Takeaway #1: Planning is key
The final day of the leadership training started Wednesday morning, with a team workout before practice on the ice. After a short break for lunch the team went to Tanoan Country Club to jump in the swimming pool for relay races, synchronized swimming, and water polo. Synchronized swimming isn’t something you would typically see from a hockey team however, Head Coach Kevin Hartzell explains how it translates to the team, “Probably not many junior hockey teams or hockey teams in general have completed a synchronized swimming contest judged by their coaches and media staff. It has been the theme with everything we’ve been doing, which is to develop a plan together and execute the plan together. Today we’re in the pool, it’s a recovery day and it’s been fun.”
Takeaway #2: Communication is key
One of the biggest takeaways from the leadership training is communication between teammates. Hartzell outlines this, “Goals for what we’re doing today is along the same line, communicate as a team and listening to one another to develop plans.
Takeaway #3: Player Independence
The final aspect the coaches are hoping for the players take away from this training is independence. Whether it’s on or off the ice, the players should be able to make decisions for themselves. Hartzell explains how deep this goes, “Too often kids at this age have been talked at and not talked to. Parents made the plan how to get to the game, coach made the plan how to play the game, and parents make the plan where to eat after the game . We want our players to have a plan, whether it’s a faceoff or something they see against an opponent. The assumption is the coach always sees, but sometimes the coach doesn’t always see – the players have more eyeballs than the coaches do. We want to get them toward the goal of thinking for themselves and of course the coaches will help with that process. We really want to get them thinking and problem solving, problem solving is a big part of success in anything in life. It’s been another great day, and they’ve had a lot of fun.”
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