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I know it is early but has this job been filled yet?

Has Champlin Park Girls Hockey dipped so low that no one even cares about this program? This is a good girls program and getting better the girls youth program is excellent with all their youth girls teams doing really well.

This is an important hire!

They have a very good coach already there (assistant) who took over the program when the old coach left with 3 weeks left in the season. He has tons of experience, is a good hockey mind, has positive realtionships with almost everyone associaited with Champlin Park Hockey, boys and girls. From what I understand the girls love him and 95% of the parents too(which is amazing). From what I hear they are reluctant to hire him because he has a daughter in the program and he's not a teacher. His style, knowledge, personaltiy and communication skills are a complete change for the better. Get a clue Champlin Park and hire the proven thing. By the way, he's also a great person who has more passion for the kids and the sport than any coach they could hire from the outside. He probably knows 90% of all the kids, coaches, and parents in the entire program and is very involved with the youth programs too.

Everyone is so concerned about hiring someone brand new, or a teacher, etc..when the abosolute best solution is sitting right infront of their eyes! Be carefull CP, you dont need to look very far.

Lets hope their smart enought to hire him...even though he has a daughter in the program and he's not a teacher!

Dreampuck,

I ran into to the assistant coach Friday at the St. Paul Holiday Inn. I asked if he had applied for the job. As of that time he hadn't put in a resume. He was struggling with the thought of coaching his own child and the perception of favortism by a few parents (conflict of interest).
I only know him a little through coaching (against) but I like what I've seen. I told him to put one in and he could change his mind but a least it would give him a little more time to think it over.
Don't jump to conclusions that CP won't let him coach (they may or may not). Sometimes there are other things going on. Call him and let him know how you feel and get behind him in whatever his decision is.
I wish him well and hope you find the right coach for the program as it is in a good spot right now.

I have heard a few names of current high school (Head and assistant coaches) who have some interest inthe champlin park job. At least one of them has beena head coach in girls hockey for at least ten years if not more and is considered a very good coach. If I was champlin I would look at all options.

I agree that all candidates should be considered but if the CP assistant is the best person for the job (which the majority of people involved with the program think he is) then him being a parent coach should not matter.

I think White Bear Lake went through a situation similar to this a year or two ago and hired a parent coach.
Anyone have any feedback on how it is going with the WBL coach?

I agree with T3. I am familiar with this assistant coach and Dreampuck is correct- he is well known and liked by the HS players and parents and also by the youth program as a former youth coach and board member there. I know it isn't a popularity contest, but if someone is well liked, has good hockey knowledge and is in place already, why is different better? As far as being a parent coach, in this circumstance I would say it makes him better. more concerned, more involved, more committed. This is a guy who gets choked up giving a speech to his girls at the end of the year banquet. You can't find that in a mercenary coach

I know this is just an opinion page and most of these posters seem very close to the program. I would say that this assistant coach is well like because he is an assistant. What I mean by that is when you take over as the head coach things change, people expect things from you, kids that use to come to you now go to the new assitants, etc... it is a whole new world, X and O's and being well liked are only a small part of being a head coach, there is a lot more to it that is not always seen. A new set of eyes from a coach or coahces who have not seen the players as much might be able to get more out of the program and fine new things to work on to improve it.

The one thing I do see is if you hire a coach from outside of the one you are taking about there could be some friction with the parents who support this assistant and the new coach. If they do go outside the parents are going to need to allow the new coach his time and space and not compare him to who they felt should have gotten the job. This assistant coach with a daughter in the program if he does not get the job can play a big part in this by being supportive right away of the new coach. These are just opinions. I hope it all goes well in Champlin.

Also I have seen lots of coaches choke up giving there year end speech and I have yet to hear an AD use that as a reason to hire a coach, you spend all that time with a group of players you do become attached and that is a natural reaction to feel some emotion.

I don't know if experience (years) in other hs programs always translates. Many schools make the mistake of hiring someone "experienced" from other programs and don't succeed because "experienced" sometimes means retread or unable to get along with players, coaches, ADs. I know one one HS hired a coach with 9 years experience from another nearby high school and only won 4 conference games this year. So experience is no guarantee.

This assistant coach we are talking about has over 26 years of coaching experience and at least 20 of those years as a head coach at many differnet levels, including boys bantams, pewees, and the girls U10's and U12's and he has spent the last 2 years as the head JV coach and assistant to the Varsity coach at the same time. He has not trouble being a head coach!

Itsabig lake wrote:I don't know if experience (years) in other hs programs always translates. Many schools make the mistake of hiring someone "experienced" from other programs and don't succeed because "experienced" sometimes means retread or unable to get along with players, coaches, ADs. I know one one HS hired a coach with 9 years experience from another nearby high school and only won 4 conference games this year. So experience is no guarantee.

Maybe a little talent would help!