Sports Psychology & Advisors
Sports Psychology is an interesting field of study that is relatively new to the landscape. Works like “Hockey Tough” by Saul Miller, or “Hockey Grit, Grind and Mind” by Dr. Kevin Willis, are excellent books and should be read by coaches and players at this level. They can understand the visualization concepts, and mindful practices that are articulated in these books. On a personal level, I think Sports Psychology can be a wonderful tool for kids in sports, but also have many real world practices that can greatly benefit your confidence in the workplace, with relationships and friendships and much more. It is a field with true merit and certainly helps in this day and age where Mental Health is at the forefront. These books give kids the tools to overcome adversity and obstacles rather than being a victim to them.
Another emerging industry with the hockey world is the business of Hockey “Advising”. Trevor DiCarlo and I spent considerable timeon this subject in Season 2 of the Hockey Toolkit Podcast, mostly between episodes 29-
I do not advocate to all players to get an Advisor. Certainly if you are an elite level player at the AAA level and you have not been tendered or drafted into Tier I or II hockey, often getting an advisor can help you with your game on the ice, and increase your marketability off the ice. Most Tier III players get an advisor with the idea in mind that they will help them get to the next level. That the advisor will shine a spotlight on what they do on the ice. The reality though is that the investment is expensive and those hard earned dollars can likely be spent more productively elsewhere. Furthermore, the Advisor world can be a dangerous one, fraught with more guidance, missteps, lapses in judgment, and a wide array of characters.
In my 10+ years of coaching Junior Hockey at the Junior level, here are some “Advisor” Horror stories (ALL TRUE), described on the Hockey Focus website.
CASE 1- During the 2018-19 season we had a young player on our EHL Premier team who was performing very well. His advisor all season was calling our staff to have him elevated to the EHL roster, saying he was outperforming the league and if he wasn’t elevated, was going to quit.
We informed him that we did not believe he was outperforming the league, and that we would love to get him EHL games if he could just curtail his careless penalties (he was leading the league in penalties) and demonstrate greater maturity off the ice. Further down the season we started to hear rumors of racist and gender biased comments that he was making. A player on the EHL was dating an African American girl, and when he attempted to confront the EHLP player, I received a 3 way call from the parent and advisor steadfastly defending the EHLP player. I informed him of the rumors of the negative racial comments at which a reply of “I was taught when I was a kid that sticks and stones break bones, but names never hurt.”
We traded the player following the comment and won the EHL Premier championship later that year.
After leaving we learned that the player carved a swastika into his host family’s lamp shade. He now is playing ACHA hockey. Hockey Advisor Horror Stories – Part 1 – The Hockey Focus (tjhpodcast.com)
CASE 2- In the 2020-21 COVID season, hockey was in a panic. Many players, parents, leagues and coaches did not know what the season would and could look like. Within the scramble of activity, we attempted to recruit several players from a relatively local post- graduate prep school in a neighboring state.
The players expressed an interest, were good fits for the level, and all had ambitions of using Junior Hockey to reach NCAA hockey following their Prep school days. Some even had a strong familiarity with our program as the year prior one of the programs top defenseman had played for our team and been a huge part of our teams success.
But none of the players signed with us. 3, 4, maybe even 5 players who we wanted in the program chose a new expansion team to the East of us. What was in the water?
Now mind you… I never stress over a player choosing another program over us. Kids have different needs and values, and sometimes our program is not a perfect fit. However, in a season with so much volatility and unknowns as the COVID 2020-21 year, picking a sure thing as our established program in a state like New Hampshire (the Live Free or Die State) over the more liberal state to our immediate East, would make a lot of sense.
But it didn’t. The players all went to the unestablished expansion program.
Then we found out they all had the same advisor. This is where it gets interesting.
The new expansion team had created a deal with the advisor to compensate each player put under contract for the 2020-21 season with their program. Where this isn’t an uncommon or unlawful practice, the backstory of the advisor who was interacting with these players was extremely troubling.
Enter an advisor who was charged with multiple counts of computer related crimes involving hockey players and on USA Hockey and Safesport’s Permanently ineligible list.
The expansion team had been working with a known criminal to acquire players.
Fast forward to October 2020, and the expansion team closed their doors and did not operate for the remainder of the year, the only team in league to do so that season. Come October, all of those players who were given advice to sign with the expansion team were looking for new places to play. Hockey Advisor Horror Stories – Part 2 – The Hockey Focus (tjhpodcast.com)
Remember when you are dealing with Advisors that this is an Unregulated business with no governing body for oversight. No one goes to college and gets a degree in Hockey Advising. Do your research, ask around, weigh the Pro’s and Con’s and make an educated decision on if this is right for you and your family.
By Andrew Trimble
To Purchase Andrew Trimble’s new book “The Hockey Planner” click here- 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
