Its been a long season for everyone, and now players and parents will turn the page to 2025-26, looking for the ideal place for their daughter or son to develop and have a positive experience in the game of hockey.
The person your youth athlete will engage with the most is the coach, and just like choosing a program, choosing a coach for your kid to play for can be a difficult decision. Oftentimes even more than the on ice performance, this influence will play a big role in the type of player your athlete will become. Here are some types of coaches your athlete and family should avoid.
The constant screamer– See Below Video
If kids mirror behavior, do you really want them to become the type of person that immediately looses their cool and flies off the handle?
The Excuse Maker– I’ve heard complaints from opposing coaches from a rival program to our immediate south here in NH complain about everything. Just completely unaccountable for their failures over and over. These include:
- The Referee
- The Linesman
- The cleanliness of our facility (their building is easily the dirtiest in the league, with barely working bathrooms and showers).
- The Clock Operator (this is always a good one to complain about – insert eye roll)
If your coach blames others and finds excuses in their own failures, then they certainly are teaching your kids that personal accountability is not important, and that someone else is always to blame.
Coaches with a Criminal Record– Parents… google your coaches.
The Yellers
Things I’ve heard from the opposing bench:
“BODY!” or “Hit EM”
“TOOO MANY”- a coach got his team to yell this during an odd man rush, ending the rush against his team, when he knowingly was playing 5 v 5.
“Dump it”- Another favorite of the program to our rivals in NH. If your coach is teaching your kid 1975 hockey and playing NOT to lose its going to affect your athletes long term ability to grow and develop in the game. Kids have understand situational awareness and develop Hockey IQ. Knowing when to make certain plays is a critical skill.
“Skate”, “Shoot”… or other classic hockey phrases…
If your coach has to yell these things out constantly during the game, what exactly are they teaching your kids? Why do they need these reminders?
There are a lot of programs today and a ton of qualified coaches. Finding the right coach and the right program can be the essential ingredient to your childs success in the game of hockey.
By Andrew Trimble
To purchase Andrew’s new book, the Hockey Planner, follow this link on Amazon- The Hockey Planner: A Year by Year Plan to Assist You on Your Hockey Coaching Journey: From Learn to Play to Junior Hockey: Trimble, Andrew: 9781963743388: Amazon.com: Books
