It was a good loss.

[wildraven]

We opened up with our first game of this, our largest season ever this week. After practices Monday and Tuesday, followed by a scrimmage Wednesday, we traveled the 55 minute bus ride out to Marlboro to take on one of the "unusual" schools. This, one of the two "unusual" make-ups includes all talent levels, some of them very very good, but all only up to 9th grade.

I only finally "got" my team Wednesday. Some unusual ones. The head coach of Varsity likes to keep far more than he ever intends on using. I don't know if it's an ego thing ("I want them to see what it's like up here at this level.") or a macho thing. While keeping girls you never intend to use up with the "big" club might be fine with older ones, ones in high school, it is different with 6th and 7th graders. Kids on that level, especially girls, want to play. They don't care about the ego of which level. They don't get macho about bragging what level they made, they just want to play. The parents know this. The parents, in 3 cases, made the decisions for the coach. My team has 3 very talented, yet young and very small ones I was not expecting to get. It was almost like a parent revolt against big egos.

Three of my defensemen had never played defense before.
Four of my wingers had never played hockey at all before.
One of my goalies has only been playing for less than a year.
I had yet to have my entire team at a practice yet.
Everything only started just two weeks ago.

We did not start out well.
My poor new goalie.
Down 5-0 at the half-way mark when I changed goalies (They both play half of each game).

I ignored the scoreboard and just used it as a big teaching moment.
19 more games to go after this, might as well start building now.
I drew up positions and what I wanted on plays, encouraged good decisions and corrected bad ones.
Start teaching break-outs and forechecking.

Down 6-1 as I looked up near the end of the 2nd period.

Ignore the scoreboard, just keep teaching.

Hey... we're starting to do a few things right.

Some of them are starting to get the idea.

Keep doing that!

3rd period:

6-2
6-3
6-4
My God... it's becoming a game...

Final: 7-5

It's a loss, but the new ones were starting to get some of the ideas.
My new D have an idea.

All of the things that went wrong can be fixed.
Give me time and we can teach/fix/correct what went wrong.

We're gonna be ok.

The new ones are psyched and can't wait to get back on the ice again.
My D are asking questions and want to learn how to play D.

They are loudly laughing and joking all the way home.

Did I mention it was a 55 minute ride?

Comments

Kudos!

[missdimple.livejournal.com]

This experience should help reinforce to you what a great teacher I suspect you are. You didn't get frustrated and angry at their inexperience and mistakes, but only focused on their successes. It gave them the head space to do the same. Way to go! :)

[spwebdesign.livejournal.com]

It's refreshing to see coaches with your attitude. When I reffed basketball and umped baseball (at the 5th-9th grade levels), I encountered too many coaches who lost sight of what scholastic sports is all about because of their egos.

[curly-chick.livejournal.com]

As I have said repeatedly, I like that you give the girls on your team a lot of support and self esteem. I also like the goal is learning to be better rather than winning. Years from now, who cares if you win a game? What will really matter years from now is whether an individual girl learned a skill, or something about herself, developed as a player, and/or gained self esteem.

Kudos to you for being such an excellent coach.