"This is a great book that touches on the most important parts of the game: sportsmanship, discipline, and most importantly, fun.—Larry Robinson, member of the Hockey Hall of Fame, six-time Stanley Cup Champion
Coach. You thought you were just going to sign up your child for the youth league, but when no one else stepped forward, you volunteered to coach the team. But you can't tell a flip pass from a slap shot or an angle check from a hip check! Don't panic—Coaching Youth Hockey is here to help.
From your first team meeting to the season-ending pizza party, Coaching Youth Hockey will get you started and keep you going. You'll learn how to teach the fundamental skills of passing, stickhandling, shooting, and checking. You'll even learn to develop your own coaching style—one that works best for you and your players. Before you know it, you'll be coaching players who are moving, motivated, and most of all, having fun.
- Survive your first practice and first game
- Match drills to ability
- Make practices safe, fun, and rewarding
- Improve your players and your team
- Reach all your players
- Be the coach you never had
"A must-read book that provides guidelines for both parents and coaches in their relationships with young athletes."—Lou Lamoriello, CEO, president, and general manager, New Jersey Devils
"Just what hockey needs! Everything you may encounter with young players can be answered in the pages of this extremely well-written book."—Tom McVie, forty-nine years in pro hockey as a player, coach, and scout
"I was totally confused about instructing my sons when they played hockey. This book would have prevented me from ever having been baffled."—Stan Fischler, "The Hockey Maven," NHL analyst for MSG SportsDesk, and author of Fischler's Illustrated History of Hockey
"Bruce Driver's success as a player came from being a student of the game. He has applied his knowledge of hockey to this coaching guide in an extremely thorough way. A must-read for all youth coaches."—Grant Standbrook, head recruiter and assistant coach, Maine Black Bears; former head coach, Dartmouth College
Table of Contents:
Preface: In Canada, Every Kid Plays HockeyFrom Player to CoachIntroduction: Welcome Aboard, CoachHow to Use This BookA Word on Coaching StylePart One: Coaching 101: Everything You Need to Know about Coaching Youth Hockey1. Creating an Atmosphere of Good HabitsEstablish Your Identity as CoachQuestions and Answers2. Before Hitting the Ice: Hockey Clear and SimpleThe Ice RinkBare BasicsBasic RulesAs the Game Progresses3. Setting Up the SeasonFirst Things FirstSelecting an Assistant CoachThe Many Hats of a Team ManagerMeeting the ParentsHockey EquipmentQuestions and Answers4. Essential Skills and How to Teach ThemThe FundamentalsSkatingPassingStickhandlingShootingChecking5. GoaltendingThe Last Line of DefenseGoalie FundamentalsGoalie Drills6. Offense and DefenseOffensive FundamentalsDefensive Fundamentals7. The PracticePreparation and CooperationGetting Your Players to Respond to You ImmediatelyAlways Think SafetyFirst PracticePlanning the PracticePractice Session WorksheetGeneral Practice FormatPractice Success8. Sample PracticesBasic PracticeIntermediate PracticeIntermediate/Advanced PracticeQuestions and Answers9. The GameSet an ExampleRespect the OfficialsBe ReadyGame OverviewProblems and SolutionsQuestions and Answers10. Dealing with Parents and Gender IssuesPerspective on ParentsHelp Parents Look at the Big PictureKeeping Emotions in CheckAddressing Gender IssuesQuestions and AnswersPart Two: Drills: Foundations for the Growth of Players and Coaches11. Fundamental Drills12. Offensive Drills13. Defensive Drills14. Game Situation DrillsAppendixReferee SignalsGlossaryResourcesIndexAcknowledgmentsAbout the Authors
About the Author :
Bruce Driver, born in 1962, has been playing hockey since the age of three. He played minor league hockey in Toronto (where he was born) for fourteen years, winning four consecutive city championships. He served as team captain for the University of Wisconsin Badgers his junior year and went on to play with the Canadian Olympic team in Sarajevo in 1984, his senior year. He then went on to win the coveted Calder Cup with the Maine Mariners (The NJ Devils American Hockey League affiliate at the time) before he entered the NHL at the end of 1984. Bruce played for the Devils for eleven years, serving as captain in 1991-1992 and assistant captain for the next three years. The Devils won the Stanley Cup in 1995. He spent his last three years in the NHL with the New York Rangers. He concluded his 922 NHL game career with ninety-six goals and four hundred eighty-six points. He has served as both head and assistant coach since 1999 at Morristown-Bear High School and the Montclair Hockey Club as well as Head Instructor at the Huron Hockey School and the New Jersey Devils Alumni Association Clinics. He and his wife, Tracy, have two children, Whitney, 16, and Dillon, 10. Hometown: Montville, NJ
Clare Wharton has been immersed in youth hockey for more than ten years. Beginning as a "hockey mom" and observer, she developed an active love of the game. Clare is an English tutor who holds both a B.A. and M.A. in English. She is a newspaper columnist, a writer for a New Jersey parenting magazine, and a freelance author of numerous articles. Hometown: Parsippany, NJ
Review :
"An excellent resource for coaches and would-be coaches alike."
