I’m a firm believer in the concept of the “Feedback Sandwich” - a correction surrounded by two complements.  Emphasizing the positive makes the negative more instructional and less critical.  So let’s start with that first 'slice of bread’ in our sandwich…

Despite a long and storied history, hockey in our fine state is still in it’s relative infancy.  Compared to other markets, we’re way behind in appreciation, participation, and development.  That’s not a criticism… it’s an illustration of the tremendous growth potential we possess, and the numbers support that.  On top of that, in many corners of the state we’re starting to create a framework that will support that growth for decades.  As long as we continue to take a thoughtful and measured approach to development, Indiana can become as strong and competitive as any state in the union!  Perhaps we could even boast our own NHL franchise!  (Foreshadowing? Or just wishful thinking?  Only time will tell…)

But… and there’s always a ‘but’, isn’t there?… we need to be honest about our shortcomings.  No rose-colored glasses.  No sugar-coating.  Just the straight-forward, honest-to-gosh truth.

Many of the issues plaguing hockey in Indiana aren’t exclusive to our state or our sport.  If you were to share this article with folks involved in baseball, soccer, basketball, football, or just about any other sport, they would relate to the following concerns all to well.

One note first.  I’m going to refrain from any name-calling as best I can for two very good reasons.  One, if we’re being honest with ourselves, we all know what our shortcomings are.  The idea here isn’t to embarrass anyone, but to really focus on what’s best for the kids and the game.  It may sound cliché, but it’s still the truth.  The second is that pointing out others’ flaws tends to distract us from looking at our own.  Being open-minded is essential to this exercise.  Without it, you may as well stop reading now.

Remember — the whole idea is to grow the game the right way.  If you really care about hockey, then nothing else matters.

So here goes…

Issue #1 - We’re too self-centered.

This isn’t the case every place, but the “gotta get mine” attitude is still far too prevalent in some circles and it’s severely hampering our potential.  I alluded to this sentiment in the previous installment, so let’s go a little deeper.

Anyone even remotely involved in hockey knows that Indiana is not awash with top-caliber talent.  We have a decent number of really good players, and a few players and programs that can compete with anyone in the country.  But as a whole, let’s just say our fields ain’t flourishing just yet.  Remember though… growth potential is a good thing.

What’s not good is that instead of devoting our time, energy, and resources into tapping that growth potential, we focus on self-preservation.  Far too often we are hoarding our players, our coaches, our volunteers, our ice time, our ideas… it’s like an episode of “Survivor” and we’re completely paranoid about getting voted off the island.

When that happens, we loose site of the path.  We succumb to our insecurities.  We hurt ourselves and our programs by engaging in the petty politics of the vocal, self-serving minority.  We spread our resources paper thin trying to be all things to all people and end up as a “jack of all trades and a master of none.”  We focus too much on the name on the front of the jersey instead of the person inside it.

Let’s face it - growth is hard.  It’s painful.  But in order to grow, we often must let go of what we are now in order to realize what we can become.  Obi-wan Kenobi understood this.  He sacrificed his own life to become a more powerful force in Luke’s.  (I had to go with the Star Wars reference.  Things were getting a bit too heavy there…)

Exception to the Rule:  Fort Wayne High School Hockey Association

This is a great example of what can be done when we move beyond the self-centered attitude and focus on doing what’s right.  Several years ago, high school hockey in Fort Wayne was a disaster.  Not a shock to anyone who followed hockey in the area.  Participation was dropping.  The talent level was in decline.  Changes to the youth landscape had led to an alienation of many area families, so the pipeline to the high school level was drying up.  Programs were putting up walls and isolating themselves, feverishly squabbling over any scrap of talent they came across.  It had gotten to the point where the ISHSHA had threatened to dissolve the league and merge the teams with the Hoosier League.  

Fortunately, there were a few individuals around who knew exactly what was needed… and were willing to step up to the plate.

Instead of allowing the league to die a prideful death, the schools set aside their selfishness and banded together.  They aligned themselves under one umbrella and rebranded Fort Wayne high school hockey.  They adopted one website for all programs instead of each having their own.  They pooled their resources and conducted a joint fundraiser that raised more capitol than all the individual fundraisers combined.  They approached potential corporate sponsors confidently, knowing that six schools were far more appealing than just one.

And they didn’t worry about winning.  Instead, they committed themselves to player development, academic achievement, and community service.  As a result, they became a stronger and far more competitive league.  They have rebuilt themselves into a model organization.  While the powers that be will readily admit that there’s more work still to be done, their journey provides some valuable lessons that other organizations in the state would be wise to follow.

Speaking of winning...

Issue #2 - We’re too focused on winning.

There is a vicious LIE that exists in youth sports.  It is probably the greatest threat to the success of every coach and organization around.  And in spite of many, many valiant efforts to disprove this LIE, it persists.

The LIE is that winning matters in youth sports.

Dozens upon dozens of reasons can be given as to why this foul notion continues to cast a dark shadow over programs from coast to coast.  Few will openly admit to it, yet it reveals itself in many ways.

Sometimes it is blatantly overt, as seen in the ugly, reprehensible behavior of a small minority of youth sport parents who vulgarly demean any convenient target — coaches, officials, other parents, their own kids, and even other people’s kids.  At other times, it can be virtually imperceptible, and even unintentional, such as when a coach structures his practices based on what will help his team win versus what will help his players develop.

At the risk of drastically oversimplifying this critical issue, it tends to boil down to this:  far too often we emphasize results over process.

It is imperative that we keep the following points in the foreground of youth sports:

1. Every kid develops differently.  While the Long-Term Athletic Development theory and the ADM can help construct more appropriate drills, practices, and schedules for our young athletes, we’re doing them a great disservice if we don’t take into account every child’s individual abilities and differences.  It is a difficult task for coaches, but one that is of the utmost importance.
2. There is virtually no correlation between winning and development.  Just because your child is scoring like Gretzky in his Mite league doesn’t mean he’s a lock for that elusive college scholarship.  Talent eventually levels out, and then it becomes a matter of desire and effort.  Teach them how to play the TEAM game no matter how talented they are.  They’ll be better players and people for it.
3. Kids play sports because they are FUN.  It’s the adults who obsess over scores and statistics, and it’s a big reason why 70% of children quit sports by age 13.  It IS possible to work hard and have fun.  The parents and coaches who learn to strike a balance between the two are the ones that create kids who develop a life-long love of sports.

 

Winning has its place.  As players move through high school to college or juniors to pros, success on the scoreboard becomes more relevant.  But when kids are young and developing, we owe it to them, to ourselves, and to the game itself to keep winning in perspective.

Issue #3 - We’re too focused on money.

Hockey is an expensive sport to play.  I know… this revelation comes as a shock to absolutely no one.  Between sticks, equipment, fees, ice costs, travel expenses, and an enormous amount of food that goes only-God-knows-where, it’s little wonder why hockey is viewed in some circles as an elitist sport.

In some respects it’s unavoidable.  Without the right weather to skate outdoors on the ponds and rivers, there’s little opportunity for free (or even cheap) hockey.  The indoor rinks are the only outlet to satisfy our hankering for hockey.

But it seems to be getting worse.  Equipment costs continue to skyrocket (honestly… what 6-year-old needs a $200 hockey stick?!)... the seven-month regular season now bleeds into spring hockey into summer hockey… clubs have created elite all-star select tournament travel teams (huh??)…  there are skating coaches, skill coaches, position coaches, conditioning coaches, nutrition coaches, ad nauseam, and each one of them runs their own camps and clinics…

While it’s awesome that there are an incredible number of opportunities available for players to develop their skills and play the sport they are so passionate about, there are only so many kids and so much money to go around!  And what ever happened to the multi-sport athlete?  Heck, even Gretzky played baseball and tennis when the weather turned warmer!

We all understand that some coaches depend on these many different opportunities to provide for themselves and their families, and rink operators are continually looking for new ways to keep the doors open in the face of a challenging economy.  Nobody is blaming them for trying to make a living.

But that doesn’t mean we need to turn hockey into an all-out money grab.

Parents have a responsibility to their kids to help keep their childhood enjoyable.  A camp or a clinic in the off-season is fine — so long as it your kid’s idea.  But don’t force it on them, and don’t overdo it.  Encourage them to try other activities, even if hockey is their first love.  If they don’t want to do anything else, help make sure that the summer activities are mostly fun.  Find a shinny or 3v3 pick-up league, play floorball or street hockey, find a decent (but affordable) pair of inline skates and get outside… anything that gives their bodies and minds a break.

Issue #4 — We’re too focused on politics.

No, we’re not referring to the perpetual three-ring circus that has been going on in our country for the past couple years… it has more to do with those particular individuals who always seem to have a self-serving agenda.  While most people who get involved in coaching or sports administration do so out of a love for the game and a desire to share that love, there are those few who often put their own interests (or their kids’) ahead of what is best for all.

More often than not, these shady folks aren’t even involved in the day-to-day operation of the program but are simply ill-intentioned people who spread their cancerous ideas through subtle whispers in corners of the rink.  Their subterfuge is destructive to the organization, and extremely frustrating to those who have committed their time and energy to genuinely trying to make a positive difference.

It’s extremely disheartening to wander around the rink and hear parents talking about how their team’s coach “doesn’t know what he’s doing”, or that the refs “don’t have a clue”, or that certain kids “have no business being on the ice”… at the Mite level!  Honestly, it’s a wonder what expectations some people have.  There is a very good reason why the coaches volunteer, the refs put up with the relentless abuse, and that the kids keep playing even if they can barely skate:  they love the game.  They deserve your respect, your encouragement, and your support for that reason alone. 

You’d expect there to be a fair degree of politics in professional sports, and even in the college ranks.  After all, those are businesses firmly focused on the bottom line.  But although there is plenty of money wrapped up in youth sports, there is no place for politics.  The best interests of the kids is all that matters.

If you’re interested in reading more about what makes a good sport parent — something everyone should aspire to — there are some great resources out there from Coaching Coaches, Changing The Game Project, and Positive Coaching Alliance to name a few.

Issue #5 — We’re too isolated.

Granted there are 36,418 square miles in the state of Indiana and most of the hockey towns are located at least an hour or more away from each other, but other than a few road trips each season there really isn’t much interaction amongst the various organizations in the state.

That’s a shame.

Sports is anchored in competition.  Practice would be pointless if we didn’t have the games to look forward to.  Yet there is very little in the way of cooperation happening.  Being competitors doesn’t mean we are adversaries.  Quite the contrary, the word competition means ‘striving together’.  It’s the very reason why professional athletes from opposing teams train together in the off-season.  They understand that in order to develop their craft to it’s highest potential, they need to challenge themselves on a continual basis.  In order to be the best, they look to learn from the best.

One of the most consistent criticisms we heard when talking with coaches around the state and at all levels was the lack of interaction.  Other than games, the youth programs don’t interact with one another.  Aside from sharing facilities, the high school programs don’t work all that closely with the youth programs.  And except for the occasional fundraiser or guest appearance, the college and professional programs don’t have much to do with the high school or youth teams.

Instead of cultivating relationships to help grow the game, we turn our eyes inward and only focus on what seems to directly benefit our own program.  What we fail to grasp, though, is that we often gain more through giving than taking.

The Bright Side

While this might paint a very bleak picture for some, the notion that hockey in Indiana is plagued by greed, insecurity, and incompetence is far from the truth.  The aforementioned issues do indeed exist, but they are a small minority compared to the tremendous number of coaches, parents, administrators, and volunteers who share a passion for the game and a selfless commitment to doing things the right way.  Some issues are easier to address than others but no matter how widespread the problem or complex the solution, they cannot be ignored.

If Indiana hockey is to take its place amongst the leaders in national hockey landscape, it will take a concentrated and coordinated effort to reach our full potential.  No one group can do it alone.  We need every parent, every kid, every coach, along with every rink manager, association board member, volunteer, official, and sponsor… everyone involved in the game… to join in.

So how do we do it?  You’ll just have to wait for Part 4...