Successful CHSIHL Coaches Rise to the Next Levell
The Face of Scholastic Inline Hockey Coaching Is Changing
Scholastic sports have traditionally been the most consistent and productive opportunity for youth sports in America . Contrary to the inline hockey community, traditional school sports such as football, basketball, volleyball and lacrosse to name a few have routinely offered more scholastic sports opportunities in the way of scholarships and play-for-pay to successful student athletes .

The Colorado High School Inline Hockey League (CHSIHL) has helped cultivate a new breed of scholastic middle school and high school inline hockey coaches that are studying and putting to affect new learning philosophies, and processes to improve their coaching success within the scholastic inline hockey arena.

Successful inline hockey coaches have realized very quickly that skilled hockey athletes do not come easily to produce a successful winning program. CHSIHL coaches have discovered that skilled players and a successful high school team program are cultivated, and nurtured over time. Now, high school inline hockey coaches are focusing on a broader and more comprehensive approach to coaching that is more necessary for success in the scholastic sports environment.

"Coaching requirements have become more demanding and challenging for those coaches determined to succeed in the competitive environment of high school interscholastic sports.

Coaching, particularly volunteer coaching can be among the most demanding jobs any person will undertake. Juggling players, parents, league rules, league schedules, family and personal life, can be very stressful. On the other hand, the reward of reaching one's long term coaching goals while experiencing your players' athletic developmental growth is among one of the most gratifying personal experiences one will ever receive as a high school coach." says Eddie Delgado, founder and director of the Colorado High School Inline Hockey Association.

According to a number of coaches, reaching this level of satisfaction does not arrive easily, or drop in one's lap. Good planning, coordination, and collaboration will be among some of the many attributes necessary toward becoming a successful coach in the scholastic sports arena.

Getting Organized
Involving your coaching assistants and parents is a critical step toward a more sane approach to success. Many high school team groups have found success by forming what some call a "Booster Club" or "Team Committees" to organize more effectively. Eliminating the internal battles between coaches and parents is first and foremost on the agenda to make the team and player's experience a productive and positive one.

Commitment to the process - Make A Plan !
The ongoing ritual of recruiting new players to your program is hard to avoid. Many coaches begin months in advance toward building a well thought out plan that reaches out to their local community. Among these steps are the following.

• Building relationships with veteran players and coaches to collaborate and exchange ideas and strategies.

• Reaching out to organizations such as the local area Boy's Club, YMCA, and Parks & Recreation Community Centers become a critical step toward their team and coaching success.

• Continuous building of a solid library of instructional hockey materials such as videos and literature. Self education of the sport is vital according to many CHSIHL coaches.

• Online development tools are a great source. Websites like coachesplanner.com are a great resource for building successful hockey programs.

• Player academic preparation to improve scholarship opportunities for players, while forming important collegiate scout, and coach networking opportunities. Good grades are essential as part of the student athletes success.

• Improving the sportsmanship, athletic skills and knowledge of the scholastic inline hockey player to meet the demands of competitive inline hockey for now and the future of the athlete's career.

Coach Training
Coaches of the CHSIHL are meeting the challenge toward improving their teaching and communication skills with young players to ensure that their message gets through. Skill drills are important, but effectively communicating the fundamentals of inline hockey emerge as crucial steps toward the player's improvement capabilities. Organizing your players to execute a specific drill, and then simply watching them skate in circles is no longer enough. The training process must also include one-on-one communication to ensure mistakes are not continually repeated over and over as the drill session progresses.

Free Instructional Sites:
Jess's Goalie Page - Goalie Tips and Techniques - illustrated instructional articles on hockey goalie techniques and tips, covering such topics as the goaltender ready position, why you shouldn't stand up, the best positions for when the puck goes behind the net, the skate save, the butterfly and more

101 Hockey Tips - 101 bite-sized, text-based tips on playing better ice hockey, with tips on anticipating in net, beating shot-blockers, controlled aggression, goal scoring attitude, knee bending for balance, playing without the puck, seeing the ice, setting up well to shoot harder, skating like The Great One, stealing the puck, the backward crossover and more

Better Hockey: Articles - detailed instructional articles on hockey skills and principles for both coaches and players, covering such topics as angles of checking, gap control, in season training, keeping kids motivated and parents happy despite a losing record, plyometric training and soreness, the hockey stop, training a young athlete and

How Hockey Works - a collection of text-based instructional articles on various hockey-related topics, including how to improve the power and precision of your slapshot, the history and other details of the hockey puck and more

NFHA Players' Ice - a collection of illustrated hockey tips and guides, covering such topics as the 3 main rules of hockey, terms of the game, approaching the tryouts, shooting tips, hockey skates, hockey sticks, heads up hockey, skating pivoting, defensemen shooting, goal scoring, passing, backchecking, defensemen skating, face offs, defensive play, breakouts, team defense, offensive play, body checking, penalty killing, forechecking, offensive transitions, goalies, goalie communication, rink surfaces, the goal crease, goal frames, end zone face-off circles, skating tips, common skating errors, edge control and counter balancing, transition moves and more

The Science of Hockey - illustrated, video-clip enhanced guides to the science behind the sport of ice hockey, covering such topics as why ice is slippery, the mechanics of skating, high-tech materials players use, how to slap a puck 100 miles per hour, how much energy is generated by a mid-ice collision, how to get in shape and stay healthy for hockey and more

Strength and Conditioning Training
On/Off Court Training is another critical component to the overall conditioning of today's athlete. Many specialized fitness and conditioning centers are opening all over the country to meet the needs of the serious athlete. These are great opportunities for the young athlete to develop physically with off-court training fundamentals that can increase power, strength and endurance to succeed within competitive scholastic sports. Below are some innovative training websites for tips, ideas and instruction for your teams' conditioning program.

StrengthCats
Coaches - Athletes - Trainers
In-Season Hockey Strength Training Program
By Larry Jusdanis of www.sstcanada.com

Constructing a Strength and Conditioning Program for College Hockey
For EliteFTS.com
By John Rovnan

Follow the Game
CHSIHL coaches also agree that observing your competitor, collegiate or NHL game is a great and valuable source for learning strategies, as well as the offensive and defensive intricacies of the sport. In addition, a sport such as basketball, lacrosse, or soccer can also offer a wealth of strategic insight. These sports all provide great opportunities to analyze and learn several basic sports fundamentals such as the give n' go, moving without the puck and player rotation to name a few.

Another great tool is searching the internet for new drill sets, training books, and videos to add to your collection of training material. These tools become an essential part of valuable material to improve one's coaching skills and ability to communicate more effectively.

Another great learning opportunity is networking with experienced players and coaches within the inline hockey community . "Some of the best strategies and concepts to the sport of inline hockey are learned from networking and talking to experienced players and coaches that I've met in and out of Colorado." adds Eddie Delgado.

Don't expect your players to teach themselves. As a coach, be prepared to learn and teach the basic fundamentals of inline hockey. Avoid focusing exclusively on the game experience only. Maximizing your practice time with an effective learning experience for your players will pay bigger dividend for the future success of your team.

Peter Dale, founder of USA Clinics, the #1 Roller Hockey Instructional Program in the country says, "To master any sport, you must first master the fundamentals of the game. We all learn 3 ways. What we hear, what we see and what we do".

"As coaches, the challenge is that everyone's experiences are different. Your goal is to make sure your players hear the right things, see the right things and do the right things. In many cases players must first, un-learn bad habits. Practices provide the best opportunity to create the learning environment and create long term positive habits." adds Peter Dale.

The Professional High School Coach
Too often coaches will perceive themselves as something less than the collegiate or professional coach, when in fact this is far from the truth. Some of the most respected coaches in sports are high school coaches of very successful high school sports programs.

However, the success of these coaches is measured by their hard work, integrity, determination and commitment toward their profession. These men and women devote themselves to learning the sport, respecting their players, and the sport.

It's a Long Term Process
To achieve success, be prepared to make a long term commitment. Generally, a 2-4 year commitment is necessary to create and maintain some sense of consistency and trust between the players and their coach. This commitment will also help ensure longevity for the team organization.

Too often, coaches will abruptly leave or cut-short their commitment to the team, leaving the players with a sense of defeat and betrayal. When beginning your quest toward becoming a high school coach, be prepared to develop a long-term plan for success. Coaching a high school or middle school program is not the same as putting together a team for a weekend tournament.

Many high school inline hockey coaches have already learned that the "Weekend Warrior" approach toward team success does not work in the scholastic league environment. When cultivating a high school or middle school program one must remember that the task at hand often involves starting with a group of players that require a long term development program.

The expectation of immediate success is unfair to yourself, but more notably, an unreasonable expectation for the players and their parents. Patience and practice sessions conducive to a learning environment are the key to a successful high school program.

Forming a positive relationships with Officials/Referees
Focus on learning the game, not battling with referees. Too often negative life lessons are learned by players that are forced to witness bad behavior and sportsmanship by their coaches. Negative comments, inappropriate language and general bad behavior demonstrated by a coach on the bench have a direct affect on a young player's emotional well being and game performance, according to many of the CHSIHL coaches.

When a player is seen demonstrating inappropriate behavior, we sometimes don't have to look very far to see that the player has learned this behavior from the adult coaches on the bench. As a coach, these types of behavior will create more problems than you might imagine. Big games have been lost due to a lack of focus and inappropriate behavior.

"Unnecessary penalties during critical moments in a game often result in a negative outcome, and then referees are blamed when in fact the problem was created and fostered through negative roll modeling." adds Eddie Delgado.

Positive relationships with the officiating team will ensure a more positive experience for your players, parents, and yourself while ensuring a positive outcome to the game and league experience.

Hang In There!
At times coaching can be among the most unappreciated jobs one can experience. However, the rewards of success definitely out way that challenges. Remember to embrace the little accomplishments as well as the big. The little things are what keep the machine of forming a successful program going.ENJOY AND KEEP LEARNING THE SPORT.