Building a solid youth association

[BoogeyMan]

In your opinion..........

What do the solid youth hockey programs around the state do better than struggling associations?

[dipsydoodle]

Standardized approached to developing hockey players from the Varsity program down to the Mini Mite program. It is that simple, but not that easy....

[BoogeyMan]

Dipsy doodle- What's the back bone of a solid association?

In my mind. If you look at majority of strong associations. The number one factor. Strong leadership with great hockey knowledge. I agree if you have a strong person running the varsity squad. It will only make the entire program better.

There's another post on this site. People are blaming Minnesota hockey for this and that. Its my opinion that people need to hold their local associations more accountable.
If you have a select few making poor choices. It's only going to hurt the program in the future. In most cases you have 2-3 people making poor choices. What happens? Year after year these same choices are still implemented within the association. It won't matter who's on the board.

This goes back to my polling question:

How do you define a solid youth program? Do you look at wins / losses, fun factor or Championships?

I'm sure we all agree that each association wants to win. I agree that the kids need to have fun. Like my close personal friend Sid says. "Just win baby" That cures all negative feelings towards any association and/or coach. In the end you're breeding players who want to give back to the association. This is what we're seeing in majority of the stronger associations.

Then what do you do if some of the players want to succeed in hockey? If the kids plays for a weaker program. What options does he/she have? Since the kids cannot up and leave the weaker program for a stronger program.
I think this is where Minnesota made comes into the picture.
The kids tryout to be on a team. Very simple! Minnesota made is not going to take little Billy if he's going to screw around and be a distraction. What's wrong with that?
Every skater, parent and coach knows what to expect from this program.

Coaches coach!
Players learn the correct techniques.
Players learn to listen.
Players learn to show coaches and other players respect.

There's no distractions. If the kids show up for 1.5 hours of practice. You can bet they're going to skate 1.5 hours.

I overheard one of the coaches say. "It's so nice to coach kids that actually listen".

Our coach today. After one of the drills was complete. He yelled "I want five lines grab a puck. Within 10 seconds the kids were lined up ready for the drills. No wasted time! You didn't have the coaches chasing the kids arond the ice or breaking up fights. Players and parents know what to expect.

Remember most associations will get one hour of ice time. On average these teams will actually skate 15-20 minutes out of one hour. Too many distractions. Not to mention the kids skating abilities are all over the board. How can a coach run kids through drills when a small percentage can skate backwards and stickhandle. Majority of the kids are struggling to skate backwards and stickhandle.

When I inquired within my local association. Why don't we have elite or advance mites? I was told that they tried this one time. The next year they lost too many kids from the program.

So whats more important to the program? Winning? or Trying to collect as much money as possible?

Remember: "Great hockey players aren't born. They're made"

[WoodStickSniper]

Its not always numbers but look at how solid Edina and EP are and how many kids do they have trying out for one team? to many to count. There are some assosations that have trouble putting one team together
its rough man but you will see a assosation that doesnt have the number but has the heart not the 200$ sticks but the wood ones you will see one of the big ships go down to a little guy just cause they have more heart thats all i have to say

[BoogeyMan]

Stick Sniper- Agreed! The best part of sports. Watching Roseau winning the State high school tourney last year. In fact, it was good to see rapids in the final too.
The moral of my story. It doesn't matter the size of the associations. Historically the same programs succeed year in and year out.

Why do these programs succeed? They have a solid association. To do so. They need to have strong leaders.

There is no doubt that all these programs receive endless amount of ice time. Its what they're taught when they do have the ice time. Knowledge will take a program far.

"Real hockey players aren't born - They're made"

[watchdog]

well if you put up fun factor your lieing to us and yourself. why dont you ask baudette how fun it is to lose every game and how much good it does for their youth hockey program. having fun is great but a big part of that is called winning and thats life.

[BoogeyMan]

Watchdog- I agree! After it's all said and done. Every association is in it to win. I also agree the kids have to have fun to play the game.

[5th Line Center]

well if you put up fun factor your lieing to us and yourself. why dont you ask baudette how fun it is to lose every game and how much good it does for their youth hockey program. having fun is great but a big part of that is called winning and thats life.

I think it is all about development.

Yes, having fun is part of it, but it is more about working hard and achieving goals. Progress is measured by how well the team performs--and more importantly, how they improve over time. Sometimes a group of kids starts out as an average team at the lower levels, but with good coaching they become contenders after years of hard work. (I've seen youth teams that were great at the PeeWee and sometimes even at the Bantam level, but did not progress further. A different team brought the hardware home at the high school level.) They develop individually, but more importantly, they become a team. They work together and become something much better than the sum of their individual talents. The experience prepares them for life even more than it helps them develop physically/athletically.

[watchdog]

5th line, i couldnt agree more and what you speak of is what ive been saying you dont get at triple a hockey. the bonding and team unity. the pride of playing for your community.

[toomanystitches]

1. Growing Community
• demographics
2. Willingness to spend money
• is the community willing to pass bonds to build new rinks
3. A strong hockey tradition
• hockey is ingrained into the community consciousness
4. Strong hockey leadership
• people who will fight local government to get the facilities they need

Every successful hockey association will have 3 of the 4 above listed attributes. Many of the teams south of the Iron Range are attempting to build a hockey tradition. Some, such as Bloomington and Edina, have developed this tradition and are recognized as outstanding hockey associations.

A strong hockey tradition only comes from winning. And from winning often.


In John Rosengren’s book, “Blades of Glory,” he details how a successful hockey organization are built. A wonderful short read.

[watchdog]

ive read the book. the book is a great example of the pride and tradition of hockey in minnesota that you just dont get anywhere else. thats what you miss out on in triple a hockey.

[toomanystitches]

Right on WatchDog. Strong associations tend to hold onto their elite players. I love it that Andres Lee left STMA to return to play with his neighborhood buddies at Edina. Without a winning tradition, players leave for greener pastures.