Back in 2003-2004, I had what I thought was my best hockey season ever out in Calgary. I was playing alongside the national team girls and, not surprisingly, every single aspect of my game improved. At a practice late in the season, the coach all but “guaranteed” me a spot on the team for the next season. And then a few days after the season was done, I got cut from the team. When the coach told me, it was like I had been kicked in the stomach and had the wind knocked out of me. As if that wasn’t bad enough, I asked the coach why I had been cut and they gave me about 7 different reasons, none of which I agreed with. I was angry, frustrated and I felt hopeless. And I didn’t even get a chance to go to tryouts to fight for my spot! Even though I had played so well and slowly worked my way up the depth chart by dedicating myself completely to become the best player possible, I wasn’t even invited back for a tryout. To say that it stung would be a huge understatement. I was devastated. I moved back to Toronto, continued to work hard and dream big, but it took me a while to get over being cut from the team of my dreams. Nothing in life is ever guaranteed. You may think you are a lock to make the team, and then get the rug pulled out from under you. Or you may just not be good enough to be on the team of your dreams…yet. As a player, it’s easy to get frustrated and wonder why you put all that effort in for nothing. As a parent, you are at a loss for how to help your daughter get through this challenging time. The truth is, whether you made the team or not, you’re next question has to be… What Do I Do Now? If you didn’t make the team you wanted to make, it doesn’t mean that you should just coast through the summer and not work hard to be your best. And if you made the team, you aren’t off the hook either. I am sure your coach expects you to come back in September in great shape. Great female hockey players are made away from the rink in the summer. The top players have to train as hard as possible so that they can fight to keep their spot on the team. Their dedication to being the best player possible off the ice is what allows them to play their best on the ice. And if you want to play at that elite level and want make sure that you are unstoppable in September, you have to put in your fair share of hard work off the ice too. That doesn’t mean that you need to train 4+ hours a day like the national team members, but you do need to move yourself at least one step closer to your hockey dreams every day if you want to achieve them. Off-ice training may not by the most fun part of hockey, but it’s your dedication to it that gets you noticed and will allow you to compete for a spot on the elite teams for years to come. How would you get over getting cut? Work Hard. Dream BIG. ~ Coach Kim

Every coach you speak to is going to try to sell you on the unique features of their program.  For the most part, every team will have a few practices a week, will play between 40-70 games, and enter a handful of tournaments.  Some programs will include off-ice training, specific skill and goalie training, and address the areas of nutrition and mental performance. These details will not differ too greatly between teams that are competing at the same level.

Everyone wants to play on the "best" team possible.  But what does "best" mean for you?  Does it mean the team with the best record this season?  Because there is no guarantee that they will be able to repeat that kind of success next year.  Does it mean the team with the best players?  Because we’ve all seen teams that look terrific on paper and have the most individually skilled players on paper, but they can’t put it all together as a team.  Does being on the best team mean choosing the team with the best coach?  

I believe it does, but not every coach is going to be the “best” choice for your child.

Before you choose a coach, make sure you do the following:

1) Ask other parents and players if they know about that coach.

This is especially helpful if you can speak to someone who has played for that coach before.  This will likely provide you with  the greatest insight into what this coach is like and how they treat their players and work with their team.

2) Meet with/speak with the prospective coach to find out what their philosophy is with respect to team & player development.

This should be done well in advance of tryouts.  Although I realize that not every player is going to have a great deal of choices for teams to play on next season, here in Toronto, there are typically 5-8 different choices for teams at each age and ability level.  Not every "AA" or "B" team is going to offer the same program.  You have to make sure you get your questions answered from the coach themselves.  

I would suggest sending the coach an email to set up a time to talk.  In your email, include 3-5 of your biggest questions so that they have the chance to prepare and you can keep the conversation to a reasonable length (us coaches are doing a lot of talking these days). Also ask them if they have an outline of their program plans for next season that they can send you - this might actually help answer many of your questions in advance of your conversation .

3) Watch the coach in an actual hockey practice.

I cannot overstate how critical this is.  The team’s program may look great on paper and the coach may have said all the right things in your conversation, but don’t make any decisions until you see them  in action on the ice.  Practices are where your child is going to learn new skills, concepts, and strategies and it is very eye-opening to watch how the coach instructs and interacts with their players on the ice.  You will learn a great deal about the coach and their staff in a relatively short period of time this way.

4) Watch the coach in an actual game.

You should make an effort to watch this coach on the bench during a game.  You will see how they manage their players and staff, what the atmosphere surrounding the team is like and how the team responds to instruction.

That shouldn’t seem like too much work - especially since your child will be spending 6-8 months of the year under the guidance of this individual. You need to do your homework on the coaches just in the same way that they are doing their homework on players.  

And always remember, this choice is about more than Xs and Os and who wins the most games.  You want to have a coach who has all the required technical knowledge and the ability to run an effective practice and game.  But most importantly, you want to work with a coach who is going to encourage, develop, "push" and inspire your child to become the best they can possibly be and create the best possible environment for the team and players to succeed.

When I made the decision that I wanted to play hockey at the university level at the age of 15, I became laser-focused on doing whatever it took to reach that goal.  In addition to focusing on my off-ice training, nutrition and mental game, I would spend every spare moment I could at the outdoor rink across the street from my house working on my skills - usually alone in the freezing cold for hours on end. I was way behind most of my teammates in terms of skill and experience, so I was determined to bridge that gap as
quickly as possible. 

To be honest, that outdoor rink was really the key to my success. I didn’t go to a lot of hockey camps or skills sessions, but I played a lot of pick-up hockey.  I was the only girl and usually one of the  few teenagers in intense games between grown men, many of whom had played junior hockey and beyond.  When I first started playing in those games, I was just “filler”.  I would skate up and down the ice as hard as I could, never really expecting to get the puck and trying to make the smartest and quickest play possible if I did so that I wouldn’t get run over. 

When I first started playing in those pick-up games, I would say things to myself like, “Today, I’m going to make 3 good passes” as I walked over to the rink.  I didn’t expect to score any goals and in those early days, all the goals I did score were from deflections off my outstretched stick or banging home someone else’s rebound.  Nothing flashy, never anything worth writing home about. 

At first, the guys didn’t really like having me out there.  I wasn’t the worst player out there, but I certainly wasn’t even close to being the best. And because I was the only girl, I had to prove myself each and every time I hit the ice with those guys. And eventually, after months and years of playing with them, I did.   I went from wanting to make a few decent passes to stealing pucks off people. Instead of scoring off ugly deflections, I was making pretty passing plays and beating people 1-on-1 to score.

I went from going home exhausted from just trying to keep up, to having to stay out on the ice for most of the game because the guys were tired while I had an endless supply of energy.  I played in those shinny games from the age of 15 all the way through the end of my university career.  I loved coming back to play over the holiday break when I was in university, catching up with the guys again and showing any newcomers to the game that girls can play, and even dominate, the game. 

Those shinny games were what made me a smart hockey player.  I challenged myself to compete in and contribute to those games. I went from being a very peripheral player to controlling the action.  While the practicing and playing I did on my competitive team was certainly critical in my growth and development as a player, it was the weekend games with the guys and countless hours working on my individual skills all alone that made me a better player.   I learned how to play with my head up, how to be confident carrying the puck, how to thread the needle with a beautifully timed pass and how to dig in the corners without having to throw a body-check. Since my teammates changed from game to game on that outdoor rink, I learned how to constantly adapt to the skill and ability level of the people I was playing with in order to maximize our team’s performance. 

Looking back on my career now, I have no doubt that I wouldn’t have had a shot at playing at the college level or beyond had I not devoted so much time and energy to pushing myself to be the best I could be when no one was watching.

Your friend and coach,

Coach Kim

Total Female Hockey

The truth is that we are not doing a very good job of developing elite female hockey players in North America.  Sure, we’ve won all the gold medals and continue to dominate on the world stage, but much of this success can be attributed to the sheer number of girls playing the game and the opportunity to compete and train against the “best” on a consistent basis.  But are we really giving all girls hockey players in North America access to the opportunity to reach all of their hockey dreams?

For the most part, we rely on a very Darwinistic approach when it comes to player development.  We have far more girls playing and the “cream of the crop” naturally rises to the top.  When this top 3% of players between the ages of 14-18 emerge, we give them access to the resources they need to make it to the elite level.

But what about everyone else?  Why are only the “best” given the information and the opportunity? It is irresponsible and unfair for us to cater only the “elite” players.

I recognize that not every girls hockey player in North America aspires to play women’s college hockey or make the Olympic team.   But there are many who do who don’t make the “right” team or are not from an association, team or area that has the access to development resources both on and off the ice.  Are we really giving players who aren’t “elite” quite yet the opportunity to move on to the highest levels of female hockey?  I always tell players to, “Work Hard and Dream BIG”, but the truth is that those 2 things are not enough to make you a great player.  You need to have access to the resources that will allow you to get there and be able to put together your plan to get you where you want to be.

I am not exactly sure what the answer is to this problem.  We can’t clone elite coaches, mass produce elite teams so that every girl has the chance to see what elite level girls hockey really looks like, or invite them all to selection camps that run across North America every spring and summer.

But we can empower them with information.  We can let them know exactly what it takes to get to that elite level and allow them to make the decision as to whether they want to pursue those dreams.  That is how we will create a culture of excellence in women’s hockey - where every girl has the opportunity to fulfill her dreams.  I truly believe that this type of widespread education and empowerment in girls hockey is not only possible, but absolutely necessary. 

Those components are:
::: Spatial intelligence
::: Situational awareness

Spatial intelligence is the ability to take in all the things that are happening in a particular time and space on the ice and anticipate what might happen next.  This kind of split-second decision making is made at every position.  We see it in defensemen trying to read what the opponents are going to do in a 2-on-1.  We see it with goalies trying to stop a breakaway and with forwards trying to read what the goalie is giving them on said breakaway.  Those are just a few basic examples of spatial intelligence.  Keep in mind that these decisions are being made in reference to all the other players on the ice, where they are and what they are doing.  Not to mention the fact that you’re standing on knife blades, people are  probably yelling at you and someone is likely trying to hit you.

The best example of a player who excelled at spatial intelligence would be Wayne Gretzky.  He seemed to have eyes in the back of his
head and knew where he wanted to put the puck before he even got it.  He had an amazing ability to read the game and make decisions that no one else on the ice had even dreamed of making. 

Situational awareness is very closely related to spatial intelligence.

While spatial intelligence boils down to knowing everything that’s going on around you, situational awareness centers more on being conscious of all that’s going on in the context of the what the other players intend to  do and anticipating their next move. 

Have I lost you yet? To simplify it even further:

Spatial intelligence is knowing what’s going on all around you.

Situational awareness is understanding how the intentions and actions of those around you effect what’s going on around you.

The players with the best “game sense”  excel at both of these. When you couple these high-level mental components with tremendous individual skill, you get a fantastic all-around player who can both skate and think the game at high speeds.

Now to the untrained eye, hockey can sometimes seem like a brutal series of random collisions in which the puck somehow sporadically ends up in the net.  To some, hockey appears to be a game of wild improvisation.  We know better.

That’s why coaches put systems and tactics in place.  To bring some degree of order to the chaos. We put these in place not because we want players to do everything “to the letter” every time.  The systems and tactics are simply a framework for the game - a starting point for execution of a game plan and something to come back to when things get messy out there.  What every coach wants are players who can take what they’ve learned about systems and tactics in practice, couple that with their individual skills, and also be able to “think” the game at high speeds.   Spatial intelligence and situational awareness are 2 of the toughest things to teach players.   That’s why those who posses those traits are so valuable out on the ice. 

Needless to say, to have a group of players with great spatial intelligence and situational awareness, along with great skill, attitude and work ethic,  would be a coach’s dream.

Work Hard.  Dream BIG.

Your friend and coach,

Kim

PS:   Every player needs to improve their individual skills
but that can be hard to do in the context of team practices.

That’s why I am running a Total Female Hockey Skills Session on
Saturday October 29th from 8:30-10:30am at Canlan York in Toronto.

We will be working on:

:: Speed - especially quick feet and quick puck movement
:: Shooting, Stickhandling, Passing, Checking
:: Position Specific Skills - splitting up forwards and defensemen

We will have 2 groups on the ice at the same time -
a bantam and midget group (at one end of the ice)
and an atom and peewee group (at other end of the ice).

And we can only take a maximum of 20 players in the session.
And as of this morning, I’ve only got a few spots left.

This will be a high-tempo session with lots of instruction.
The cost will be $60+HST for the 2 hour session.

CLICK THE LINK BELOW TO REGISTER NOW:
http://www.1shoppingcart.com/SecureCart/SecureCart.aspx?mid=D0EE400E-B774-4402-9667-F341B2106AA0&pid=f0d9897f84ac4a24a57d631404e1b5b9

Kim McCullough, MSc, YCS
Director, Total Female Hockey
Girls Hockey Director, PEAC School For Elite Athletes

::  What to eat before big games?
::  How to keep your energy up during a tournament?
::  What to choose eat if you have to eat fast-food?
::  How much water to drink (and whether sports drinks are OK)?

And I’ve tried my best to answer all of your questions, but the truth is…  I’m NOT a nutritionist.

But I do happen to know TWO very smart nutritionists, who also happen to be hockey moms of some very successful young female hockey players, and I knew that we had to bring a female-specific, hockey-specific nutrition program to people like you - who are looking for every advantage you can get over the competition, who know that nutrition is critical, but like me, don’t know exactly what you should and shouldn’t be doing to maximize your performance.  So after two years of going back and forth, fueled by these two nutritionists decades of experience and tremendous expertise, I can finally give you the nutrition program that you’ve been looking for to take your game to the next level.

Game-Winning Nutrition was specifically created by Cathy Williamson and Rita Wyczynski for the serious player who is ready to do what it takes to become the best player possible. They’ve taken all the complex and confusion nutrition information that’s out there and simplified it so that you have a step-by-step guide to fuel your peak performance on the ice.

Get Started with Game-Winning Nutrition Today:

http://totalfemalehockeyclub.com/products/game_winning_nutrition/

You’ll discover:

::  What to eat, when to eat and how much to eat - so that you perform your best every single time you hit the ice.

::  How much water you HAVE TO drink each day - and how drinking any less that this could destroy your performance.

::  How making the smallest changes to the way you eat will transform your performance - and how easy it is to take your nutrition from good to great.

Game Winning Nutrition is all about helping you take charge of your nutrition in order to maximize your performance out on the ice.

To help you get started with taking your game to the next level quickly, Game Winning Nutrition is being offered at the amazingly low price of $29.99.
 

Get Started with Game-Winning Nutrition Today by clicking on the link below:
 
http://totalfemalehockeyclub.com/products/game_winning_nutrition/

Keep Working Hard, Dreaming BIG and Taking Action.

 
 
Your friend and coach,

~ Coach Kim

Kim McCullough, MSc, YCS
Director, Total Female Hockey
Girls’ Hockey Director, PEAC School For Elite Athletes
 

So why don’t players choose to stop and start?  Because, in the beginning, it is much more tiring.  When you are used to looping around and circling, then stopping and starting can be very taxing on the body.  Stopping and starting requires a lot more work by your muscles and lungs in the short-term.  But the truth is stopping and starting is far easier than looping around, once you’re used to it.

The reason “looping around” drives coaches crazy is because players quite often turn their backs on the play when they do it.  It takes much longer to recover when you loop and you are usually in a horrible position to receive a pass.   You are wasting time, space and energy when you’re looping around.

Stopping and starting allows you to execute “straight line skating”. We all know the shortest distance between point A and point B is a straight line. So it is much more efficient to stop and start, and it also allows you to be able to watch the play and be in a better position to support the puck.

Like with any new habit, going from lazily looping around to stopping and starting is going to be hard.  You’re going to find that you’ll be more tired after your first few shifts of stopping and starting than you were when you circle.  But once your body gets used to it, you will have made the game much easier for yourself - and for your coach.  No more missing passes because you were facing the wrong way.  No more getting stuck in your own end because you did a  “fly-by” in the in-zone, instead of stopping right in front of your check.  You will be much more explosive and much more efficient. 

So do the work and focus on stopping and starting early in the season.  It may be tiring in the short term, but it will certainly pay off in the long term. 

Your friend and coach,

Kim

Kim McCullough, MSc, YCS

Director, Total Female Hockey

Girls’ Hockey Director, PEAC School For Elite Athletes

Skill is something you have to acquire through hours, days, and years of training, practicing and learning.  It’s hard work spending hours upon hours working on your shot, practicing your stickhandling, or working out in the gym.   The truth is that to be really, really good takes more time and effort than most players are willing to commit.  Most players simply aren’t driven or dedicated enough to do the work that is necessary to develop the skills needed to succeed.

It’s hard not to get frustrated that you don’t have the same natural talent as other players.  It’s even more frustrating to know that you have to put in twice as much time (or more) to achieve the same level of skill mastery as those players.  Sometimes it seems as though those naturally talented players get all the breaks.

But natural talent only gets you so far.  It may give you a head start, but it won’t get you over the finish line. Never give up on your goals and dreams because you don’t have "talent".  There are a lot of naturally talented players who don’t put in the time and effort to become elite players and plateau very early on.  And there are many players who start out as mediocre but put in the time and effort needed to excel and leapfrog over those with natural talent but no drive.  Greatness comes from skill cultivated through hard work, not talent.

Forget about talent and focus on skill.  Grab hold of dedication and drive instead.  Push yourself every single day to be better than you were the day before.  Outwork everyone.  Spend these last few weeks of the summer getting better. Instead of sitting back and relaxing your way into the season, crank up the intensity. Take those extra shots in the driveway.  Do an extra stickhandling session (or two).   Do that extra set of sprints at the end of your workout. Push yourself to a whole new level.

Don’t just be willing to do the work.  Get excited about doing it.  Know that it will give you a serious advantage once the season starts.  Because hard work leads to skill, which trumps talent every time.

Work Hard. Dream BIG.

Your friend and coach,

Kim

Kim McCullough, MSc, YCS

Director, Total Female Hockey

Girls’ Hockey Director, PEAC School For Elite Athletes

1. CREATIVITY

The majority of girls hockey players that I’ve coached are very literal and over-analytical.  Which means that they tend to do exactly what the coach writes on the board or explains in the room, even if it makes them a less effective player.

For example, when the coach draws out a breakout on the board and asks the winger to have their feet moving up ice near the hashmarks in order to receive the puck, most girls hockey players will be able to execute it perfectly.  The problem is that the puck might be 10 feet away, and instead of going after the puck, they’ll continue to skate the pattern the coach asked for. 

It seems to me that most girls hockey players are “coach pleasers” which means that they’ll do exactly what the coach asks of them.  It’s not a bad problem to have, except for the fact that hockey is a game of mistakes and the play rarely unfolds exactly the way it’s written up on the board.  The truth is that most girls don’t watch that much hockey on TV or go out to play pick-up hockey regularly throughout the season.  So their exposure to the game is largely isolated to when they come to practice or play in games. 

So in reality, us coaches are going to have to build in games, drills and scenarios that promote creativity into our practice  if we want our players to be more comfortable with being creative out on the ice.  And players - do your best to think outside the box and be creative.  Take what your coach shows and teaches you and apply those concepts to the game.  But recognize that the game never unfolds exactly as planned and it’s the players who can be creative within the context of the systems and strategies of the game that are going to have success at the next level. 

2.  CONSISTENCY

In order to be a success player at this level and the next, you need to be consistent. Being consistent in your play makes you a very valuable teammate.  Your teammates  need to know they can count on your to deliver the same high-level performance every time you hit the ice.  Your coach needs you to be consistent so that they  can put together a game plan that showcases everyone’s strengths and makes  the entire team successful.  And the scouts who are looking for players for the  next level need you to be consistent too.  They are investing a lot of time (and in some cases, money) to have you be a part of their college team and need to have a solid grasp of exactly what kind of player you are so that they can determine how you can help their team succeed.  If you are great one game and invisible the next, that may hurt your chances of getting to, and excelling at, the next level.

3.  COMPETITIVENESS

This is the biggest key of all. You can be as creative and consistent as you want, but if you aren’t willing and able to compete as hard as you can each and every game and practice, you will limit how successful you can be in this game. 

Competitiveness is not just going “full out” in practice and games once the season starts.  That’s a big part of it, but if you don’t prepare throughout the summer, you won’t have the foundation in place to compete at the highest level possible all season long.

Whether it’s your off-ice training or mental preparation, making wise nutrition choices or working on your hands and shot, all the work you are doing this summer to prepare for the season is going to pay off big time when it comes to your ability to compete at the highest level possible all season long. You may be willing to compete at the highest level possible, but if you haven’t prepared yourself physically and mentally, you simply won’t be able to compete anyone who has been putting in the work on the “little” things all summer long.

You’ve only got 4 weeks left until the season starts. And while that’s not enough time to dramatically change the shape you’re in or drastically improve your skills,  it is enough time to make significant progress towards your goal of having the most successful season possible.

Keep Working Hard, Dreaming BIG and Taking Action.

Your friend and coach,

Kim

PS - If you need some help on where to get started with just 4 weeks left to make sure you’re ready to compete at the highest level possible this season,  click on the link below:

http://totalfemalehockeyclub.com/products/

There you’ll find all the Total Female Hockey training programs for off-ice training, game-winning nutrition, shooting & stickhandling and mental performance.

It’s not too late to get started on preparing for your best season ever!

Kim McCullough, MSc, YCS

Director, Total Female Hockey
Girls Hockey Director, PEAC School for Elite Athletes

In fact, no matter how hard your training camp is, there is no way you can get into really great shape in a week.  It’s impossible.   And to be honest, it’s hard to do it in just 6 weeks. So if you’ve been spending a little too much time on the couch or by the pool, you need to get started now.

I’ve put together a quick 10 minute workout video for you. It’s not enough to get you in great shape, but it’s enough to get you going.  Don’t just watch it - do it.

Click on the link below to get started:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PikPSjaMtsQ

And remember, there’s no magic formula for being an elite player. The only real “secret” - and it’s no secret at all - is that you have to be willing to outwork everyone else on and off the ice.   If you do what everyone else does, you end up where everyone else ends up.  And not everyone ends up at the top.   To be elite, you’ve got to fight for every possible advantage. That means training when you don’t feel like it, when you’d rather be hanging out with your friends or out enjoying the summer weather.

Excellence is a choice.  You have complete control over how good of a player you become.  You either choose to do the work - or you don’t.  It’s that simple.

Hopefully this workout gives you the jump-start you need if you’ve been a little too lazy this summer.  With 6 weeks left, it’s time to get to work.

Your friend and coach,

Kim

Kim McCullough, MSc, YCS

Director, Total Female Hockey

Girls Hockey Director, PEAC School For Elite Athletes