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I was wondering about captains practices around the state. How many practices do teams have generally and do coaches really keep their noses out or are coaches simply running practices through a volunteer?

Bill Coleman wrote:I was wondering about captains practices around the state. How many practices do teams have generally and do coaches really keep their noses out or are coaches simply running practices through a volunteer?

One team I know has had them twice per week for about a month now and will have them right up until tryouts. The kid who I drive to practice has not seen any coaches at the arena for these, inside or out.

I find it hard to believe coaches don't try to get a leg up on other teams by controlling captains practices. Heck, if you could sit in the stands you could have your varsity and jv picked on day 1.

I believe it's against the Minnesota State High School League rules for coaches to be anywhere near the practices. Ours are run by the booster club/team captains and will start next week.

Coaches can't be on the ice with players in August, September and part of October. I don't have the exact dates, but someone here probably will.

I should also add that I certainly can't speak for all schools/coaches, but ours is a strict "by the rules" person. He has no interest in attending or manipulating the practices.

As for "choosing the teams on the first day", I'd guess that most good coaches can do that on the first day of tryouts. It's the kids on the bubble that probably need the extra days to show what they can do.

You are fooling yourself if you don't think the head coach as a good idea on the first day of who will be on the varsity. They may be watching just a couple of players at the bottom of the roster. Coaches should know about eveyone in the program from U10 to varsity. The numbers for girls tryouts aren't that high so it is not that difficult. It may be the toughest for coaches at some of the popular private schools, depending on how close they are to the recruiting coordinator.

Coaches can attend "captains practices", they just can't instruct or talk to the players. For most it is more of a nuisance going because you get stuck talking to "helicopter" parents who sit in the stands to make sure their kid doesn't get slighted. Smart coaches who want to get a leg-up might have a friend or a coach at a different school to run these sessions and vice versa.

There is an exact same discussion going on in the boy's high school forum. The same rules apply to girls and boys:

http://www.ushsho.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=24147

In theory, a HS coach should know all the players from 10U on up, but our coach doesn't attend any youth games and we have a very strong HS program. He knows who the couple of top players are, but has no clue about anyone else, which is sad, because many of those anyone elses will be playing HS one day. The motto is "win today and don't worry about building for the future". I've heard other programs are mixed running the gamut from fully ingrained in the youth program to just collecting a modest paycheck to coach HS hockey in addition to teaching duties without caring about development or success.

I hear you, some head coaches like the title and are uninterested in actually building a program. However, back to the original question. It sounds like it IS legal to be in the rink during captains practice but nobody does it or sees it happening. I think most people, coaches included, believe it's illegal to be in the rink. Otherwise coaches would be evaluating during the preseason skate. Why wouldn't they? I just wish it was more clear what the rule is.

Bill Coleman wrote:I hear you, some head coaches like the title and are uninterested in actually building a program. However, back to the original question. It sounds like it IS legal to be in the rink during captains practice but nobody does it or sees it happening. I think most people, coaches included, believe it's illegal to be in the rink. Otherwise coaches would be evaluating during the preseason skate. Why wouldn't they? I just wish it was more clear what the rule is.

My daughter has been on the local girls HS team the last 2 years and the head coach sits in the stands the entire last week of captains practice. Not a big secret to what he is doing.

There is no rule against coaches observing captains practice, they just can't coach them either by being on the ice or giving advice while sitting in the stands. So basically they can watch just no contact. Not sure what they really get out of watching that most don't already know.

My daughter has been on the local girls HS team the last 2 years and the head coach sits in the stands the entire last week of captains practice. Not a big secret to what he is doing.[/quote]

I think this is sad... I can speak from experience that we never attend any of our kids captains practices...because we feel that this is the time for our "Captains" to start showing their leadership. I think it has worked out in the past as our team has done fairly well...at least in the years that I've been associated with this program.

We see our kids in June and July and get a pretty good feel for who kids are and what kind of work ethic they have. To me, thats all we need to see. Then we just hope they play soccer, softball, volleyball, or whatever they do, to keep busy and not just do hockey. Hopefully our programs tradition speaks to our kids, if they want to be a part of it, they'll put in the work to do so.

What I think is sad is that we as parents seem to do WAAAAY to much for our kids. You know how we can teach leadership? Let them do some things for themselves. I believe the kids should raise money for their own captains practices. I believe they should be able to figure it out on their own. We did back in the day. Heck, at 16, 17 and 18 you should be able to plan a car wash or two and raise some money for ice time or sweats. I believe captains practice should consist of a dedication to get better. The only reason adults end up at these practices is because the girls, in most cases, don't work hard enough. Heck, they're high school kids. You have a study hall unattended and most are going to goof off. Ice time is just to valuable to just let the girls wing it. Just one guys opinion.

Bill Coleman wrote:What I think is sad is that we as parents seem to do WAAAAY to much for our kids. You know how we can teach leadership? Let them do some things for themselves. I believe the kids should raise money for their own captains practices. I believe they should be able to figure it out on their own. We did back in the day. Heck, at 16, 17 and 18 you should be able to plan a car wash or two and raise some money for ice time or sweats. I believe captains practice should consist of a dedication to get better. The only reason adults end up at these practices is because the girls, in most cases, don't work hard enough. Heck, they're high school kids. You have a study hall unattended and most are going to goof off. Ice time is just to valuable to just let the girls wing it. Just one guys opinion.

I totally agree. Captains practice is called that for a reason. No need for coaches or parents to even be at the ice arena. The role should be that they should not be allowed to be at the captains practice. The captains are voted or chosen for a reason. They should be able to lead practice and be productive. If the team is not being productive and goofing off than thats their waste of time and it will just hurt them in the long run. If coaches dont trust the players to actually practice, well you have an issue there dont you. The players need to set goals before the season and if they want to accomplish them they know they need to work their butt off, and they will if they truly want that.

GoFalcons wrote:

Bill Coleman wrote:What I think is sad is that we as parents seem to do WAAAAY to much for our kids. You know how we can teach leadership? Let them do some things for themselves. I believe the kids should raise money for their own captains practices. I believe they should be able to figure it out on their own. We did back in the day. Heck, at 16, 17 and 18 you should be able to plan a car wash or two and raise some money for ice time or sweats. I believe captains practice should consist of a dedication to get better. The only reason adults end up at these practices is because the girls, in most cases, don't work hard enough. Heck, they're high school kids. You have a study hall unattended and most are going to goof off. Ice time is just to valuable to just let the girls wing it. Just one guys opinion.

I totally agree. Captains practice is called that for a reason. No need for coaches or parents to even be at the ice arena. The role should be that they should not be allowed to be at the captains practice. The captains are voted or chosen for a reason. They should be able to lead practice and be productive. If the team is not being productive and goofing off than thats their waste of time and it will just hurt them in the long run. If coaches don't trust the players to actually practice, well you have an issue there don't you. The players need to set goals before the season and if they want to accomplish them they know they need to work their butt off, and they will if they truly want that.

I agree, and disagree at the same time. While I agree sometimes it's easier for the parent to step in and control things to make it run smoother, sometimes we could ask our kids to do more, and be more involved with the success of their program. However, I'm not sure Capt's ice is the right situation for that. Two reasons, hockey is at a disadvantage due to the cost of ice. Most sports can do capt at an open gym, or an open field. Ice is in the neighborhood of 150-200 bucks an hour. That's a lot to ask of families if the time isn't going to be utilized wisely. Second, yes you may have a problem if the capt's can't run a practice, but none of them have ever been trained to run a group, develop an ice plan, and most would struggle trying to run a youth practice let alone a group of their peers. It's my belief as a former coach they should be focused on getting better for their team while on the ice, not worrying if the people in the back of the line know what's going on, or understand the drills. There is a greater chance, in a female sport, when capt's run a practice that the ice time leads to internal team problems rather then having a positive long lasting outcome on the season. Just my thoughts.

allhoc11 wrote:

GoFalcons wrote:

Bill Coleman wrote:What I think is sad is that we as parents seem to do WAAAAY to much for our kids. You know how we can teach leadership? Let them do some things for themselves. I believe the kids should raise money for their own captains practices. I believe they should be able to figure it out on their own. We did back in the day. Heck, at 16, 17 and 18 you should be able to plan a car wash or two and raise some money for ice time or sweats. I believe captains practice should consist of a dedication to get better. The only reason adults end up at these practices is because the girls, in most cases, don't work hard enough. Heck, they're high school kids. You have a study hall unattended and most are going to goof off. Ice time is just to valuable to just let the girls wing it. Just one guys opinion.

I totally agree. Captains practice is called that for a reason. No need for coaches or parents to even be at the ice arena. The role should be that they should not be allowed to be at the captains practice. The captains are voted or chosen for a reason. They should be able to lead practice and be productive. If the team is not being productive and goofing off than thats their waste of time and it will just hurt them in the long run. If coaches don't trust the players to actually practice, well you have an issue there don't you. The players need to set goals before the season and if they want to accomplish them they know they need to work their butt off, and they will if they truly want that.

I agree, and disagree at the same time. While I agree sometimes it's easier for the parent to step in and control things to make it run smoother, sometimes we could ask our kids to do more, and be more involved with the success of their program. However, I'm not sure Capt's ice is the right situation for that. Two reasons, hockey is at a disadvantage due to the cost of ice. Most sports can do capt at an open gym, or an open field. Ice is in the neighborhood of 150-200 bucks an hour. That's a lot to ask of families if the time isn't going to be utilized wisely. Second, yes you may have a problem if the capt's can't run a practice, but none of them have ever been trained to run a group, develop an ice plan, and most would struggle trying to run a youth practice let alone a group of their peers. It's my belief as a former coach they should be focused on getting better for their team while on the ice, not worrying if the people in the back of the line know what's going on, or understand the drills. There is a greater chance, in a female sport, when capt's run a practice that the ice time leads to internal team problems rather then having a positive long lasting outcome on the season. Just my thoughts.

I agree to some level, but as a former player and captain, i am really confused on how you can say all captains cant run a practice? At least when I ran captains practice i knew what i was doing before practice started. I would plan things out before hand than explain what we were doing before we went out so we didnt waste time. I know for a fact that this is not how a lot of captains practices go, so i do realize your concern. On the other hand, if the teams captains know what they are doing and are reliable, i say they should be able to run it themselves. If your a captain in the first place, I would think your there because your a leader and know what your doing. But I do understand thats not always the case as well. so you could argue both sides.

GoFalcons wrote: I agree to some level, but as a former player and captain, i am really confused on how you can say all captains cant run a practice? At least when I ran captains practice i knew what i was doing before practice started. I would plan things out before hand than explain what we were doing before we went out so we didnt waste time. I know for a fact that this is not how a lot of captains practices go, so i do realize your concern. On the other hand, if the teams captains know what they are doing and are reliable, i say they should be able to run it themselves. If your a captain in the first place, I would think your there because your a leader and know what your doing. But I do understand thats not always the case as well. so you could argue both sides.

I agree with you and think that if a capt can't do this then their are some questions if they are qualified. I may not have explained my point well enough. My concern is more the focus then the ability. I would rather have my captains working to get better at these ice times, then worrying about the intensity, accuracy, if a drill is working, or is it time to go to the next. I think in a perfect situation I would like to have a combo of both, a capt who is prepared, and plans stuff, but someone there to oversee the actual drills, work with the captain and help the ones who don't understand, or need to increase their intensity, while the captain is able to have an active role, but also use the ice constructively.

You will not find a hockey team that does not involve adults or someone on the ice supervising. The reason is simple...LIABILITY.

It would be bad if someone got hurt without an adult supervising. Unfortunately that is what our society has come to.

Besides the liability, I would much rather have "experienced" adults conduct the practices. No offense to the captains, I just feel there is more to gain using staff from Acceleration MN, etc.

Maybe it would be good to have adults run 75% and the captains run 25%? Just a thought......

Billy what if the kids ran them like our capt. practices ?

Huh? What do you mean Oldgoalie? How did you run captain's practice? When did organized captain's practices start anyway? I figure back in the day kids who wanted to get a step up on the competition simply got on the ice early and started practicing. That's how it was in the 80's anyway. We raised our own money, rented some ice and scrimmaged before the season started. It didn't help much, but it was fun. Being that parents and coaches got involved it's now much more business like. So in order to keep up with the Jones' teams now need to take full advantage of this ice-time. I guarantee you Grand Rapids, who have something like 20 captains practices, are being instructed by puppet coaches simply relaying what their head coach wants to achieve. They will most likely have a month of practice under their belt, be in shape and have systems in place. Hopefully they're having fun. Probably are.

The mid eighty thing was different for many reasons. Summer hockey has become BIG $$$. Kids don't just play shinny today.[not many anyway] If I remember correctly the barn didn't have ice in the summer so we had to go to columbia. Now kids play in summer AAA ,fall, spring and who knows what. Hard to find three sport kids.

Who are you Oldgoalie85? I started this post to see if it was kosher to sit in on captains practices and I think I've found my answer. Thanks all!

Bill check your pm.

They are called "Captains Practice" for a reason.. Looks like some may have lost that in all the back and forth.

We have 3 a week for a couple weeks. There are parents that may help out, but only if asked by the players to be there.