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