Backyard Rink

13' x 23' Backyard Rink

Best. Purchase. Ever.

"No more pictures dad!  I'm playing hockey, this is serious."

For $99 bucks at Canadian Tire the backyard is transformed into our own personal rink to do whatever we want & stay on as long as we want. Oh and of course, there's always lot's of hot chocolate available.

This is the same rink I purchased last year, and planned a bigger one this winter.  But with our family growing again this year, time just ran out.  So NEXT year, I plan to make it twice as wide.  For a 5 year old though, he has great fun on it.

Tip - Do a big flood your first time, then only do very small floods the rest of the winter.  Just think how little a zamboni puts down.

Praise the Effort, Not the Result

The 3 Stars of Practice

Every weekend we have 2 practices, Saturday & Sunday morning.  At the end of practice on Sunday I always comment on how hard the kids worked at the practices and make reference to the drills telling them I was really impressed with how hard they worked on, say, cross-overs.  Then I pick out 3 individual players and make a special mention of something I noticed they worked really hard on and reward them with one of the three balls.  We all applaud and congratulate the player, I do this twice more. Every child in the room sits in complete silence, bursting at the seams with anticipation, waiting to hear if they've been chosen.

Smart Balls for stick-handling off the ice

It just so happens that my numbers work out perfectly that each child will be chosen as a star 3x over the course of the season.  I'm not huge on the 'every child gets a trophy' concept as I feel this can lead to an entitlement mentality.  But singling out a child 3 times over the course of season to praise them on something they've worked very hard at, is completely different.  If you cannot pick out 3 things each child worked hard at over a season then you're not looking hard enough.  

Remember these are 5&6 year old children.  I've given a ball to a kid for doing really good listening at both practices.  For kids at this age, I think even this can be a tall order sometimes.

Feel free to steal or improve upon this idea, I really hope it helps you with the practice - I know our players love it and carry that ball as if it were the biggest trophy in the world.

BTW - If you didn't know, Smart Balls are off ice stick-handling balls that give the same feel as a puck.  There are a lot of these types of products on the market, but I like these best because they can roll on many surfaces just as easy as the last.  They roll on carpet just as easy as hardwood. 

Coach Chris

Thanksgiving

Mock turkey legs from the Dollar Store

Trying to keep 4-6 year olds engaged and interested can be challenging no matter what you're doing. Throughout the season I do my best to take advantage of anything possible to change up the practice.

So to incorporate Thanksgiving into the practice I ran a drill using no pucks or sticks, just fake turkey legs. The kids loved it! Lot's of laughs and some really hard work on the drill. The kids without even being aware of it were practicing skating fast, crossovers, tight turns, and even dekes on the goalie (my team manager) :-).

The point here is that a coach should never just limit their props to pylons, nets, sticks, etc.  There's really no limit to what you can use, just ensure it's items that cannot hurt the players or damage the ice.  Take special care to ensure you're not using something that can fit through their cage/mask or something that they can become tangled.

Turkey Leg Drill

Feel free to take this idea, or build upon it.  Hope it helps keep the kids engaged! 

The Parent Meeting

This is a post that you would expect to be much earlier in the blog because one of the first things you do as a coach, is hold a parent meeting to set up expectations for the year.  But to be fare to you I needed to get a number of sessions under my belt so I'd know if there were things that I should have covered in the parent meeting.  This meeting should only take about 10 minutes.  I held mine during the first 10 minutes of a practice.  I asked the coach of the other team we share the ice with to take care of the first 10 minutes of practice.

So what I've done here is copied/pasted the email I sent out following the meeting (minus people's personal information). I highly recommend covering these topics off at your 'Parent Meeting' as well.  As usual, feel free to copy as much information as you like, everyone's situation is different.

Hope it helps.  
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Bench Staff

Coach - Chris
A. Coach - Andy
Manager - Paul R
Trainer - Jim G
Helper 1 - Nicole
Helper 2 - Jim L
Helper 3 - Brent

Key Dates:

·         Oct 13 & 14 Trainer Course at the Legion.

·         Oct 15 Deadline to submit Police Record Check (PRC) receipt to coach (ALL registered staff must complete)

·         Oct 22 & 29: Speak Out at the Legion (ALL registered staff must complete)

·         Nov 3 – Picture Day (times & location TBD)

·         Nov 30 Deadline for all staff to submit a completed & stamped PRC to coach

·         SMHA Fun Day will be held the last ice time before Christmas

Mandatory  & Safety Requirements:

·         At least 2 parents in the room at all times.  Adults are never to be alone in the dressing room with a child. (if unavoidable then stand in doorway with door open where you are visible)

·         All players must have a medical information form completed.

·         Only team staff on benches, everyone else in the stands.

·         Only those on the team roster allowed on the ice.

·         Maximum of 7 insurable spots per team

·         Mouth guards & neck guards on every player.  (Tip: buy cheap & use juice to mold mouth guard)

·         Helmets & mask must have CSA stickers on them

·         Ensure proper size equipment & comfort, length of stick, etc.

·         Keep gloves on the all the time while on the ice.  We’ll help with water bottles.

·         ***Dressing Room: Footwear at all times, no hands on the floor.  Accident on an IP team last year.  Try to not have the kids running around. (18 Players + 18 parents + second parent + siblings = a lot of people in dressing room)***

Coaching Style

·         Focus is on FUN, Safety, building friendships & fostering a passion for hockey with basic skill development.

·         This is Developmental Hockey, not Competitive Hockey: primary focus is on skating ability - backwards, frontwards, balance, agility, stopping, turning, crossovers, etc.

·         Passing & Shooting

·         Games (tag, cops & robbers, etc.)

·         3 Stars every weekend.  “Praise the effort, not the result”

Goals

·         What goals do you have for your child this year? (e.g.) improve backward skating; able to do cross-over’s; etc.  For Luke, he doesn’t do a proper hockey stop on his right foot, cheats a little.

·         My stretch/fun goal: every child on the team is able to raise the puck off the ice (flip-shot)

Drills

·         We have a big team so will be watching for kids standing around, so sometimes may send 2-3 at a time.

·         Sometimes may have to stand around if I’m explaining something new that requires more explanation, or I need to see them do it individually to ensure proper technique.

Budget – Paul R (manager)

·         Approx $1500 (Tournaments; year-end party & trophy’s; name bar’s, toques, etc.)

·         2-3 Fun Days (tournaments): 2-3 after Christmas only

·         Roughly speaking:

o    $20/player for tournament (2 tournaments)

o    $10/player name bar

o    $25/player year end party with trophy

o    $10/player toque with team name & number

·         Fundraising ideas:

o    Someone on the team can get a sponsorship

I was able to get 2 sponsors this week, each for $250 (more information is coming)

o    Ask parents for cash ~$80/player (is now more like $50/player)

o    Someone able to get a donation from a company for us to raffle

o    Team number for Restaurant is coming.  Will have a couple of team breakfasts. Team #: 5555

o    All Ideas Welcome

Discipline

The 3 strike rule is good:
 
First time: take player aside and warn them what they're doing is not acceptable.
 
Second time: player sits on bench for a couple of minutes (apologizes to other player if one involved)
 
Third time: player is asked to leave the ice for remainder of that practice.

All on-ice helpers know that they are permitted to discipline the children using the above steps.

Feedback for coach(s)

Speak to me directly, or via email, text, etc.  Or if you’re more comfortable speaking to the convener, here’s his email: convener@sympatico.com. Please be as open, honest & as specific as possible.  Also if you have a suggestion on how something can be improved, let me know.  I’m interested in everyone’s input, no matter how much hockey experience you have.  You are experts when it comes to parenting, particularly as it relates to your child.

Miscellaneous

·         Goalies: will be dressed only in the second half of the season.  Everyone will get a chance to be goalie.

·         When do we start full ice games? – after Christmas

·         Please let me know if your child is not themselves that day.

Hockey Canada - Practices

A coach must emphasize FUNdamental skill development during practices.  It is the responsibility of each coach to teach these FUNdamental skills to each player.

Players enjoy time to themselves, unstructured.  2-5 minutes per practice should be sufficient.  This enables players to be creative & try new things.

Each player should have a puck on their stick for 8-12 minutes.

Each player should have 30 shots on goal.

Remembrance

With Remembrance Day happening on a weekend this year and hockey being Canada's unofficial national past time, I think it only made sense to tie them together.

That being said, I wanted to do something to respectfully honor our soldiers with the kids, but didn't want to be too over the top with it.  

My wife suggested getting these sticker poppy's for the jersey's.  Along with a moment of silence at 11am, I think we hit the mark.

Peter Puck

About once a week, maybe not as often as that, my son and I use the iPad to watch some shorts before bedtime.  I know, I know ... but it's a special treat sometimes and it gets a lot of smiles.

One night I googled 'hockey cartoons' and came across some old 'Peter Puck' video's from the 70's.  I still love these old video's and can even remember being a kid and shouting all the inaccuracy's at the TV.  Things like, "the goalie is holding his stick with his scoop!"

I'll bet your young ones will enjoy them stiil the same too ... and they do actually pick up a tip or two about the rules of the game.

 

Here's a link to the CBC's bank of all the most recent Peter Puck video's after he made his updated reappearance in 2009.

http://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockeynightincanada/peterpuck/video/#id=2208713756

Coach Chris

Mouth Guards

Mouth guards are mandatory for Initiation hockey, and as far as I know have been mandatory for all minor hockey in Canada for about 10 years.  Even if they were not mandatory, they're still a very good idea for any 'collision sport'. 

However, it's become amply clear to me, that most kids do not like wearing a mouth guard.  But they also seem to get use to them pretty quickly. So stick with it and I'm sure you'll find the same. 

Below are some tips I have learned along the way to help ensure the kids get there a little quicker.

Good Luck!

Tips

• buy cheap 'boil & bite' mouth guards.  No need to buy expensive mouth guards because they chew through them anyway, remember we're dealing with 5 & 6 year old's.  The science also suggests that the cheap ones are just as protective as the custom fit ones anyway.
• use scissors to cut the ends off of the mouth guards as well.  I've yet to find a mouth guard that properly fits in the mouth of a kid this age.  It's a bit of guess work to figure out exactly where to cut the mouth guard, but just hold it up to their cheek and you can make a reasonable judgement.
• follow the directions exactly as written on the package around how to mold the mouth guard.  Depending on the brand you usually have to dip it in boiling water for about 15 - 45 seconds, then a quick dip in cool water before placing it in the mouth.  I suggest quickly dipping it into something the kid likes to drink, like apple juice, and then popping it in their mouth.  Tell them to bite down and suck all the juice out while you count to 30.  I've done this now several times and have had great success.  Still can't get him to stop chewing through them though :-) 

FYI - there has been quite a bit of controversy out there around mouth guards and the prevention of concussions.  You'll hear this idea from time to time around the rink and even outside the rink.  But despite this popular belief it seems most experts do not believe it to be true.  That being said, these same experts do still believe it's a great idea to wear a mouth guard.  There is plenty of evidence that they do protect you from dental injuries and some facial fractures. 

The Handshake

Esprit de Corps

I've mentioned this in a previous post, and here's a quick video of it.  As an example of my continued efforts to build team camaraderie, I have the kids do the handshake with at least one other player before hitting the ice.  It's a routine with the kids now, and most kids do the handshake with multiple teammates before hitting the ice.  I find it gets the kids in a playful mood before practice.  Even if a child shows up with a frown on their face, they're smiling pretty quickly once a fellow teammate does the handshake with them. I highly suggest doing something similar with the kids, they thoroughly enjoy it. 

Discipline

So, you've got 3 cross ice scrimmages going on the ice at the same time ... 37 kids + 14 adult on-ice helpers = 51 bodies on the ice.  At the end of practice you have a parent approach and ask you what you're going to do about the kid that two-handed their child with a hockey stick over the head.  You didn't actually see it, but if the parent mentions it, you gotta believe it's true.  This happened to me, and that's why I wrote this short action plan for disciplining kids.  I just wish I had to write and share it with the parents prior to this incident.  I also spoke to two other coaches to get their opinions and input on this plan, and we all felt this seemed like a reasonable approach.
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The 3 strike rule:
 
First time: take player aside and warn them what they're doing is not acceptable.
 
Second time: player sits on bench for a couple of minutes (apologizes to other player if one involved)
 
Third time: player is asked to leave the ice for remainder of that practice.

Ensure all on-ice helpers know that they are permitted to discipline the children using the above steps.  Anytime a child is disciplined, you must inform the coach and the coach informs the other coach (if the incident involves the other team).

Reminder to all, that sometimes an incident may be perceived differently from the stands.  Anytime, a parent has a concern, they should inform coach immediately after practice so an incident can be dealt with quickly.  Parent should also inform coach if they are unhappy with the results after disciplinary action has been taken.

Ensure ALL parents are aware of the process.

Halloween Weekend

What a great opportunity to have some fun with the kids.

We had practices this past weekend, the last weekend before Halloween, so the question was, "how can I incorporate Halloween into hockey practice and still teach hockey skills?"

 
 First thing I did was head to Dollarama and see what they had available for cheap, after all, I was using my own cash.  I had no idea what I was looking for, but figured it would hit me once I was in the aisles, and it did.  So I picked up a dozen 'Witches Hats'.  They fit over the pylons quite nicely, and the kids got a kick out of doing some relay races around the hats. 


Next I picked up a couple of these window coverings to hang from the nets.  As you can see the posters do not touch the ice, so I had a contest to see who could raise the puck off the ice and hit the poster.  This was a great opportunity to reinforce the technique for a 'flip-shot'.  It just so happens that at the 'Parents Meeting' I told everyone my stretch goal for the year with the kids was to have every player be able to get the puck off the ice.

 Lastly, I found this 'Franken-Bucket' in our 'Halloween-decoration-storage-box' that we take down annually to decorate the house.  It was perfect for holding candy that I had Luke pass around the room after practice.

All in all, this weekend cost me about $30, and well worth it.  I took a lot of satisfaction in the fun the kids had, and I know I made a memorable weekend for them all.  However small a contribution it was.

And I know it shouldn't matter, the kids are the #1 priority, but compliments from parents over the weekend about it all felt GREAT!!

If you're unsure about teaching the 'Flip-Shot, here's a great video clip from Hockey Canada that breaks it down.  Yes, it's a much older player, but the concepts are the same.  After just one short 8-minute session with the kids I had a few of them getting the puck off the ice.  I feel confident that we'll have them all raising the puck by the season's end.

Flip Shot

  

First Day - On the Ice

First day is all about FUN & Safety. Generally speaking, I wanted to get a sense for the kid’s abilities so I had a better idea what kind of drills to plan for week 2 and beyond.  Started out with basic movements during the warm-up (stick over their head, touch toes, knee touches on the blue line, jump the blueline, etc.) 

Priorities of the Day were ...

Learning kids names, ensuring proper equipment and comfort.

 

Checking mouth & neck guards; Length of stick (up to chin)

Reminding kids that gloves are worn at all times while on the ice.  I made sure they understood that if they needed help with the water bottles or their mouth guards or something else that the coaches were there to help them. There was no reason for anyone to take their gloves off.

Demonstrate and practice a proper hockey stance.  Some kids did not know how to hold their hockey stick. 

Told them they needed to take a knee when coach called them over.  No standing or skating around the coach. With kids this age, someone always spontaneously just falls over while standing in a group, usually taking a couple of bodies with them. 

Drills for week 1 concentrated on skating forward & stopping, making tight turns, backward skating and very basic skating with the puck.  We played cops & robbers a few times.  First the adults were the cops who had to catch the kids (no one allowed to skate outside the blue line) and put them in the net (jail). They always love this game.  Then we did the reverse with the kids the cops and the adults the robbers.

Scrimmage for last 10 minutes of a 50 minute practice.  We divided the rink into 3 cross ice games.  We had 4 real hockey nets from the rink on the ice for two of the games, and I brought along two pop-up nets from soccer for the third game.  I thought the soccer nets were a better alternative to pylons being used for a net.

First Day - Off the Ice

First day, here's the situation as I see it.

Most of the kids and parents are meeting each other for the first time. Many of the kids do not know anyone on the team, many have never played hockey (or any team sport), and a lot of the parents have not grown up playing minor hockey.

For myself, it's my first time as the head coach in minor hockey, most of my helpers have not been involved in minor hockey since they were kids, and every parent is watching/judging from the safety of the stands :-)

Knowing all of this, I can confidently say the first day is equally exciting and stressful for all involved.

And I wouldn't rather be anywhere else!!!

Here's what I did to create a great 'First Day Experience'.

Coach Chris
_______________________________________________________________
 

Greeted each parent and child individually to learn names.  I find if you make an effort to remember the names, you’ll get most of them right away, don’t just let it slide in one ear and out the other.  Everyone’s favorite word is their own name.
 
Got Luke to hang jerseys on the hooks around the room, so kids could see numbers and choose the number they would like to have for the year as they showed up.  I know many coaches like to give out the jerseys before the first on-ice session, but I think the kids enjoyed trying to decide what number to wear.  However Ican see positives to both approaches.

Team Name Change.  This was a very fun activity, however it was kind of hard to facilitate.  But that was the fun, and point, of it.  After several rounds of voting we landed on ‘Lightning Sharks’.  BTW – about a third of the kids in the room didn’t know what voting meant.  Remember these first time hockey players are only 5 & 6 years old.  I had to explain if they liked a name they had to raise their hand.  Also had 3 kids raise their hands every time I read aloud the next suggestion, I guess they liked all the team name suggestions.  On 'Day One',  I had a piece of paper with the old name printed on on it and placed on the door.  On Day 2 however, I placed the sign below on our dressing room door.  Kids loved it!!

 
Team Handshake – had kids watch Luke & I do it first.  Then each kid had to go tell another kid their name and do the handshake.  Lots of smiles and lots of laughing going on, especially considering most of these kids were strangers to each other.  However, I find 5 & 6 year old's become fast friends if you create the right atmosphere. Big bonus here was the parent’s approval.  As I mentioned, a lot of these parents have their kids in hockey for the first time and it’s a room full of strangers.  But this one simple act had many parents smiling between their sips of coffee and nodding at me knowingly.  Big WIN!
   
Informed parent’s that I wanted to hold a ‘Parent Meeting’ next Saturday or Sunday, depending on time of practice. Would only last about 10 minutes. I had arranged others to be on the ice with the kids for the first 10 minutes of practice while I chatted with the parents.

Dressing Room’s #1 Rule. No one walks around in socks or bare feet. Keep your hands off the floor!  Explained that having someone step on your foot or hand with skates on isn’t something we want to happen.  We have a busy dressing room with 18 players, plus at least 18 parents, plus siblings, etc.