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Predators Make Coach Development a Priority

By Minnesota Hockey, 01/24/17, 8:00AM CST

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For youth hockey associations in Minnesota and across the country, optimizing player development is a constant topic of conversation. Whether it’s finding good coaches, discussing practice-to-game ratios or buying junior goal frames to make the nets more age-appropriate, youth hockey leaders put significant time and energy into making sure their players have the greatest possible environment to learn the game.

One area that can get overlooked is the continued development of coaches. While every coach receives extensive information and resources through the USA Hockey Coach Education Program and age-appropriate modules, the complex nature of coaching hockey makes it impossible to cover everything.

Therefore, offering coach development opportunities can make a huge impact on the experience and development of each associations’ players.

“You have to provide opportunities for coaches to get better,” said Ryan Warner, Woodbury Area Hockey Club’s (WAHC) VP of Hockey Ops. “Otherwise, you’re not doing your job as an association.”

This fall Warner spearheaded an effort to coordinate a series of coach-the-coach sessions for WAHC coaches on power skating, through Minnesota Hockey’s Coach Development Program. Long time St. Olaf College Men’s Hockey coach Sean Goldsworthy led the coaches through sessions on back-to-back nights that featured classroom presentations and on-ice demonstrations.

Goldsworthy showed the coaches age-appropriate drills to use and provided key teaching points for each of them. Areas of focus included the skating stride, edgework, recovery and the proper progression of skating skills. 

“I know a lot of our teams are using those drills in their practices,” said Warner. “It was really good for coaches who are new to the program, and it was really good for the coaches who’ve been around a while.”

To ensure the lessons made a lasting impact, WAHC taped the sessions and posted them on a coaching resource page so the coaches could re-visit the videos if they wanted to remember a certain skill or drill. Then, Goldsworthy returned in January for a follow up session that focused on answering questions and showing the next steps in the players’ development of skating skills.

“We were really happy with it,” Warner concluded. “It definitely helped our association improve.”

For information on offering a similar coach training program in your association, contact Minnesota Hockey directly or check out our Coach Development Program

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