Episodes

4 days ago
4 days ago
TOP ("The Other Path") Sports aims to provide families with alternatives to both traditional sport experiences and the private ones, though this, too, is privately owned. Kevin Shier, executive director and co-founder with two other men, discusses what's so different, especially since its approach to hockey, lacrosse and soccer employs what is widely known as the Constraints Based/Led Approach to teaching, something that is mostly non-existent in Canada's minor hockey landscape. Club Technical Director for soccer Tom Waud further describes the approach as it's presented to their paid coaches and why it is foundational to the club's coaching.
TOP Sports: https://www.toronto.topsports.ca/

Thursday Oct 30, 2025
Thursday Oct 30, 2025
Dallas Ansell's recently completed PhD dissertation examined development in the world of non-sanctioned leagues in Alberta which have proliferated in recent years. A lecturer at the University of Alberta and newly minted manager of player development for Hockey Alberta, Ansell discusses what brought him to this subject and what he learned from his research.
His dissertation is available on the grassrootsminorhockey.com site under "Docs and articles from the podcasts."

Sunday Oct 05, 2025
Sunday Oct 05, 2025
HEO coach and coach developer Brian Gillam returns to share what he'd planned to provide coaches in the coaching seminar he and Richard were going to run for a minor organization. The seminar didn't happen, but the content would have been interesting. He explains in detail what he feels coaches needed to know first about the CLA/ED approach.
richard@grassrootsminorhockey.com
bgillam@rogers.com

Wednesday Jun 18, 2025
Wednesday Jun 18, 2025
This is the final episode from the May 30-June 2 Hockey Research Conference at Laval University in Quebec City as well as the final episode for this season of Grassroots.Please be advised that, because the discussions were held in public spaces, the sound quality and background noise are inconsistent. Also, all five episodes are with individuals whose first language is not English.Here is the link to the conference's proceedings:https://grassrootsminorhockey.com/links/Thanks for listening. Until next fall...Contact: richard(at)grassrootsminorhockey.comX (Twitter):Richard - @berky544Dean Holden: funlearnreturn@gmail.com

Monday Jun 16, 2025
Monday Jun 16, 2025
This is the fourth of five episodes of content from the May 30-June 2 Hockey Research Conference at Laval University in Quebec City.Please be advised that, because the discussions were held in public spaces, the sound quality and background noise are inconsistent. Also, all five episodes are with individuals whose first language is not English.Here is the link to the conference's proceedings (Gergely's abstract is on page 32):https://grassrootsminorhockey.com/links/Contact: richard(at)grassrootsminorhockey.comX (Twitter):Richard - @berky544Dean Holden: funlearnreturn@gmail.com

Thursday Jun 12, 2025
Thursday Jun 12, 2025
This is the third of five episodes of content from the May 30-June 2 Hockey Research Conference at Laval University in Quebec City.Please be advised that, because the discussions were held in public spaces, the sound quality and background noise are inconsistent. Also, all five episodes are with individuals whose first language is not English.Here is the link to the conference's proceedings:https://grassrootsminorhockey.com/links/Contact: richard(at)grassrootsminorhockey.comX (Twitter):Richard - @berky544Dean Holden: funlearnreturn@gmail.com

Monday Jun 09, 2025
Monday Jun 09, 2025
This is the second of five episodes of content from the May 30-June 2 Hockey Research Conference at Laval University in Quebec City.Please be advised that, because the discussions were held in public spaces, the sound quality and background noise are inconsistent. Also, all five episodes are with individuals whose first language is not English.Here is the link to the conference's proceedings:https://grassrootsminorhockey.com/links/Contact: richard(at)grassrootsminorhockey.comX (Twitter):Richard - @berky544Dean Holden: funlearnreturn@gmail.com

Friday Jun 06, 2025
Friday Jun 06, 2025
This is the first of five episodes of content from the May 30-June 2 Hockey Research Conference at Laval University in Quebec City.Please be advised that, because the discussions were held in public spaces, the sound quality and background noise are inconsistent. Also, all five episodes are with individuals whose first language is not English.Here is the link to the conference's proceedings:https://grassrootsminorhockey.com/links/Contact: richard(at)grassrootsminorhockey.comX (Twitter):Richard - @berky544Dean Holden: funlearnreturn@gmail.com

Sunday May 18, 2025
Sunday May 18, 2025
Jim Haverstrom is USA Hockey's Coach-in-chief for Florida. Over 25 years as a coach and now coach developer, he's become an ardent advocate for the Constraints Led and an Ecological Dynamics approaches which he's successfully applied in his own coaching.The soccer study he refers to in the podcast is: “Train as you play”: Improving effectiveness of training in youth soccer playersContact: richard(at)grassrootsminorhockey.comX (Twitter):Richard - @berky544Dean Holden: funlearnreturn@gmail.com

Sunday Apr 20, 2025
Sunday Apr 20, 2025
As minor hockey associations prepare for their AGMs, one key position needs consideration: someone to take charge of coach development. Richard and Dean discuss why this role is crucial, what this person should or should not be responsible for and where to find them.Contact: richard(at)grassrootsminorhockey.comX (Twitter):Richard - @berky544Dean Holden: funlearnreturn@gmail.com





