Shortening the Bench

[girlshockeyrocks]

P4 - You're doing some great things with your team and thanks for the pep talk.

But you're making quite a few assumptions. Your post is good because it has to be thrown out there now and then to remind us ALL who's game it is.

But since it's directed toward me, I just want to be clear, I'm a very positive coach because as I said above, I really don't care about winning and I'm passionate about development. I praise the heck out of the small successes by our weaker players and hold them accoutable only for lack of effort - not mistakes or lack of skill. I've worked with enough kids in multiple sports to know what 'joy' is in coaching and it has little to do with coaching talent or winning. It's just this (and knight58 nailed it too): Working with kids that want to get better. PERIOD. Note that there's nothing in there about talent.

But in the scheme of all this, consider the following little 'character check' I do daily: I do three hard sprints a practice calling them 'first period', 'second period', and 'third period'. They're tough (but only 15-20 seconds). Then we do one more...OPTIONAL 'Overtime' sprint. Guess who lines up and who doesn't? I'm not kidding. Noting also that I don't do any belittling or barking (or praising) for the girls that did or didn't skate it...it's just a daily opportunity for each girl to show their passion/heart/commitment to me AND to each other.

I'm not making it up that often the entire third line sits out the optional 'OT' skate and a first liner has never skipped it. You'd think the weaker players would be a little sheepish to skip the last 20 second skate given all the top players gut it out?? But they are not...obviously they are wired a little differently - they are great girls and I love them, but clearly their competitive fire and sense of team responsiblity is a few rungs lower. I find it interesting and enlightening.

Again, it's a small reward in the scheme of things to reward your most dedicated players with a few PPs. It's not hurting the development of my second and third line if I maybe shuffle the lineup once or twice a game because of a PP or if I call a timeout and let my top players lock down a playoff game. Like I said above...if anything, the other players SHOULD be thinking "I want to work hard so I'm on the ice for PP/pulled goalie situation."

Noting also that in past years, my top line generally got the LEAST amt of PP time because they were usually the ones on the ice working hard and creating situations that drew the penalty...then they sat on the bench while lines 2 and 3 skated the PP. So in fact the line that EARNED the PP was typically the one line that got very little PP time. And unlike your team, our second and third lines are not a meaningful threat to score on a PP - in fact, they often spend the time in our own DZ because the other team put out some top players to kill the penalty and it's a mismatch.

So, yeah...in practices, we do lots of small areas games/situations like you do and we're not working 'systems' or doing PP walkthrus, etc.... And we're trying to coach up our bottom and we do praise on them for small success, etc and ask only effort. We talk about each person contributing the 'small things' in practices and games and understanding that each short cut they take is a cheat to the team and the players who refuse to take a shortcuts. They all hear this but yet some don't line up for the OT skate? And will cut corners on pushups, etc if they think nobody is watching... (I do bust them on the pushups now and it does result in more resolve - resolve to do a better job of not getting caught!

And lastly, again, good general message in your post, but believe me, nobody will ever quit hockey because of me. My creed in coaching is that the kids should look forward to practices that are uptempo, challenging, and encouraging. I've never done a punishment skate (to a fault most say) or ripped them up for a loss or lackluster game.

So again, good points to remind us all...but don't throw these things out because I run a PP line once and while or call a timeout and put my best 5 or 6 players on the ice at the end of a game. In contrast, I know coaches who 'roll them' but do so much screaming the kids that often leave the ice or lockerroom in tears. And these coaches have no problem doling out heavy doses of punishment skates and belittlement to the point where kids don't want to be at the rink.

Again, I'm just sayin... Keep up the good work you are doing with the girls and your program. We're all learning.

[justAParent]

Whether or not the coach shortens the bench or how they run the PP/PK isn't something my daughter has really talked about much - never complained about it. Sometimes she is skating and sometimes she isn't. She seems to take it all in stride.

Some of the other things in the last few posts really rub me the wrong way, though. I think it was the statement about usually being able to tell the dedicated skaters by the tears in their eyes after a loss that put me over the edge … really?

The best coaches I've known can motivate all their players to work hard. Usually the girls know exactly how the coach values them. My observation is that most coaches get pretty much what they expect from each and every one of their players. The coaches that get the most from the least are the ones who not only expect it but are actually creative enough to find what motivates those skaters too.

p.s. Our team has a couple of pretty tough teams to beat this weekend. If it comes down to shortening the bench I am pretty sure it will be based on who is having a good day and what is needed to win. Not as a reward for skating the third period drill like a machine.

[drop the puck]

Have seen it at U10 - U14 and Squirt through Bantam. Once in HS, it is a coach's decision. BUT IN YOUTH HOCKEY, you simply can not shorten the bench ... period.

PP and PK I guess fine ... keep the better players on the ice for PK and the hardest working players on the PP. If you don't and the other team does ... often it is game over for the well meaning coach and his team.

In 5on5 hockey running line #1 every other line or constructing some program were weaker players are out once every 4th shift does not belong in youth hockey.

Players subjected to that situation, do care, but too often feel helpless to do something about it. If the short shifted player really does not care, then these are the players I would be concerned about and not the non-cryers after a tough loss.

Too bad there is not some way to get this into the fair play point calculation !!

[justAParent]

Well that would be great if it were consistent in youth hockey. I think my kid just accepts that it is what it is. You are right that they all want to play and do care.

[Pens4]

Whats the old saying, "You have to skate a mile in a man's CCM's before you can understand what he's going through." I think I understand and I think you're trying to guide the team and grow it. They will ultimately appreciate your effort and passion....in fact they probably already do.

[royals dad]

"You have to skate a mile in a man's CCM's before you can understand what he's going through."

At the very least you will be a mile away and have his skates.

[sinbin]

Thanks for the posts and perspectives, GHR. I agree that everyone should be given a "chance". But there are two groups of "sufferers" in many sports at this age, say 10 - 14: (1) those who play less because the coach wants to win at all costs and (2) those who play the exact same amount as the kids who skip practice, don't hustle, don't work hard, etc. Group 1 is probably larger in terms of numbers, but why should Group 2 arbitrarily suffer when they've done nothing wrong? It sounds like you've developed a great system that fairly rewards those who put in the effort.

[buttercup]

[deleted]

[panpan111]

Seriously Buttercup....take it to YOUR coaches, be accurate with your facts, be realistic, don't destroy your team!

[endtoend]

GHR seems to have a very great approach to his team and understands where they are at.

To often these days, do we seem to follow the example of no child left behind. We lower education standards to make sure that everyone can pass. Teachers are told to give extra credit to students to help raise their grade and in-turn, raise the class average. All to qualify for funding. But when a child is truly exceptional, we are hesitant to say anything for the fear of hurting someones feelings, showing favoritism or making someone feel left out. In today's society, people celebrate mediocrity and GHR said it best, "in this world of 9th place ribbons". I agree with helping everyone go as far as they want to go and no child should be told they can't do something. nut which child is there for the game or there for friends. It is great when they are there for both. Makes a coaches job easier.

P4 not everyone has an entire team of skaters who all want to play for the love of it. In-fact, most teams, I would say have half. The other half of the team is there for the social aspect of it. These children may like hockey, but which child WANTS to improve, WANTS to get better. I commend GHR for his approach and solution.

I think that everyone who is coaching, got into coaching for 1 of 2 reasons. One, they have a child that is in the sport and the parents or parent feel like they could do a better job. Or 2, they truley love this game and want to give something back. As long as you are coaching for the right reason, every kid on the team will feel that and respond to it. All coaches make mistakes, if they are any good, they will learn and grow. Anyone agree? This is all, of course, in my humble opinion.

[northwoods oldtimer]

Our coach started shortening the bench during the second period of the second game our team played.

U10B.

My daughter was one of the "shortened" and cried all the way home. She couldn't understand why she didn't play for much of the game. She's not one of the best players, she's also not the worst. Despite two years of mites and really loving hockey, we had to talk her into going back. She thought she was "going to be no good, ever" at nine.

To be fair, the coach isn't doing this as much now, though there are definitely girls who will never see the ice during a penalty kill or power play.

And for the record, no, we did not win any of the games where we shortened the bench.

Your coach needs some major help! 10U B, un - flippin' - real!!!

[Snow Tiger]

This past weekend at u10b Alexandria had a couple girls not even skate a shift in a tourney. Parents were pissed to say the least but what got me was coaches response: we need to balance winning with letting a weak skater out there.

Now granted maybe she is a weak skater but my feelings were that this was u10b not even A

[forwards4ever]

How about an association in the north metro that took 10 skaters and a goalie when they have two B teams in their association. Way to go 10UA district 10 champs you should be so proud.

[EPIC97]

Looking at their rosters they have 37 kids at 10U. It also looks as though they have 3 goalies. I think this was probably a numbers decision and not just some way to win a D10 10U championship.
Two teams of 18 or 3 teams of 12 and 13. Not sure what is the correct way to go about it. I am sure you can argue both sides.
Judging from the fact they also won the 10UB championship I am guessing they think they got it right.

[forwards4ever]

Epic if they won A and the B tournament with their A team only having 10 skaters on it that means their B teams had 13 and 14 kids on them. All I am saying is that they left 3 to 5 kids out on developing at the A level. and by watching the Blaine White team there were 2 or three kids that should have been up on thae A squad. I however did not get to see thier blue team play but a educated guess is that there might be 1 or 2 on that team that could have played up. Unless the association size was so small (like Princeton or Buffalo) every team in D10's A league had a full compliment of players. You cant tell me that they didnt think about playing to win now and not worring about developing their lower end A players. Point in case Centennial nearly finished the season undefeated with 15 skaters as Elk River posted a pretty stout record also playing with 15 skaters. Really makes you think about that one eeh.

love the players, hate the parents

[EPIC97]

All I did was go to their website look at the rosters. They have listed 12 players on the A team, 13 players on white and 12 players on blue. If only 10 skated at the district championship then maybe they had players missing.
My point is that at the beginning of the season they decided to have 3 teams and divided them evenly. No doubt some of those kids could have been on an A team.
In order for them to have a full team of 16 players on the A team they would have left themselves very short with only 11 and 10 on the B squads.
I don't know the answer as far as development goes. Are you better off being the best kid on a B team and leading or being the weakest on the A team and challeged to raise your game. At 10 you can argue both.
Our organization at 10's had 41 players and only 2 teams,
with 19 skaters you get 3 maybe 4 shifts a period. As long as the practices are well organized and the players get regular shifts it can be done. We were very lucky to have had good coaches that handled the numbers well. That said the following season facing the same numbers some parents went to the boy's side and others never played again.
I would suspect that at the beginning of the year Blaine's decision was to have three equal number teams regardlss of the talent pool and I doubt they were thinking any further ahead then October and the beginning of the season.

[D10RoXyourSoX]

Sounds like some envy and jealousy from some of you. There is a reason Blaine hosts the D10 10U tournament every year, because we have the venue and volunteer staff to support it. That being said, we can control a lot of things.

We could have done even teams but why do that when our team at the next level goes out and gets a few players and does not take from within. We have a great photographer (I mean coach, sorry) for our team and through his leadership has set (a) presidence that can only be matched by the filter process of BYHA.

So what! The Big Blue Bengal won a district at a couple of levels, see what happens at the High School level on the girls side of the coin. Remember, the Big Blue Attack is where its at!

EPIC - if your association had 41 players at the 10 level and only had 2 teams, that is your Board and parent groups fault. Along with our association, that is where the blame lays. If the parent group does not attend regular meetings and does not stay actively involved year round, you get decisions like your association made and ours. Your 41 player group could have easily been three teams and if it is the argument about no ice available, I believe if it was for a boys team in your association the board would have figured out how to get ice for the team. Limiting players on two teams is senseless. Your coaches had no choice after the board made the commitment to 2 teams to HAVE to work with 20 skaters per team. More teams with less players = MORE QUALITY ICE TIME AND PUCK TIME. Nice job on missing the boat on that one Board and parent group.

Forwards, I know its hard to be on the other side looking through the fence at our program but be realistic, we put parents first and kids second. At least we dont stand on the glass during games and try to intimidate officials during games. Wow, what was that all about. I am surprised to hear that those spectators did not get kicked out.

NOW, BACK TO ORIGINAL POST!

Shorten the bench at 12 and beyond at any level! As long as the Coach follows the Associations rules and guidlines for coach AND makes the effort to address the parent group PRIOR to the season (in writing is better) and the circumstances for doing so are reasonable.......Then what is the problem. Giving all kids the opportunity at the 10 level and lower is very important for their life lesson and team play growth. They should have the chance to be in the situation at that level during the season to give them a chance to learn and grow. It is paramount to the childs ability to learn and understand what her capabilities are and are not. Hopefully they do not have the coach in the car on the ride home and are not being "coached" two different ways, which will cause many, many more problems.

Remember D10 U10 Trophies were BLUE for a Reason!

The Blue Attack is where its @!

Its all about the Blue baby, Just Win!

____________

GO BLUE!

[PainITB]

The girls program at Blaine should be renamed the AAA Blaine team. Where is the high school coach when all A level teams from the 10-U, 12-U and the 14-U teams all have players from other associations on their A teams. With that said they sent several players to other associations to play on their B teams. Does not make for a bright future for girls hockey program for the blue and white just ask some of the parents. No wonder last year’s 12-U could not get out of districts.

I still would like to know where D-10 was at when the 12-U was recruiting their team for this last year. In the long run it did not work out and will have long term effects on their girls program. Good luck!!!