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Eyes on the Prize

By Todd Smith, Special to Minnesota Hockey, 11/14/16, 10:00AM CST

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Tips on setting goals and expectations for this season

A new hockey season is upon us and with it comes a new set of changes. Players might have a new level, schedule, team or coach. But each new hockey season also brings with it something less tangible: a new set of goals and expectations.

It is extremely important for all parties involved – players, coaches and parents – to set goals and expectations with each new season. It provides both a season-long vision and daily motivation for striving to achieve both individual and team goals. More importantly, when goals and expectations are well constructed and realistic they provide a great road map for success on and off the ice.

Andy Shriver, a Positive Coaching Alliance (PCA) trainer, facilitates workshops for coaches, parents, athletes and youth sports association leaders. He knows firsthand the importance of setting goals and expectations that are balanced and realistic. Shriver is the Minnesota Hockey District 15 coach-in-chief and director of hockey operations for the Alexandria Area Hockey Association.

He knows the mistake of players, coaches and parents setting goals and expectations that are designed to fail.

“For all groups involved – athletes, coaches, parents – the underlying factor that is most important is that goals and expectations have to do with what that person or group have some control over. I think players in games or coaches managing teams or parents supporting their kids, you can only control so much. Having goals set and based on other people is a tough way to go about it.”

The following are tips for setting realistic goals and expectations:

Player Goals

When setting personal goals, Shriver believes an athlete should start broad and then move down to specifics. A hockey player should start by constantly trying to master the game and this is done by a consistent effort of hard work and repetition. The goal should simply be on overall improvement and this happens by continuously working on specific skills such as stickhandling, wrist shots and backhands daily or weekly or monthly. In the end, when players get better individually the whole team will get better, too.

“It comes down to specifics. That’s where the coach comes into the picture,” Shriver says. “Using the coach as a sounding board for the things that a player can improve on or get better at. A coach can tell a player the specific things that they need to build upon. This could be in the upcoming days, weeks or until the end of the season.”

Team Goals

If all the athletes are on the same mission and work as a team towards a unifying goal, collectively aiming to achieve a specific target, they are more likely to achieve success. After all, a car motor is built upon thousands of moving parts that all work in unison. But that engine simply can’t run when multiple parts are installed sideways.

“I think that if all the athletes are starting with the same mindset – control what they can control – and goals that are focused on process and mastery – once everyone is on the same page, working together, now as a team it will make more sense to ask what goals they want to accomplish together.”

Set Up to Fail

When goals and expectations are based on things out of a player’s or team’s control then those goals and expectations are built up like a house of cards and set to fail. One misstep, one bad puck bounce, and it all crumbles down. This is why it is extremely important to build goals around things that a player or coach can control and not ones predicated on the unpredictable nature of a sports game where endless factors can contribute to a loss.

“I think a hockey goalie is such a good example. Most goalies think what they want to see in a game is a shutout. That’s a very honorable goal to have, too,” Shriver says. “But during the game, what happens if in the first 30 seconds the goalie faces a 3-on-0 and he makes three tremendous saves and then gives up the fourth save and they score. Then his whole goal for that game – a shutout – is shot and the game is not close to being over. He didn’t achieve his goal and it had nothing to do with what he did or didn’t do.”

Success: More Than Just Stats

The analytics and measuring of statistics has become the central way to evaluate players’ success or failure in the modern world of athletics. Stats, points and team record are the things that are easily tallied. Physical skills and winning are important, but they don’t tell the whole story of what is considered to be a success. Emotional growth and how to deal with adversity are as equally as important as scoring goals and winning games. Balancing personal on-ice stats, team records and life lessons is a delicate balance, though.

“One of the trends is to have smart goals. The measurable goals. One of the things we default to are statistics,” Shriver confirms. “So, people will gravitate towards things such as records. But having a great record depends, for better or worse, on your competition. You could play terrible hockey and still go undefeated.”

“Goals that are a little more important but are more elusive are the things like improvement,” Shriver continues. “It’s easy to articulate and measure things like goals and points per game. I think that everyone involved – players, coaches, parents – need to think about it a little harder. We need to get more creative as to what exactly we want to get out of participating in sports (and setting goals and expectations). For example, if there is adversity in a game and the coach and players don’t explode in anger at the referee that can be a success. The kids process the situation and make notes on how their coach and teammates conducted themselves when things got tough. They will use these things in their hockey careers – and when they’re at the office when they are 35 years old.”

Parents Play a Huge Role

Hockey parents in Minnesota are some of the most knowledgeable in the country. But having a tremendous amount of hockey wisdom and experience doesn’t always translate towards having a positive effect on the kids. This is important to remember because a parent has a huge role in the overall happiness of their young athlete.

“I think it’s important to remember that our kids are going to have tons of coaches over the years, but they will not have tons of parents,” Shriver says. “The parent’s role is clear: To support the kids, support the coach, support the program. The more support a parent gives their child, the healthier approach they will have to the game. We teach in the Positive Coaching Alliance that a coach is constantly thinking of two goals 1.) Excellence in hockey, striving to win and 2.) Life lessons and building character. The parent’s role is support number two, almost exclusively. Things get confusing when the parent is constantly trying to be the coach and worrying about number one. The focus and goal should be in supporting the positive aspects of the game and number two.”

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