (as most of the game they will not have the puck on the stick), whether they backcheck, play on the defensive side of the puck, demonstrate sportsmanship, are unselfish and so forth.

#3 Character

This is the hardest area for coaches to evaluate, this is what I call the “Fire in the Belly Section” and coincidentally in a recent survey, I did for a parent presentation the #1 expectation that parents have for their kid’s youth sports experience is they will develop character.

Prior to every tryout of any of the sports I have coached over the years, the only tip that shared with players is the importance that they may be evaluated at any time during a skill session or scrimmage/exhibition games and share one of many great woodenisms below;

Asides from watching body language which everyone in the arena can see, below are some of the key ones that I recommend coaches look for when evaluating players for rep hockey tryouts (same would hold true for any other sports), which is why I have argued for years that sports don’t build character, it’s the coaches in sports that do.

GRIT – The Passion and Perseverance for long-term and meaningful goals.

When it comes to tryouts, it can be a stressful experience for kids, but what can really affect their stress levels is how their parents support them to reach their realistic goals.

COURAGE – The first step of demonstrating courage is to commit to trying out in the first place, I have known many kids over the years that had the skills to play at the competitive level but lacked the confidence in their ability that they would be able to make rep teams in the first place.

The other part of demonstrating courage during the tryouts are things like how hard they battle along the boards for pucks, in front of the net for dirty goals, carrying the puck up the ice, going into the corners as a D man with a forechecker coming fast and so on. If kids shy away from the puck but have the skills, chances are the more courageous players are going to be selected for the AAA team vs. not.

SELFLESSNESS – Are they a puck mover or a puck hog?

When I surveyed older players (after 13 years old) what they did not like about hockey, one of the top answers I received was when their teammates were selfish. Hockey is a team sport, so when I have had selfish players on teams at the beginning of the season, I talk to them and say if they won’t pass the puck, then perhaps they should consider playing golf in lieu.

COMMITMENT – Do they show up early for every ice time, are they the last to leave the ice? Are they putting in extra time at home working on their shots, strength, cardio, balance and agility? Have they attended every ice session or have they missed any (the exception being family issues)

One of the things I remind all players, and now various co-op students that have worked with us over the years … if you’re not early you’re late.

LEADERSHIP – Do they talk to other players on the bench, do they communicate on the ice by calling defensive plays, calling for passes, letting players know to get their head up, lead warm-ups before games etc. ?

The ones that I look for are the players that bring their toolbox to every ice time, work hard, play thru adversity (other players chirping, slashing) never complain, are their early and leave the ice last, help the coaches clean up and just set an example of being a great teammate

SPORTSMANSHIP – Do they celebrate goals “they” score excessively or do they humbly circle with their teammates and thank them for making passes to set them up? Do they have “pissy” fits when they don’t score or have the puck taken away from them, make mistakes that may lead to a goal being scored against their team and so on.

PATIENCE – When they have the puck on their stick, do they methodically up the ice with the puck, make passes at the right time (without telegraphing), wait for teammates to get open, make that first past as a D man to get the puck out of the zone OR do they panic when they get to the puck and throw it right up the strong side of the boards to be intercepted easily by the opposing team?

CREATIVITY – do they try things in the skills sessions as well as evaluation scrimmages as they have the confidence to do so OR do they not take risks as they are scared of making mistakes?

The latter is usually a sign that they lack confidence due to the fact that adults have instructed them not to do things.

Many of the above are the intangibles that we look for as coaches when selecting players for our teams but are probably the hardest things to teach kids which is why coaches have to recognize the importance of not only teaching the skills of the game but the skills of life.

The last tip I would provide for coaches, if it appears that players have the skills but lack various character traits outlined above, more often than not you would be better off opting for a player perhaps with a little less skill but with the character you are looking for who fits your desired culture.

The Reason why the ALL blacks have the winningest record in the last decade of any sports organization is one of their core values is to recruit players with character that will fit their culture (teamwork, hard work, commitment, resilient, selfless, communication) vs. those having more skills and lack character traits to fit in.

This will permit your team to go thru the storming stage much faster than if you had a few players that not buying into the desired culture you aspire for the team, as Peter Drucker made famous;

How to develop creative players

Posted November 1, 2017January 27, 2022 Glen Mulcahy1 CommentPosted in Uncategorized

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As the Hockey Clinic season has started I have reinforced the importance with new coaches the importance in developing creativity with their young athletes.

Below is a poster board of the 10 ways to develop creative youth players that we have posted to Facebook with examples outlining each.

Our thoughts on the top 10 ways;

One of the biggest issues facing youth sports today is the focus on winning at all costs where “some” youth coaches will play their favorites or shorten their benches in games to win games, tournaments and banners. One of the top 5 reasons identified by Amanda Visek in her groundbreaking study why kids play sports is when they get an opportunity to play. 90% of kids would rather play on a losing team in all situations than sit on a bench for a winning team.

In Hockey, much like many other sports, we need to teach players positional awareness so they know where to be without the puck as players will only have the puck for a very small portion of the game. For Peewee Recreational players, the average puck time is only 8 seconds in an average 50 minute game.

Players should not be pigeon holed in a specific position until they opt to specialize in their latter teens if they follow the LTPD model (don’t get me started on early specialization). In a recent clinic where we have a bantam A1 team come out for the coaches to run thru drills, one of the players had converted from being a A1 goalie to a player and was one of the top skaters on the ice. I have even been told that some MHA’s will only permit players to try out for defence or forward and that is the position they are to play all season long.

What happens if your team suffers injuries, a flu breakout then?

Coaches should be developing players by giving them the opportunity to play all positions in game play until their late teens or even later.

Would Dustin Byfuglien or Brent Burns have been able to make the transition from D-F and vice versa when in the NHL if they had played one position only in their youth?

In lieu of planning out every single drill in a practice to limit players having the opportunity to be creative in game play scenarios, ensure that you incorporate small area games with limited instruction to permit players to work on their skills. This will permit them to be creative in 1 on 1 battles, 2 on 1 and so forth that they could then transfer to game play.

This is probably one of top challenges for youth sport coaches today, it is important that you create a safe to fail environment not only in practices and encourage players to make mistakes, the uglier the better, but also have their backs in games so they don’t play in fear.

When I have talked to WHL coaches and scouts over the years, they have identified many of the deficiencies of Bantam Draft players that affects their draft position or being drafted at all including;

Lack of creativity
Not being able to shoot or receive a pass on a backhand
Not making backhand passes
Lack of checking skills
Not “competing” for pucks along the boards or in front of the net

These are all areas that coaches should be working on developing not just in practices, but also in game play in lieu of screaming at a player when they try to do so and worse yet is not executed perfectly and leads to a turnover and a scoring opportunity by the opposing teams.

Was the first goal that Free Agent Louie Erickson scored a highlight reel on TSN ? Yes, but not because he went in on a breakaway but he tried to pass the puck back on a delayed penalty and it ended up going the length of the ice and into the Canucks net.

When Brent Sutter was interviewed after the 2014 World Juniors and Team Canada did not medal, he stated one of the reasons was that we lacked skill and creativity vs. other nations. This is due largely in part to the fact that minor hockey coaches are spending too much time telling players what to do, vs. encouraging them to try the skills that they worked on in practices.

We also need to give players the opportunity to play without coaching whatsoever, Bobby Orr attributes he development and creativity to all the repetitions he had playing on the pond in Parry Sound. When a goal was scored, all the players would do is pull the puck out of the net and start again. There were not coaches, parents of officials telling the players what to do.

We will never get back to that time due to the digital era we now live in, but we must find a happy medium where players are safe to fail and have the freedom to try different things in practices and games so it will make them more creative when they get to higher levels of play.

The perfect example of this transformation is John Tortorella, who for many years was known for his tirades screaming at players and officials and not connecting to his players. Last season, he was hired to coach the Columbus Blue Jackets much to many experts surprise due to the poor outing the World Championship Team had he coached in Fall 2016 but the management of Columbus told him he would need to change and adapt in order for his contract to be renewed.

He did so and guided Columbus to a record winning streak and into the playoffs and was acknowledged as Coach of the Year in the NHL receiving the Jack Adams award.

The best coaches that I ever had in my youth challenged me every practice to become the best player I could be, and they did so without being demeaning. That is the fine line we all have to walk, but in order to get the best out of our players individually and teams collectively is to push our players to become better each and every practice.

Reinforcing the importance of effort, praising when they make mistakes so they get up and try again. As I have told every player over the years, if you aren’t pushing yourself, you are never going to get better.

If we continue to let them do it the same way over and over again and expect different results, that is insanity – Albert Einstein

In every practice and games I ask players what do they need to do, or we as a team need to do to improve? Then I wait for the answers.

I have done this with Novice all the way to Midget and all age groups in between in both the competitive (rep) and recreational (rec) streams.

What I have also learned is the importance of P&R (Patience and repetitions from Terry Crisp), as yout sport coaches we have to be patient first and foremost and we have to provide opportunities for players to work on their skills thru numerous repetitions, adding to the difficulty (progression) thru the season.

The funniest anecdote I have shared in many clinics is a player that I had on my Bantam A2 team, at intermission breaks I would ask the players what we needed to do in the next period and he was infamous for one word answers like

Pass

Shoot

Score

His nickname became “Cone head” from the movie miracle for Herb Brooks Line “Cone Heads” when they came into his office and said coach we pass, we shoot and we score.

This is probably the biggest challenges for coaches, many want to develop set systems, tactics and strategies and many will scream at their players if they deviate from in game play.

I will never forget talking to a defencemen on a Bantam A1 team who shared the analogy with me that the coach only had one set play for power play where the team would cycle the puck to set up the weak side D to come in the back door and shoot on goal. The problem was every team clued into the set play at the first powerplay each game and would position a player in the gap to prevent that setup pass or prevent the defensemen from shooting. He (13 years old at the time) stated as he was not given any options, would try to slap the shot thru that player but would have to shoot wide as did not want to hurt him.

I heard similar stories from many other players over the years as coaches were not giving them the opportunity to “adapt, overcome and improvise” in game play.

Coaches, practices you can control, but games you can not as there are too many variables (other teams, coaches, the officiating) so it this last point is the key takeaway, you MUST support your players to improvise in all game situations, if you have a set play, provide players option B, C, D etc. so they can still follow in part but use their imagination in doing so.

Let’s work together to bring the game back to the kids.