I train female hockey players. Period. I used to train male hockey players too. But I just couldn’t do it anymore - and here’s the 3 reasons why.

3 Reasons Why I Don’t Train Male Hockey Players:

1. I never played their sport at a high level.

I like to think I have a pretty good hockey background, having played at the highest levels possible in women’s hockey. But in the male hockey world, I am no more knowledgeable about how to train young players than a guy who played one season of Junior C hockey. It used to frustrate the heck out of me and I wasted way too much time trying to convince them that I know what I am talking about. I will still work with the occasional boys team - but it is only when they contact me first, which means that they already understand the value of what I do.

2. Girls are different.
Hardly “breaking news” I know, but the differences between young female hockey players and young male hockey players are the reason that I am so involved in the women’s game. Girls always want to know “why”. Anyone who has coached in girls hockey knows that you had better know exactly why you are doing a particular drill, and be able to explain it to the girls. If you can’t, they’ll know and they won’t “buy in” to what you are doing as much as you need them too.

In general, girls hockey players tend to be “under confident” in their abilities while boys tend to be “over confident”. A boy will score one goal and think he’s Wayne Gretzky, while a girl can score a hat-trick and agonize over the one time she messed up on the penalty kill. Girls hockey players need, want and deserve a coach who understands how they think and act. And having once been one of them, it is much easier for me to relate. Strong female role models are hard to come by - and I am honored that I might be considered one for the girls I have the honor of working with.

3. No Million Dollar Contracts
I truly believe that elite female hockey players deserve to be compensated for playing the sport at the highest level in the world. It’s not going to start at 7-figures, but it needs to start somewhere. That being said, one of my favorite things about female hockey is that there is no million dollar contract waiting for the girls at the end of the rainbow. The big goal of most aspiring female hockey players is to play women’s college hockey. The fact that competing at the highest level of your sport, and getting a great education are linked is absolutely awesome. I can honestly say that I would not have ended up at an Ivy League school had I not played women’s hockey. My hockey ability has opened up so many doors for me in my life, and while I may not have been compensated for it directly, it gave me more opportunities than I could have ever imagined.

And there is one more reason why I don’t train male hockey players…

I don’t love it! I don’t get out of bed in the morning excited about helping the boys take their game to the next level and move closer to their hockey dreams. I can help them, but it’s not my passion.

A very good friend of mine put this in perspective for me:

“Figure out what you are good at and what you are passionate about and then do everything in your power to get into that “pocket” and stay there.”

Helping female hockey players get to the next level on and off the ice is my “pocket”.

And you can be sure that I am going to stay there.

Work Hard. Dream BIG.

~ Coach Kim

PS - There are only 9 weeks left until September - will you be ready? Start taking your game to the next level this summer with the Total Female Hockey Complete Training System today.