Selling a 6am Practice

Being at the rink so early is akin to staying up past bedtime

As all hockey players know, being the first of the day to carve a perfect flawless sheet of ice is a rare and beautiful moment. It can only happen by being the first ones of the day on the ice.  This is what a 6am practice offers. There is no other time of the day that offers quite the same feeling.  The rink, minus the hum of the ventilation systems, is silent, empty & crisp. 

The kids arrive buddled up with toques & mitts like they're joining Bartlett on an arctic exploration.  Most show up already wearing half their equipment, this is something I actually recommned to the parents.  It helps make the 6am'er different.

For some reason, and I'm not sure why, all the kids stare at their skates when they hit the ice.  I suspect because their skates cutting the ice is so amplified due to the silence.  They seem to marvel at the sound. You'll see them skate around the rink practicing their C-cuts, just to make the sound.  Watch for it, you'll see what I'm talking about - it's fun to watch!

All that being said, trying to sell a 6am practice to kids & parents on a Saturday morning, in the throes of a Canadian winter is no easy task.  It's cold. It's dark. It's early. It's usually the weekend. 

So once again it comes back to fun.  If you want kids to show up at these early practices you got to make the 6am'er a different kind of practice.

Here's how I make my 6am'ers different

Get kids dressed in half their equipment at home

Put pucks out on the ice right away, our normal practice usually involves a skating warm-up without pucks.  Not for the 6 am'er.  They get pucks right away and I encourage them to just play around.  Try stick-handling.  Try shooting it hard off the boards to make a sound.  Try to raise the puck off the ice.  Try passing to friends.  Try shooting it the full length of the ice.  Try whatever you want ... just have fun & play with the puck.  Do whatever you want with it.  We do this for the first 10 minutes, and kids love it.  You'll often see them going for a drink because they're working up such a sweat having fun.

Team breakfast after the practice is a favorite of the kids.  We get 4-5 6am'ers in a season and we all go as a team for breakfast after practice.  We're typically there by 7:10am and the place is usually pretty empty.  Our team has the run of the place and management doesn't seem to mind, sort of :-)  The kids get a big kick out of sitting at the bar.    

My boy enjoys 6am'ers so much now he likes to get there extra early to have 10 minutes or so of alone time on the ice.

I hope this helps you with your 6am'ers.

Coach Chris