Coaching youth hockey clubs is a great way to combine your love of the game with a passion to be involved in the lives of young people
. One of the most rewarding aspects of coaching hockey is that you get a chance to positively impact the lives of young people and pass on principles and truths that will help guide them for the rest of their lives. If you are just starting your youth hockey coaching career, here are some tips and advice to help you make sure you coach the sport the right way.
One of the most important aspects of coaching hockey clubs is making sure that you are organized. Hockey is a fast paced but still very technical sport that is going to require you to spend a lot of time teaching different skills to your team. This means that you need to make the most of every practice, and to do that, you need a solid plan. Sit down a few months before the season starts and figure out what you want to focus on this season and create a plan that will help you achieve that goal. Make sure that you structure each practice to feature practicing fundamental skills as well as learning new ones to add to your players arsenal.
A big mistake many coaches make is assuming that the kids playing in the hockey clubs are already great skaters who have nothing left to learn. Even the most advanced skater on the team needs to practice and continue sharpening their skills. Even if every child on the team is awesome on the ice, still make some time a few practices a week to work on building up their skating abilities. Some players might learn new skating techniques that enable them to skate faster and more safely, and this will definitely benefit the team.
Another tip to keep in mind is that coaching hockey clubs is not about winning or losing. This is not to say that competition is not important because it is. You want to equip the kids with the humility to accept a victory and the grace to accept a loss. These skills will be essential when they grow up and go out into the work force. You also want to encourage the kids to have fun and enjoy the sport of hockey. This is what playing sports should really be about in the first place.