There are so many different things that coaches look for in building a team. Player skill is just one thing and sometimes not even the most important. Coaches evaluate players on a variety of other criteria including:

• Team Skills - Does the player grasp the way teams work together to win games?


• Relative Physical Development - Is the player physically larger or small than his teammates?


• Leadership - In tough game situations, could the player step up as a role model for teammates?


• Listening - Does the player pay attention and understand things quickly?


• Personality - Does the player's personality fit with the other player's selected?


• Mentoring Ability - How much can the player positively impact others on the team?


• Positional Knowledge - How much does the player know about the playing the variety of situations faced in regular game?


• Unselfishness - Does the player make plays for the benefit of the team or build individual stats?


• Level of Effort - How hard does a player work during tryouts?


• Familiarity - Does the coach have experience working with the player?


• Family Involvement - Does the coach have good or bad experience working with a player's family?


• Team Needs - How many players are needed for each position? Though last on the list, team needs are often the most important. Teams don't need five skilled catchers. So even though a player may be a great catcher, the chances of making a team are greatly diminished if the coach prefers another player for that limited need.

While a tryout may look like a skills contest, coaches can observe these factors by the way the skills are carried out. Most coaches believe that skill deficits are much easier to correct than the issues listed above. Coaches will gamble with lesser skilled players that present the best overall package.

Good coaches can make skilled players but only the players themselves (with the help of their parents) can make skilled teammates.

Parents and coaches work hard to keep their children and players safe and maximize everyone's enjoyment from the sport. However, parents and coaches often have limited experience with youth sports participation. Though they may have once been players themselves, the skills to be a good player and the skills to be a good youth sports parent or coach are quite different. It is a little like saying that because you can bake cookies you can run a bakery. Playing is about technical skills where as parenting and coaching are about educational skills.

This skill deficit is then compounded by turnover. Just about the time parents or coaches get good at their respective roles, the kids grow up and a new group of parents and coaches starts the process all over -- Not exactly a model for long term success. However, the business world provides a great role model for how to deal with these issues and run a successful youth sports organization - the franchise!

In a franchise system, a franchisor sets the standards and provides an operations manual that franchisees much follow exactly to make sure that their business succeeds. The operations manual has been perfected over many years and with the experience of many franchisees. Thus, the operations manual is a proven path to business success. New franchisees don't have to reinvent the wheel. They immediately start their business with all the skills of long term participants. New McDonald's run as smoothly as the oldest ones even though the manager and crew may have just started. Now, why not take this model to youth sports?

Creating a Youth Sports Franchise 

Organized youth sports can do more than just setup game and practice schedules. It can also set the the right physical and behavioral standards that ensure that kids can enjoy sports over their entire childhood. These standards are not just codes of conduct. These standards are very detailed plans for behavior, instruction and participation.

Little League Baseball has implemented one step towards this with its new pitching standards policy which is shown below. Similar standards can be created in a variety of sports. Instead of taking away creativity or flexibility from coaches, these standards give coaches the benefit of years of participation and the input from medical experts. In order to improve, youth sports needs to implement more of these standards to help everyone achieve their goals - better kids playing longer and healthier.

Little League Baseball Pitching Standards The table below gives an overview of the number of pitches that will be allowed per day for each age group during the regular season in 2007.

The rest periods required during the 2007 regular season are listed below.

Pitchers league ages 7 through 16 must adhere to the following rest requirements:

• If a player pitches 61 or more pitches in a day, three (3) calendar days of rest must be observed.


• If a player pitches 41 - 60 pitches in a day, two (2) calendar days of rest must be observed.


• If a player pitches 21 - 40 pitches in a day, one (1) calendar day of rest must beobserved.


• If a player pitches 1-20 pitches in a day, no calendar day of rest is required before pitching again.

Pitchers league age 17-18 must adhere to the following rest requirements:

• If a player pitches 76 or more pitches in a day, three (3) calendar days of rest must be observed.


• If a player pitches 51 - 75 pitches in a day, two (2) calendar days of rest must be observed.


• If a player pitches 26 - 50 pitches in a day, one (1) calendar day of rest must beobserved.


• If a player pitches 1-25 pitches in a day, no calendar day of rest is required before pitching again.

Source: Little League Online (http://www.littleleague.org)

This is a presentation written by Al Bloomer that provides information regarding various options available to a hockey player that has completed or is about to complete his/her high school education. For eligibility purposes, the NCAA expects the student-athlete to graduate from high school when they are 18 years of age. The expected graduation date is the NCAA eligibility bench mark.

From the author "I have been involved in hockey as a player, coach or administrator for over 50 years. For the last 20 years I have been directly involved with players between the ages of 15 and 20 years old. When it comes to choosing options for their hockey future, I am continually troubled by how poorly prepared and uninformed many players and their parents are. Answers can be found if you know where to look. The challenge is to be realistic about your hockey abilities and pro-active when planning your hockey future. As your skills develop to the higher  levels, you begin to think about your options. I believe parents and players should begin to think seriously about hockey opportunities when the player is 12 to 14 years old. This is not the forum to debate when a player's hockey potential can be evaluated or predicted. Although there may be optimism concerning potential when players are 12 and under, their potential cannot be realistically evaluated until they reach the age of maturity. All have dreams and expectations - but players and parents need to make informed and realistic decisions."

Some typical questions:

• What are my hockey opportunities after high school?


• How do I determine what is best for me?


• What are some determining factors?


• What are my chances?


• How can I find out where I fit?


• How and where do I get noticed?


• How important are academics?


• What role does my coach play?


• Should I actively pursue opportunities or should I wait until opportunity knocks?

 

Download the attached file to read the presentation. Requires Adobe Acrobat reader.

Do you know some parents like this... 

MEDFORD, Mass. Peggy and Dave Finnerty admit they're hockey nuts, having spent countless hours carting their two sons to games at the break of dawn. "It's what we love to do," says Peggy, who sports a Boston Bruins scrunchy around her pony tail as she watches a practice at Anthony LoConte Rink in this blue-collar suburb.

Peggy is expecting, and the Finnertys are doing everything they can to make sure their newest child gets a head start in the highly competitive world of youth hockey. Every Tuesday and Thursday, Peggy straps on her pads and takes to the ice with other pregnant women in what is believed to be the world's first pre-natal hockey league.

Read More...

The website Dallas Stars Care (http://www.dallasstarscare.com) features stories of professional hockey players talking about their youth sports experiences including:

Steve Ott

Philippe Boucher

Marty Turco

Visit the Dallas Stars Care website to read about these players and more.