Coaching

[CSUSBHockey]

What's up everyone...I was just curious, what do most schools (at least here on the west coast) do about coaching when you can't afford to pay or hire someone? I know it's tough to find a volunteer or anything, but player-coaching is killing me :) And it would be nice to have someone to at least stand on the bench and keep lines straight and whatnot. Any suggestions? Thanks!

Mark

[calihockey]

mark congrats on getting things together out there. havent heard the nazzal name in a while. thought u might have fallen off the face of the earth or finally got caught by some girl's dad.haha jk. good luck this season.

matt davis

[macmill1]

From my experience, you really have to get away from the player/coach structure. A few places to start are with former players from your team or from CRHL teams. People who have played in the CRHL have respect for the league and understand what it takes to put together a competitive team.

I played 4.5 yrs at Michigan State. My first year, our "coach" was just a guy on the team who ran the club. Halfway through our first season, we asked Rejean Tremblay to be our coach. Half the team quit because he was "too serious", we had another tryout, and it's been a very successful program ever since. Coach Tremblay deserves 90% of the credit for all of the success that MSU has had (my fellow past-chairman's and I can share the remaining 10%). It's very important to have separation between coaching and playing. Coach Tremblay would kick our asses in practice, get on our backs about bad passes and shots in games (I had lots of shots that missed high, which REALLY pisses him off), and it wasn't just a buddy of yours yelling at you between shifts. Don't take this the wrong way, playing for Tremblay was the most fun I've ever had playing hockey.

Last year I was given the opportunity to coach Michigan. Having a non-player coaching the team makes a world of difference. These guys busted their asses and had a great season. Aho and the boys are putting together a great program there and I expect them to continue to get better. They went to the non-player coach a few seasons ago, and along w/ the solid structure of their off-court program have helped them build a great team.

So.....

Try to find someone w/ a background in roller to volunteer to be your coach. If you run your program seriously -- having organized practice a couple of times a week, acting professional as a team, and working hard.... it can be VERY fun to coach a college team. If your team is just going to scrimmage once or twice a week, half the guys don't show up for games, and your team is completely unorganized...don't bother getting a coach. Your team won't benefit and your coach will not enjoy it.

Hope that helps.
Al MacMillan