CREATING HOCKEY PLAYERS.
In recent years, Canadians have participated in
a vigorous debate about how best to teach boys and girls to play the game of
hockey. Many Canadians believe we should create and support an elite class of
world‐beating players as a primary aim of Canadian hockey. Many others primarily
want hockey to be enjoyed by as many people as possible.
In small town Ontario the debate remains strong. However, what is not debatable is…
WE CAN TEACH AND ENJOY IT.
The most important hockey skills to master are most certainly the fundamentals. These are made up of (4) Major Core Skills and like in any sport, you will find that the best hockey players are those that have a profound mastery of the fundamentals.
These four (4) Major Core Skills are:
Skating
Stick Handling/Puck Control
Passing
Shooting/Scoring
All kids learn and grow at different rates and speeds. And teaching fundamental skills can sometimes monopolize your ice session. So much so that the kids may not be getting taught “hockey” until it’s too late in the season.
So how can WE make it better? What can WE do to improve?
Let us try something different. This year those that elect to play the great game of hockey in Grand Valley will get to be involved in the following:
i) Powerskating – Getting off on the right foot is important. This season we are introducing a powerskating program in advance of our hockey season. This will ensure the kids get their feet under them prior to playing the game.
ii) Weekly Skills Development Night – In the book Outliers, author Malcolm Gladwell says that it takes roughly ten thousand hours of practice to achieve mastery in a field. How does Gladwell arrive at this conclusion? Gladwell studied the lives of extremely successful people to find out how they achieved success. Give it a read – profound.
iii) Certified & Experienced Fundamental Coaches - Without the thousands of coaches who volunteer their time and step behind the bench every season, there would be no hockey in Canada. However, our team Coaches cannot be at the rink 7 days a week. So GVDMH has procured the services of ASPIRE HOCKEY to bring their fundamentals program to operate our skills night and powerskating sessions.
iv) More Practice Time – Free Up Sessions - This will allow our coaches to mostly focus their practice efforts on Strategy, Team Play, Team Tactics, Individual Tactics and of course FUN,,,while ASPIRE HOCKEY will focus on fundamental development.
You want to get better and you want to have fun - then you don’t want to miss this coming season here in the
Valley… GO TWISTERS!!!