Part 5: All This in One Day?

I thought when I started this journal in my mind I could put the whole camp into one blog entry. Then I started writing, and I realized that it wouldn't work. The blog visitor would have to scroll down for an hour to get to the bottom and the last day.

So I decided to slice it up into days. This is the fifth entry of the FIRST day. I am certain the entries will get shorter and less verbose but, again as mentioned in a previous post - this is my blog and I'll be as long winded as I wish.

I will admit though, this is long-winded even for me. Suffice it to say, we covered a lot of stuff in the first day and most of it was preparation for the rest of the camp. I wanted to give an overall feel just how busy we were the entire time we were at the camp.

Second session - Day 1:

"Coach, we can't run on the field, it's too wet."

After the torrential downpour of this morning, I do not doubt it. I am quite pleasantly surprised by the way the field feels under my foot. It has been built and engineered quite well so the water either gets absorbed or drains away entirely. The facilities at this resort are still surprising me.

I give in to them on this one as to be honest the main focus of this session is to reiterate the new program and elements of warm-up that we went over this morning.

Some of the elements will be uncomfortable because of the moisture, so we need to adapt to the situation and do more of the warm-up from a static to a ballistic stretching and warm-up. No reason to have them get wet and muddy on the ground - we can do that inside the arena.

I view this kind of activity as a general wake up to the system after a couple of hours off, when the muscles have had a chance to sleep. We need to wake them up.

I notice a couple of players struggling and when asked they say their groins and various muscle groups are hurting.

I am not an advocate entirely of forcing things to work but, I am a firm believer in trying to warm up the areas where the pain or tension is felt. If there is no improvement after a proper isolation of the muscle group at a slow and steady rhythm to try and gain some flexibility, then it can be addressed another way. After all of this, if they still feel tightness or discomfort then we can have Kellie help them work it out.

I think she will be busy with a few of the players this week. Good thing McLean shows a passion for this and has stated it's the career path she wants to follow. Plus, I trust her to do the proper things in order to help alleviate the tension in the joint or muscle group.

Usually the most often injured players have a penchant for passing on what has helped them in the past. Kellie, never one to be shy is always there to help a teammate or to offer an opinion on what may work and what they shouldn't be doing.

Kellie, a second year Midget (just turning 16) has the competitive pilot light switched to high most of the time. Her zeal and zest for competition just burns brighter or as bright as any player I have ever coached. This includes the boys at almost any level I have been associated with. She has been looking forward to this camp as long as I have been. We were both interested in seeing what kind of shape the team will be in after a summer on their own.

Now, the proof will be seen when we hit the ice after this short session. The players cannot hide their levels of fitness during this week. A lot of material and information will be available for me and will go a long way to helping us groom and develop a team attitude.

They still seem tight and hesitant to me. I will try and draw them out this afternoon on the ice. A quick jog around the pitch and then we can head into the rink and get ready.

Sitting in the room beforehand, I listen to the noise level next door - loud but still not a "team din" as I call it. The usual suspects are heard clearly, I want the entire room to have that confidence to speak up and be part of the room dynamic.

Good sign - all the players are by the boards and ready to go when I come out - we hit the ice and I am determined to pick up where we left off and not waste any time. An hour flies by so quickly and before you know it you have to clear the pucks and get the team ready for the first part of the cool down.

The whistle is blown right away and we are into the conditioning -warm-up portion of the on-ice this afternoon. Double whistle and turn hard to the boards - three hard strides out of the turn and go back the other way. Great for the legs and also very easy to identify how the player is leaning and if their stick is in the proper position through the turn.

This is the second session in which the new players will learn how we progress a drill. There is room for comments and questions but the main focus as always has to be on the execution and starting of the drill itself.

For several years , my mentor Ron Duissiaume used to berate me on how long I took at the board. "Everybody likes to talk, few like to listen," is the message I took from him. The Hockey-KISS method is applied - Keep It SHORT Stupid, is very appropriate since studies have shown the attention span of young people is approx. 30 seconds. I believe that in the practice element, you have just under a minute for a good, concise instruction overview and then explode into the drill. If it doesn't work the first few times, you have two choices.

Get your on-ice support to help and sometimes jump in yourself. Travel from line to line and reinforce the message or purpose of the drill - if it still does not flow, blow the whistle and address the concerns. It should be OK after that.

The team responds to the upbeat tempo of the afternoon skate and we are executing better than in the morning. This surprises me, pleasantly. However, the word must still be repeated to the returning players. help each other along in order to maximize our on-ice benefit.

This helps everyone in several ways, the players respond sometimes more to a peer than a coach - that is a fact of the game, so it works to build respect and team chemistry.

Another by-product of having the veterans talking the rookies through the exercise is they see the drill from the coaches perspective. A new appreciation is garnered for the other side of the fence. They experience first hand how difficult it can be sometimes to get a point across but, they also reap the rewards of having their teammates respond by executing the drill correctly.

This will be phase two of our team developmental plan - the entire team must take ownership and responsibility for the on-ice product and result - whether it is a game or practice. The understanding must be, the coach can only teach and do so much - it really comes down to the execution of the game plan and the desire and passion the team will bring to the table on a consistent basis.

I have thrown a little twist into the mix for this afternoon and one of the drills we will be progressing is actually an introduction to the a breakout and regroup drill we will be using this season. The camp initiative is to get the girls to take the clearing pass around the boards on their skate and get it to their stick cleanly. We will move this drill forward until we have three players executing a break out and regroup.

After a few initial hiccups and nervousness at having so much happen so quickly, it starts to flow. Surprisingly I even have some players come to me saying how much they enjoyed the drill and can we please do it again tomorrow.

This is music to a coaches ears as they are progressing their skill set AND enjoying the experience.

The session ends with a spirited scrimmage with both sides pushing a bit harder than in the morning skate.

Then I pull out the inner tubes. I tell each player to get a partner and explain to them that this is how we will wind down most practices until Christmas to get our conditioning up to the expected level.

It's an age old hockey training tool, one probably these players haven't seen before or almost certainly with their teams.

No Katelyn, goalies are NOT excluded - you have a built in dance partner - Akiko.

They actually attacked this drill and made it fun, they exit the ice tired but upbeat.

Only one more hill to climb after the cool down. The classroom session this evening. It will be the first time this team has been in this kind of setting. It will be a learning experience for everyone. I still have few tricks up my sleeve, after all this is only the first day.

Part 6: I can't believe we have homework. To follow.