Colorado Hockey Institute
Article - Finding Teachable Moments
By Jim Plummer
Founder, Colorado Hockey Institute
Article Last Updated: November 28, 2007
There are three primary job responsibilities that a coach performs and those are being a leader, an organizer and a teacher. Some coaches have good leadership skills and instincts and that makes them successful. USA Hockey Coaching Clinics teach coaches how to be organized, how to create practice plans and how to communicate with their teams and parents. But little time is spent teaching coaches how to teach, or more importantly what is important to teach.
Coaches are comfortable teaching skills on the ice, teaching team play and training athletes on proper technique, but that’s the easy part. Is there more to teach? Absolutely!
There are teachable moments that occur every day on and off the ice, in practices and games, but we sometimes fail to recognize these or take the opportunity to teach kids some valuable life lessons. Why don’t coaches focus more on teaching kids conflict resolution skills, or mutual respect? Because that’s the hard part. There is no secret recipe or drill book for this – it takes time, thought and effort.
At times we as adults are so busy, we go to the nuclear solution because it is quick and it makes the problem go away – or so it seems.
Recently in Colorado Springs a school banned tag on the playground. Yes I am serious! Tag was banned in an elementary school because some children were harassed and or chased against their will.
Cindy Fesgen, the principal of Discovery Canyon Campus school, said "It (tag) causes a lot of conflict on the playground".
Imagine conflict on the playground. How can that be? All conflict must be gone now, because tag has been banned right?
This is an example of going nuclear to solve a problem and completely missing a teachable moment on, conflict resolution, and mutual respect. The issue is not the game of tag, the issue is that some kids did not respect the rules of the game or the wishes of others who did not want to participate in the game.
Kids now get away with their bad behavior and will carry that into the next game or situation in the playground. But did they know it was bad behavior? Will they ever learn? Will they carry that behavior into later life? Who can teach these kids right from wrong?
Coaches are one of the most influential people in a child’s life outside of the home. You have their complete attention for a couple of hours a day on the weekend. Teachable moments are everywhere, and situations will arise where you can teach valuable life lessons.
This past summer I was introduced to the Positive Coaching Alliance (PCA), www.positivecoach.org, and I was amazed to find tremendous resources available to help me as a coach. PCA presents a way of thinking; a philosophy; an approach to take; tools available to help coaches do better on all the things that we are not always taught in the many coaching certification programs that we have attended in the past.
I completed the PCA Double-Goal Coach certification program and my frame of reference on what I was doing as a coach was completely changed. The PCA definition of a “Double-Goal Coach” is this: “A Double-Goal Coach strives to win and, even more importantly, uses sports to teach life lessons through Positive Coaching”.
Isn’t my job as a hockey coach to teach hockey and athletic skills? The answer is yes. Teaching skills is important. When a child masters a challenging skill, it builds a great sense of pride and improves self-esteem. But, how valuable will the 1-2-2 forecheck system be after the child is 18? For most children, their sports careers end after high school – and they have 70 or more years to live – hopefully much longer.
What are the chances of making it to pro-hockey, or NCAA Division I hockey anyway? In a much quoted study performed by Jim Parcels in 1999 titled “Chances of Making It In Pro Hockey”, he determined that out of the nearly 30,000 youth hockey players born in Ontario in 1975, only 90 finished three years of Major Junior A hockey in the OHL, and 42 went to NCAA Division I schools. Of those same 30,000 players, only 15 had played more than one NHL season.
In other words, after high school, approximately 29,868 players did something else in life besides hockey.
This underscores the importance, perhaps unbeknownst to coaches, that they have a responsibility to teach more than just hockey skills. But what life lessons can I teach?
In a recent USA Hockey Level 4 Coaching Clinic that I attended, Minnesota Hockey Coach in Chief Hal Tearse asked the attending coaches to teach players how to shake hands. Whether it is after a game, in the rink lobby or in a job interview – extend your hand, look the person in the eye and give a firm handshake. That is a very simple lesson. I shake my player’s hands after each game now so that they can practice that skill, and get used to looking the person in the eye.
If you are having locker room issues with certain players misbehaving, and not respecting teammates, what should you do? Should you go nuclear like the principal who banned tag and not allow players to dress in the locker room? Or is there a teachable moment where you can reinforce your team’s rules and mutual respect, and spend the time with individuals on a one-on-one basis explaining to them why it is important to behave in a manner that is consistent with your team’s values, and working with them on conflict resolution skills. It takes time, effort and patience – and that’s why you are a coach – you love to teach kids, right?
PCA is making strides in education for coaches, parents and associations across the country. In Colorado, coaches are being reached through PCA workshops sponsored by governing youth sports bodies and individual youth sports organizations. Through the Colorado Youth Soccer (CYS) there have been 28 workshops in 2007 with 13 CYS clubs. Colorado Academy has taken part in 3 workshops, as did the Telluride Youth Soccer Club and the Mountain Area Youth Lacrosse Association. The Colorado Hockey Institute is working to promote education for hockey coaches and is hoping to bring additional PCA workshops to hockey coaches and associations in 2008.
If you are a coach then take an opportunity to learn more about Teachable Moments, Honoring the Game, Redefining Winner, and Filling the Emotional Tank from the PCA. Become a Double-Goal Coach, and then tell others about it. You will learn how to get more out of your players, and players will have more fun. When players have fun and feel good they are better equipped to learn. Then you will have fun too!
Founder, Colorado Hockey Institute
Article Last Updated: November 28, 2007
There are three primary job responsibilities that a coach performs and those are being a leader, an organizer and a teacher. Some coaches have good leadership skills and instincts and that makes them successful. USA Hockey Coaching Clinics teach coaches how to be organized, how to create practice plans and how to communicate with their teams and parents. But little time is spent teaching coaches how to teach, or more importantly what is important to teach.Coaches are comfortable teaching skills on the ice, teaching team play and training athletes on proper technique, but that’s the easy part. Is there more to teach? Absolutely!
There are teachable moments that occur every day on and off the ice, in practices and games, but we sometimes fail to recognize these or take the opportunity to teach kids some valuable life lessons. Why don’t coaches focus more on teaching kids conflict resolution skills, or mutual respect? Because that’s the hard part. There is no secret recipe or drill book for this – it takes time, thought and effort.
At times we as adults are so busy, we go to the nuclear solution because it is quick and it makes the problem go away – or so it seems.
Recently in Colorado Springs a school banned tag on the playground. Yes I am serious! Tag was banned in an elementary school because some children were harassed and or chased against their will.
Cindy Fesgen, the principal of Discovery Canyon Campus school, said "It (tag) causes a lot of conflict on the playground".
Imagine conflict on the playground. How can that be? All conflict must be gone now, because tag has been banned right?
This is an example of going nuclear to solve a problem and completely missing a teachable moment on, conflict resolution, and mutual respect. The issue is not the game of tag, the issue is that some kids did not respect the rules of the game or the wishes of others who did not want to participate in the game.
Kids now get away with their bad behavior and will carry that into the next game or situation in the playground. But did they know it was bad behavior? Will they ever learn? Will they carry that behavior into later life? Who can teach these kids right from wrong?
Coaches are one of the most influential people in a child’s life outside of the home. You have their complete attention for a couple of hours a day on the weekend. Teachable moments are everywhere, and situations will arise where you can teach valuable life lessons.
This past summer I was introduced to the Positive Coaching Alliance (PCA), www.positivecoach.org, and I was amazed to find tremendous resources available to help me as a coach. PCA presents a way of thinking; a philosophy; an approach to take; tools available to help coaches do better on all the things that we are not always taught in the many coaching certification programs that we have attended in the past.
I completed the PCA Double-Goal Coach certification program and my frame of reference on what I was doing as a coach was completely changed. The PCA definition of a “Double-Goal Coach” is this: “A Double-Goal Coach strives to win and, even more importantly, uses sports to teach life lessons through Positive Coaching”.
Isn’t my job as a hockey coach to teach hockey and athletic skills? The answer is yes. Teaching skills is important. When a child masters a challenging skill, it builds a great sense of pride and improves self-esteem. But, how valuable will the 1-2-2 forecheck system be after the child is 18? For most children, their sports careers end after high school – and they have 70 or more years to live – hopefully much longer.
What are the chances of making it to pro-hockey, or NCAA Division I hockey anyway? In a much quoted study performed by Jim Parcels in 1999 titled “Chances of Making It In Pro Hockey”, he determined that out of the nearly 30,000 youth hockey players born in Ontario in 1975, only 90 finished three years of Major Junior A hockey in the OHL, and 42 went to NCAA Division I schools. Of those same 30,000 players, only 15 had played more than one NHL season.
In other words, after high school, approximately 29,868 players did something else in life besides hockey.
This underscores the importance, perhaps unbeknownst to coaches, that they have a responsibility to teach more than just hockey skills. But what life lessons can I teach?
In a recent USA Hockey Level 4 Coaching Clinic that I attended, Minnesota Hockey Coach in Chief Hal Tearse asked the attending coaches to teach players how to shake hands. Whether it is after a game, in the rink lobby or in a job interview – extend your hand, look the person in the eye and give a firm handshake. That is a very simple lesson. I shake my player’s hands after each game now so that they can practice that skill, and get used to looking the person in the eye.
If you are having locker room issues with certain players misbehaving, and not respecting teammates, what should you do? Should you go nuclear like the principal who banned tag and not allow players to dress in the locker room? Or is there a teachable moment where you can reinforce your team’s rules and mutual respect, and spend the time with individuals on a one-on-one basis explaining to them why it is important to behave in a manner that is consistent with your team’s values, and working with them on conflict resolution skills. It takes time, effort and patience – and that’s why you are a coach – you love to teach kids, right?
PCA is making strides in education for coaches, parents and associations across the country. In Colorado, coaches are being reached through PCA workshops sponsored by governing youth sports bodies and individual youth sports organizations. Through the Colorado Youth Soccer (CYS) there have been 28 workshops in 2007 with 13 CYS clubs. Colorado Academy has taken part in 3 workshops, as did the Telluride Youth Soccer Club and the Mountain Area Youth Lacrosse Association. The Colorado Hockey Institute is working to promote education for hockey coaches and is hoping to bring additional PCA workshops to hockey coaches and associations in 2008.
If you are a coach then take an opportunity to learn more about Teachable Moments, Honoring the Game, Redefining Winner, and Filling the Emotional Tank from the PCA. Become a Double-Goal Coach, and then tell others about it. You will learn how to get more out of your players, and players will have more fun. When players have fun and feel good they are better equipped to learn. Then you will have fun too!