Coaching

I wake up every winter morning and go through my list of things i have to do in regards to supporting my son's dreams of playing in the NHL. Maybe I should start by making him breakfast.

Firstly let me start by saying, I am in a unique situation as I have had the honor of coaching my little guy since day one.

As a coach for many years I have often said that parents ruin hockey for the kids. I truly hope, they can never say that about me.

Why must we as parents thrust our negativity and our un-educated and certainly biased opinions on our children when it comes to the game or how its played or how they are being coached.

Most of us coaches have dedicated thousands of hours to this task , lumped in with our regular responsibilities.

We as coaches volunteer for this gig, at times a thankless and under appreciated position. We do this without the need for parental praise or accolades . We do this firstly for the kids, ours and theirs. We do it for our love of the game, almost blind passion for this frozen playground.

We as coaches need to push in the direction our children/players want to go. We need to cheer when they stumble and grimace when they feel pain. Embrace their victories and educate from their losses. Lessons not easily taught and messages not always well received,but the responsibility is ours and a choice we as coaches made to be active and present in the lives of these young athletes. To coach is a gift and and i thank all parents for allowing us this valuable and precious time with their children

Most of the coaches I have coached with (20 years worth), have been parents and carry the burden of being both coach and dad.

It is a place if honor in my mind and the most pleasurable thing available to this humble dad.