I can’t believe it’s already been seven days since I was enjoying the lovely weather in Minnesota (-40 with the wind chill!). After being on the road do seminars for two weeks straight, it was nice to get back on the ice coaching my team and watching them play this weekend. They have improved so much as a group and as individuals since the beginning of the season and I wanted to share a little bit of their success story with you (before you share your success stories from the second week of the Total Female Hockey “Goal Getting” Contest).
The girls I help coach are all 11 years old and play against teams with 11 and 12 year-olds on them. Typically, a one-year age gap isn’t a big deal in hockey, except that most girls tend to have their first growth spurt at the age of 12. My girls are on average 4 foot 8 and some of the teams we play against have players that are just as tall as me (5 foot 8). As you can imagine, this one-foot height difference can be a little intimidated for the smaller players, especially at the peewee level when there starts to be a lot more body-contact in girls hockey.
At the beginning of the season, these girls were hesitant. They wouldn’t avoid going into the corners, but they wouldn’t battle as hard as I knew they could against the bigger players. We were definitely more of a skill team and didn’t pose much of a physical threat to anyone.
What a difference 3 months makes! Twelve weeks ago, they were shying away from contact. Now they aren’t only getting in there to battle - they are the ones initiating it! This tells me that they have become more confident in themselves over the course of the last three months and that they are in the perfect position to pull off some big upsets in the playoffs.
I am sure that most of these girls didn’t set a BIG goal back in October of being more physical on the ice. But that’s what us coaches are for. We planted the seed back at the beginning of the season of where we wanted to be in time for playoffs, and we have built up to where we are now. I asked the girls to start setting individual goals for each practice and game, and their focus is really starting to pay-off.
What did you focus on this week to move closer to your BIG goal?
Did you take the daily action steps you set out on Monday?
Did your hard work and focus pay-off?
Share your success…and then come back tomorrow to set your next weekly goal and the action steps that are going to help you achieve it.
Post your success stories from this week in the comment box below.
Keep working hard and dreaming BIG.
~ Coach Kim
PS - There is still plenty of time to become a stronger and faster player this season. If you are ready to take your on-ice performance to the next level, this is how you get started.
Hi Kim,
My week was full of ups and downs. My goal this week was to get better at getting the puck. I had a lot of jump in practice on Tuesday but I lost focus on my action steps when I had 2 perfect drills to work on them. After practice my boys team had a goal setting session based on this contest.It was a great exercise as we sure need some focus. Then on Thursday I injured my knee x-country skking so my focus changed to physio and resting. On Saturday it felt better so I played. Funny thing is it was my best game ever and I scored a goal with a quick shot fron the slot. That gave me lots of confidence (which I need more of). Our team lost though. We then played another game where we gave up a win in the last 28 seconds (for about the 5th time this season). We played the same team again on Sunday. We really focused on our team goal and everybody came to play. To meet our team goal of more GF than GA for the weekend we had to win by 5. We did win 2-0 and everybody played well and like a team. The biggest thing I did this week was share the goal setting idea with my team and it really helped. Thanks Kim!
Riley H.
I’m probably a little different from most of the people who read this blog in that my hockey goals aren’t to win a scholarship, and realistically I’m never going to play for my national team - sounds negative I know, but I’m 28 years old, and only started skating, never mind playing when I was 19, and living in England. However, what I do have in common is that I love playing hockey, and I want to get stronger, fitter, better so that I can continue to improve. This week for me marks the last week of training before our playoff games start on Saturday (I play in the Swiss Division 3) My goals are the following:
In our two training sessions - to work with my line on communication (our weakest point) so that we don’t waste as many chances, and to focus on initiating contact and not letting my opponent just skate at me.
Off the ice: To eat properly, drink enough liquids, and make sure that I stretch after my endurance training.
Game day: To keep my focus and positive attitude for the whole 60 minutes, and to be first to every loose puck.
Finally, my goal for the whole week is to enjoy the experience, learn from it (it’s my first playoffs ever!) so that next season I can be even more prepared!
Hey Kim,
Last week was great, I wanted to stay away from snacking and eating out and as the week went on I was less and less craving junk food. My aim has improved in the last week, and I am more aware of my surrounding from keeping my head up. I haven’t made a tremendous change in the last week, but it is a great start.
Thanks for sharing these great success stories and sharing your upcoming goals.
Riley - Great job sharing the goal setting information with your team. You’ll have to get more of them here at Total Female Hockey Club setting and getting their goals.
Judith - Good luck in the playoffs! I am so glad that you are enjoying the game and committed to improving. Focusing on enjoying the experience and using it as a springboard for next season is a great strategy.
Jessie - You stayed focused on your goals and achieved them - excellent work! The week-to-week changes aren’t always going to be big. Remember, you want to take a small step everyday in the direction of your dreams.
Thanks again for sharing - see you back here next week!
Work Hard. Dream BIG.
~ Coach Kim
Hey Kim
This week my goal was to work even harder over all in my practices and in studying. Also to continue on the tape passes and smart choices (plays) every time im on the ice.
Over my 3 exams i studied really hard and ended up doing really well on all my exams. So my studying efforts paid off.
We only 2 practices this week because of exams so when we did have practice only 10 or so girls were there. I tried to work my hardest but i know personally i didnt give it my all. The reason is because my team doesnt care because the “season is over” to them because we got moved up to AA about a month ago, so our season games dont mean anything. all we have is provincial playdowns for AA. I personally dont agree that the season is over because we still have playdowns for the provincials. I know that thats no excuse not to try my hardest so this weeks goal will to work harder that. But my team did want to get off the ice early so i stayed on the extra 5 mins and worked on passing with another teammate.
I did stretch every night for 15mins focusing on hockey specific stretches. The next day i would feel way better. My flexibility is improving gradually.
I did try to go to bed early to have enough energy to be alert during my exams but i just couldnt fall asleep, it took me awhile. (probably because i was stressed about exams))
Over all i thought this week was a good week. Though some of my weekly goals didnt pay off i will still try to work on them.
Andreaa =)
It can be hard to stay focused when the rest of your team just wants to goof off. Instead of trying to fight this when things get bad, try to focus on what you have control over: your work ethic and your attitude. Pick one goal that you want to improve on in that “nothing” practice and make the commitment to yourself to achieve it no matter what.
~ Coach Kim