Can Your Kid Actually Hear You Screaming ? - ? - ?

     As we gear up for the beginning of yet another hockey season in Knoxville, TN - and for the first time ever I'm not just a coach, but a hockey dad as well - one glaringly obvious thing has become evident. I am a better hockey coach than I am a hockey dad.

    My son Chunk just turned 4 and will be joining the ever-growing horde of Little Preds who will engulf our arena this season in our most popular program for several years now. For those scratching their heads at that last sentence, his given name is Bradley but he was fortunate enough to pick up the nickname "Chunk" early in life and prefers that currently :) He'll either rise above it and use his sparkling personality to make folks ignore his name or turn out like the kid in Johnny Cash's "Boy Named Sue" and come beat the doors off me in 15 years. Either way, for now..... he's Chunk.

Anyways, he has taken to hockey a little bit lately - to no one's surprise - and is enrolled for the

January session of the Learn to Play Program with us. The program, for kids aged 4 through 9 is an incredible value at $150 per player that comes with everything you need to get started in hockey. Full equipment custom-sized that includes skates, jersey, bag, a membership to the Gnash Kids Club with the Predators, a graduation goody bag full of Preds swag and a brand new 1-year USA Hockey membership number included that allows you to sign up for further programming moving forward.  It's never been this easy to get started as a young hockey player and I'm happy Chunk doesn't have to have magazines strapped to his legs and wear red vinyl winter mittens on his hand like I did because they didn't make hockey equipment that small back then. If you or a friend, neighbor, coworker or even an enemy are interested, check out our site and all the other registration info for our next session that begins very soon. Cool Sports kicks in a free 8-week skating class on top of all this value and that's where my new experience as the "dad" vs the "coach" has begun.

     It's funny, I always tell parents when their kid is out on the ice with us learning to play that they need to just let it happen. Let them fall, leave them out there, don't let them think that coming off the ice and quitting halfway through practice is going to be acceptable or ..... whaddya know.... it becomes accepted right? Well if that didn't go out the window for Chunk's first skating lesson :) Our skating director Marcia Little graciously volunteered her time to give him the A++ experience and wouldn't you know it, Coach Dad Mike came swooping in and let him leave the ice after about 15 minutes because he was crying. Oops.

"Chunk" - Keep your head up kid!

   As it turns out, it wasn't all bad.... he just needed a snack. And since his mommy, my wonderful wife Haley is 34 weeks pregnant with our 2nd creature right now, snack-time is anytime in the Craigen world these days so things worked out nicely. To Chunk's credit, he buried a bit of blue slushy, hopped back out on the ice with Marcia and managed to wobble around enough to declare "I skated" and go home happy.... that is until he stood on top of his table and urinated directly into a dish of Play-Doh later on because it had dried out and it wasn't shaping properly for him. Did I mention he's four?

     As you can tell, my blogging and written word skills have experienced a decline due to inactivity (along with my skating stride sadly) and I have digressed pretty drastically from the title of this article and what I had originally intended to write about.... .so stay with me here > > > > > >

     Can they actually hear you? The answer isn't black and white, but here's my take; NO. Okay so maybe that was fairly black after all. They can't actually hear you. There are so many moving parts to a hockey game at really any level of play that a single voice or instruction being shouted is rarely going to register, much less register in time to make an impact on the play. Nevermind the fact that the playing surface is surrounded by boards and glass that provide even more barrier to your voice.

     Now don't get me wrong - there's a significant difference between screaming instructions to your little player and cheering them on. I was guilty back in my early coaching days of "over-coaching" from the bench because I felt like it was my job to do so. A player would pick up the puck behind the net and I'd yell "Move your feet, hit the post guy, Jonesy watch the middle, keep your head up, Marty wheel up & across, seal the middle!!" A player would come to the bench and I'd ask, "didn't you hear me?" Their eyes would get really wide accompanied by  quizzical look and they'd almost always say, "Uhhh, no."

     Things have definitely changed for me as a coach over the years and I've refined many areas of my teaching from the way I work with kids during practice, during games, off the ice and obviously from age group to age group. One of the hardest parts of coaching youth hockey, or any sport at any age really, is how to change your teaching approach from athlete to athlete and person to person. Below is a list of my top pieces of "advice" for youth hockey parents and coaches as it relates to "yelling" or "cheering."

PARENTS

DO - get excited when you're talking with your son or daughter about hockey. Celebrate something every single car ride whether it be raising the puck in the air on a shot, trying to tie their own skates, making a save without a rebound or taking a backhand shot. Hockey is full of small victories everytime your child is on the ice, so find them.

DO NOT - spend more time talking about the things they did wrong than the things they did well. Watch an NHL game, even the best in the world turn the puck over and make mistakes so your 9 year old isn't going to excel in every category. Encouragement trumps discouragement in all scenarios. By the way, have you ever tried yourself? Handling a frozen piece of rubber while balancing yourself above two 3 mm steel blades on ice? It ain't easy! Especially when you're 6 years old and still thinking about the last episode of Wild Kratts you watched that morning. 

DO - Cheer loud and get pumped up when your kid does well! Be animated. They may not hear what you're saying but you can bet they're looking over at you regularly, so get into it.... show them you're proud and excited for what they're doing. And do the YMCA and the Cupid Shuffle every time it comes on! Energy and fun are contagious at youth hockey as show in the video captured below of ACTUAL Cool Sports hockey parents who have no idea they were being recorded last weekend :)

DO NOT - Yell loud directions from outside the glass or under ANY circumstances insert yourself onto the players bench to give instruction during a game. (No really... .don't do it. Like ever ever.) Your player usually can't hear what you're saying let alone absorb it in time to make the adjustment necessary to act on what you yelled anyway. Hockey is a bit of a sanctuary within the boards and glass for the players, so leave em alone.

DO - Ask questions to the leaders of your organization and team. There is nothing wrong with pulling a coach aside to ask about certain things that went on or didn't go on during a game or practice or calling, emailing and chatting with a program director about something you'd like to  discuss. You pay good money to have your son or daughter out there and you have every right to be informed.

DO NOT - Ask questions in the middle of an event when a coach/instructor are running a practice or managing a bench during a game. Ever seen that redfaced mom or dad go stomping around the glass after Little Billy got taken off the ice? Big Billy Redface is furious about what he perceives is unfair treatment of his son and opens the door to the bench, demanding an explanation from the coach only to find out the strap on Little Billy's elbow pad came undone and he came off the ice to have it fixed. Pump the brakes with the public displays of displeasure parents, I promise.... it looks silly on ya'.  

COACHES

DO - use your outside voice when needed. Your players CAN hear you and you CAN be impactful during games and practices by being vocal. Use short, concise terms that players can process on the fly like "head up" or "time." Easy instructions are much more effective for kids of all ages and they will become accustomed to hearing your voice and the consistency that comes with it.

DO NOT - try and orchestrate a play mid-action (like I used to). Too much yelling and too many shouted instructions only muddles an already fast paced, quick thinking sport.

DO - use props! I love seeing coaches with the board in their hand on the bench or teaching by using other players as examples during a game. Visual learning is 10000% the way to develop youth players in this day and age. I think there is a fancy quote by some fancy person from the 1900's about showing me vs telling me online somewhere, but I couldn't find it. You can tell a player something 55 times and it won't sink in but if you show them once, it sticks. Well, it sometimes kinda sticks. 

DO NOT - try and teach in the middle of a shift. You can't correct mistakes on the fly, you just can't. The best time to teach and enforce your approach is after a shift, not during. Wait until the mistake happens, let Little Billy come off the ice (hopefully Big Billy Redface was at the concession stand annihilating a defenseless hot dog when it happened) and grab a drink of water before you address his play. 

DO - hold your players accountable every time they're on the ice. You're not doing any player or any family a favor by letting their kids off the hook for effort or attitude. We cannot make demands on a players skillset or performance but we sure as heck can demand they try hard and approach each shift and drill with a good attitude. Try it - and if you get pushback from a player I'm willing to bet you're doing it right. We are entrusted with teaching these players the game of hockey but in truth, we're using this amazing sport as a vehicle to teach them values they'll use for the rest of their life.

DO NOT - take yourself too seriously. Laugh during games when something crazy doesn't go your way. Goof around with the kids from time to time when they need it. The Bobby Knight days are over guys...... the coach is no longer a distinguished ironclad figure with his hands on his hips standing on a raised platform staring down upon his disciples and barking out orders that can never be questioned for fear of expulsion. Youth coaches are now the little-engine-that-could running a little late, carrying two bags of equipment and trying to fill up water bottles on time. So enjoy it and don't be afraid to make fun of yourself from time to time.

Things are getting very busy in the hockey world for both youth, collegiate and professional organizations. At Cool Sports, our Knoxville Jr Predators winter season is about to kick off next week with leagues from mite all the way through bantam. Our youth rec leagues in Knoxville have been direct beneficiaries of the wonderful Little Preds program I mentioned earlier and we've seen huge growth in program numbers as a result.

We start off the youth rec season with tryouts for our select program this weekend, (October 5th) followed by the beginning of leagues next week. Our select program is basically a house league "all star" experience where we combine some of the best players from each age group in our program, sprinkle in some extra practices, a few games against select teams in other cities and then a couple of out of town tournaments. It's a cool way for players and families to experience hockey outside the walls of Cool Sports and develop some great friendships with other families on the road. At the risk of this blog turning into a used car dealership, if you're interested in our select program  you can check out some more details on our website here. I'd really love anyone who's interested to have a chance to participate.

Here's a fun and informative share to wrap things up for this blog entry and help provide some perspective for everyone entering into a new hockey season;

Of the 6 major sports in the United States today - baseball, soccer, hockey, football men's basketball and women's basketball -  only 6% of the athletes overall advance from high school sports to the NCAA. Further, of that 6% only 2% ever advance to play professionally. Numbers inflate a touch for hockey, but you get the message right? Relax and enjoy the ride parents, it won't last long.