Son's first travel team practice

[gman 0]

So my son got an invite to try out for the travel team. He made it and had their first practice last night. During the ladder drills, (or lines or suicides or whatever most people call them, think "Miracle"), one of the senior kids tells my son to bag his lines and stay with the goalie so that if they get a slow time they can blame it on the goalie. It did not make any sense to me even from the sidelines. Needless to say, or maybe not, my son did exactly what the kid told him to. Understand that the rink area is small and I was standing right next to them when they were talking, so I heard it all.

I was not very happy with that. I had to explain to my son, after practice and at home, that the coach has them do those to develop speed, stamina and strength in the legs. Not to mention lactic acid tolerance and character. But then I got to thinking about the whole social dynamic thing on a team. My boy is THE rookie and he was doing what the senior guy told him to do. I never really played serious team sports as a kid ( I played tennis up through college), so I am not familiar with what is normal.

I understand the whole rookie hazing thing and whatnot, but shouldn't that be something like having pink tape on your blade and shaft the first season or wearing dingle-balls off your helmet? I am not sure the razzing should extend to affecting work ethic, conditioning, or skills.

Any thoughts???

[ktang 34]

One rule I know of when joining a new team: stay quiet and listen to the team leaders (who may not be wearing a C or A). There is always a pecking order, and whoever is on top sets the tone for the rest.

I hope that the coach knows what is going on, but picks his / her battles during the season.

[gman 0]

I hope that the coach knows what is going on, but picks his / her battles during the season.

My hunch is that the coach knows what is going on. So perhaps I need to be less of a overshadowing parent huh??? Dang, though, it still bugs me! When I ran lines I ran till I puked. Not everyone has the same work ethic or gets the same rush at working out until the body objects violently...

[ktang 34]

It would be interesting to see what the coach does if the team hits a losing streak!

Not everybody has the same work ethic, so the coach has to walk a fine line between doing what is good for the team's conditioning and what is good for the team dynamics.

[hocckey77 0]

what age level is this?

[gman 0]

what age level is this?

Sorry, U-14, and my son is 11.

[usahockey22 0]

There's no reason he shouldn't be going all out at practice...and at that age (11) team dynamics probably isn't that important so much as individual development. I've never heard of anyone telling someone else to not put out, in some effort to make them look less of a player on the ice...especially at that age, who cares? He should just be out there working and improving. Maybe the kids feels threatened by him or something. who knows.

[Alias81 0]

Yeh as much as that one guy may not want him to show his worth on the team the coach hand picked you kid, so he should show him he didn't make a mistake and work his nuts off.

[indaslot 0]

IMO you did the right thing by telling your kid to go all out.My son went through similar things when he joined a new team.He would give up the puck or even let an older teamate take the puck off his stick.We let him know that he was being taken advantage of and that it would hurt him in the end.He eventually smartened up.

[Guy Incognito 0]

Just a thought...

If your son plays with the same team the next season, the coach will remember what kind of worker he is. He may not make the team again if the coach isn't catching on to the situation.

[gman 0]

Just a thought...

If your son plays with the same team the next season, the coach will remember what kind of worker he is. He may not make the team again if the coach isn't catching on to the situation.

That is one of the things I thought of for sure. I am working on how to present to my son now. My work ethic is one of big, if not the major, things that has gotten me through life.

It sure as heck isn't talent!!!

[All Torhs Team 0]

Do you talk to the players very often? Maybe you could go up to that senior player and just casually ask how come the sprints are looking so slow.

[kovalchuk71 212]

I think the Senior plyer is jealous that your son has the skill to plaay on a U-14 team at 11. He doesnt want to be shown up

[indaslot 0]

I think you just hit the nail on the head as to how to present it to your son.

[kovalchuk71 212]

What I said?

[Chadd 916]

Just a thought...

If your son plays with the same team the next season, the coach will remember what kind of worker he is. He may not make the team again if the coach isn't catching on to the situation.

That is one of the things I thought of for sure. I am working on how to present to my son now. My work ethic is one of big, if not the major, things that has gotten me through life.

It sure as heck isn't talent!!!

You never win by cutting corners. It's just one of those moments where a sport lesson and a life lesson intersect.

[gman 0]

Do you talk to the players very often? Maybe you could go up to that senior player and just casually ask how come the sprints are looking so slow.

Hadn't actually thought of that. As this was the first practice I'll probably lay low for a while. But this is an AWESOME idea, Thank You.

I think you just hit the nail on the head as to how to present it to your son.

Thanks

You never win by cutting corners. It's just one of those moments where a sport lesson and a life lesson intersect.

Man I LOVE those moments. I wish I could bottle them and sell them. I'd be a millionaire. Those are what make everything worth while. This being said, my wife never played sports and so she does not relate :(

[gman 0]

I just talked to my son. I really did speak to the coach about it too a few days ago. I told my son that the coach did not hand pick him because is one of the best players (He is down about 25-40 pounds and several years experience). But the coach picked him because he saw natural raw talent, a desire to learn, a desire to win, and a "hockey sense". In addition, he saw his work ethic and positive attitude.

I told my son that if he loses any one of these the coach may very well cut him. ( I did not tell him that I would cut him before the coach would). I also said that the easiest thing to lose was the work ethic and attitude. And that was the easiest thing to develop through practice. He actually got pretty emotional so I think I got through to him. We'll see if he hits the garage in the morning before homework and round-n-round public skating in the afternoon.

[Storm 0]

I went through thing as well and I quickly understood that...

When you do suicides or any collective drill you never try and make your teammates look bad.

Everybody is looking from the corner of their eyes not to be too far ahead and not to be last.

The goalies do the suicides on their own as the forwards are resting and the same applies to them.

The coach told me the same thing, small but heart,etc, etc,

Trust him to adjust to his new tribe.

Many players will secretly practice on their own.

[gman 0]

Trust him to adjust to his new tribe.

Deep down that is what I am going for. The whole "coming of age" thing is all too quickly approaching :( :( :(

[Chadd 916]

I went through thing as well and I quickly understood that...

When you do suicides or any collective drill you never try and make your teammates look bad.

Everybody is looking from the corner of their eyes not to be too far ahead and not to be last.

The goalies do the suicides on their own as the forwards are resting and the same applies to them.

The coach told me the same thing, small but heart,etc, etc,

Trust him to adjust to his new tribe.

Many players will secretly practice on their own.

The faster and better conditioned players should be pushing themselves or they aren't getting a benefit from the drills. Not to mention the fact that other players look to them for their cues. If the top guys cut corners, everyone else will as well.

[Storm 0]

I am in total agreement with you Chadd.

I was just sharing a mind set that some people may not be aware exists.

[NuggyBuggy 0]

If I was an 11-year old joining a team with much older, faster, and stronger kids who didn't know me, I would be as worried about fitting in and being accepted by the other players as I would be about nailing the first few practices. It's hard to get accepted by a new bunch of kids when you're the keener who's always shooting his hand up when he knows the answer.

Maybe the older kids will look to his hustle as a cue to how they should be practicing. Maybe they'll accept him because of his work ethic and hockey skills. Maybe they'll respect the fact that he decided to eschew the advice they gave him. Or maybe they'll freeze him out for the next few months and urinate in his skates.

[kurtandshan 0]

You know, I think a point is being missed here, if any kid on a travel team..or any team tells another player to dog it in practice maybe this isn't the team to be on. What kind of winning attitude is that. If it were my team I would be dissapointed to hear "slow down" from a senior guy. If this kid was REALLY a leader, he'd be along side him saying "You're here now...keep up because here we do it FULL speed, do your best and give it your all, thats all we ask." No leader worth his weight is going to say "dog it" and no winning team is going to have an attitude of let the slow guy keep up...That makes everone slow. MAKE the slow guy CATCH UP..or go home.

[biff44 0]

I think your kid was just getting hosed!

But understand this, if he skates as slowly as the goalie a couple more practices, he will be cut. So get that foolishness out of his head. He is a rookie, and needs to work twice as hard as the others to earn his ice time!!!