Feature Story
The right kind of coach
By Kim McCullough, MSc, YCS
Concerned hockey parents will often ask
me whether their daughter should tryout for a different team so that they can
be exposed to a “different kind of coach.” They are concerned that their
daughter isn’t flourishing under their current coach and wonder if they might
be able to find a better fit. They might think that their daughter would
improve more under a more strict coaching style or that they need a more nurturing
type of coach. I always offer them my advice, but I find it really interesting
that we put our coaches into the same little boxes that we put our players
into.
We tend to categorize our players into
the “defensive defensemen,” the “goal scorer” or the “playmaker.” We don’t
necessarily confine our players to these descriptions, but quite often, those
labels stick and persist far into their playing careers.
We do the exact same thing with coaches.
You’ve got your “yeller,” your “systems coach” and your “skills coach.” And as
much as I think it can be harmful to put our young players into a particular
category of player, I think it is potentially more harmful to allow our coaches
to be defined in such narrow terms.
Coaching young hockey players, male or
female, cannot be a “one size fits all” approach. Your players aren’t all the
same, so why would you treat them all the same?
If you want to make sure that you address
the individual needs of every player on your team, you have to adjust your
communication style accordingly. Most of us coaches are stubborn and often fall
back on the “my way or the highway” approach. I am as guilty as the next person
of getting lazy and staying in my comfort zone.
The “one size fits all” approach is the
easy way to coach a team. Personalized
coaching and communication is a lot of work. But it is absolutely essential to
developing the most complete players possible. You can’t communicate with the
highly motivated, highly skilled players on your team in the same way you communicate
with the players with low motivation and high skill. They are going to respond
completely differently. You have to take a completely different approach with a
low skill, high motivation player than you would with a low skill, low
motivation player.
Not every player on your team is going to
respond to screaming and yelling. And some of your players will find the
“cheerleader” approach, with constant positivity no
matter what the situation, to be aggravating. I know I did. Some players need
constant feedback after every shift, while some just want to be left
alone.
We all know that being a volunteer hockey
coach is one of the most thankless jobs around. We get great personal
satisfaction of seeing our players succeed on and off the ice, but there are
ridiculous demands on our time and frequent attacks on our program and
philosophy from concerned parents and frustrated players.
Now I am asking you to commit even more
time and effort to being a better coach. As coaches, we have all made the
commitment to help our players become better athletes and better people on and
off the ice. Do not allow yourself to be defined by one style of coaching.
Personalizing our communication for each and every athlete is a lot of work,
but it is well worth it.
To learn more about how to get to the next level of girls
hockey performance, visit: http://www.totalfemalehockey.com.
Kim McCullough, MSc, YCS, is an expert in the
development of aspiring young hockey players. Kim’s player
development websites give coaches and parents of young players access to
programs, articles and advice on how to help their players take their game to
the next level safely and effectively.
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