Grassroots: The Minor Hockey Show

Special guest Dr. Stephen Norris and Dean Holden discuss their recent trip to Kazakhstan as part of an IIHF initiative to grow the game in other parts of the world. What is the impact of this initiative on our own game's leadership? Where are we going? Is it the right direction? An in-depth look at those and other questions.https://www.iihf.com/en/news/64332/first_asian_general_secretary_summitContact: richard(at)grassrootsminorhockey.comX (Twitter):Richard - @berky544Dean Holden: funlearnreturn@gmail.com

The modern lexicon of coaching includes terms like transformational and transactional to describe the approaches coaches use. What are their characteristics? In minor hockey, can someone be both?  Dean Holden delves into this topic, aided and abetted by host Richard Bercuson who tosses out questions and examples to investigate.Toward Understanding Youth Athletes’ Fun Priorities: An Investigation of Sex, Age, and Levels of Play: Amanda Visek, Heather Mannix et alhttps://activeforlife.com/why-every-coach-needs-a-coaching-philosophy/Contact: richard(at)grassrootsminorhockey.comX (Twitter):Richard - @berky544Dean Holden: funlearnreturn@gmail.com

Greg Revak, an Ohio-based coach and USA Hockey coach developer, has unique and progressive ideas on coaching the game. His podcast and newsletter hit on various topics which are pertinent to coaches at every level. In this episode, he shares with Richard his personal bugaboos and annoyances about practice design and what we can do better.His website: https://hockeysarsenal.substack.com/The HockeyIQ Podcast: https://hockeysarsenal.com/podcastContact: richard(at)grassrootsminorhockey.comX (Twitter):Richard - @berky544Dean Holden: funlearnreturn@gmail.com

However you define "new," Richard and Dean discuss what coaches need to consider at the start of a new adventure and the resources they should access.Books:How we learn to move by Rob GrayThe Coach's Guide to Teaching by Doug LemovTransforming Basketball by Alex SaramaThe Coaching Habit: Say Less, Ask More & Change the Way You Lead Forever by Michael Bungay StanierPodcasts:This one, of course!The Talent Equation - Stuart ArmstrongThe Perception-Action Podcast - Rob GrayHEO Youtube channel - Brian Gillam (Hockey Eastern OntarioWeb sites:hockeycoachingabcs.com - Tom Molloyadmkids.com - USA HockeyContact: richard(at)grassrootsminorhockey.comX (Twitter):Richard - @berky544Dean Holden: funlearnreturn@gmail.com

Season 5 begins with an important pre-season look at how contact and checking need to be taught to take it beyond the confines of the current checking clinic module. Richard and Dean examine an approach using spectrums of skill for different ages and levels of play, built within the current four-stage checking progression espoused by Hockey Canada.Those who'd like a copy of the spectrums diagram should email Richard: Richard(at)grassrootsminorhockey.comContact: richard(at)grassrootsminorhockey.comX (Twitter):Richard - @berky544Dean Holden: funlearnreturn@gmail.com

This episode is a unique collaboration with Stuart Armstrong whose podcast is The Talent Equation. His May 28, 2024, show was called "Coach Education is  broken." It struck a chord with Grassroots host Richard Bercuson who felt it reminded him of the famous Monty Python Dead Parrot sketch. He connected with Stuart and here's the result: a tripartite discussion with Stuart, Richard, and Dean Holden about coach education's demise.Stuart will simulcast the show on his own podcast soon, once he completes his multi-part analysis of the subject.Listener Advisory: Stuart's script read of the Dead Parrot sketch, portraying Michael Palin, is much better than Richard's feeble attempt with the John Cleese character. Dean plays the dead parrot.Contact: richard(at)grassrootsminorhockey.comX (Twitter):Richard - @berky544Dean Holden: funlearnreturn@gmail.com

Modern coaching approaches include a litany of expressions, phrases, words and acronyms that are sometimes baffling in what they mean. In this episode, Richard and Dean delve into some of the more common ones and relate them to coaches need to understand about them and how to apply them in minor hockey.Contact: richard(at)grassrootsminorhockey.comX (Twitter):Richard - @berky544Dean Holden: funlearnreturn@gmail.com

Brian Gillam, HEO's Coaching Coordinator and Gold Medal Pathways mentor, delves into the myriad of ways in which small or reduced space practice activities are central to how children will develop both their skills and ability to play games on similar sized areas. Gillam is a longtime proponent of ecological dynamics and constraints led approaches. He explains how important it is for children and teens to be trained in space consistent with their developmental stages and what they can learn from the approach.Contact: richard(at)grassrootsminorhockey.comX (Twitter):Richard - @berky544Dean Holden: funlearnreturn@gmail.com

Matt Dumouchelle is a writer for The Coaches Site and assistant GM for a junior A team near Windsor. But he also authored a revelatory five-part series, "Hockey Factories" published last year on thecoachessite.com. A second series focusing on five different hockey organizations in Europe and North America will be out shortly. In this episode Matt shares what can be learned from these clubs, their programs and approaches. He also discusses his own journey in sports, with keen observations about our sporting culture, including now being a dad to a hockey-loving six year old.To get a copy of his series, visit:https://join.thecoachessite.com/hockey-factories-ebookContact: richard(at)grassrootsminorhockey.comX (Twitter):Richard - @berky544Dean Holden: funlearnreturn@gmail.com

One of the more important publications in recent years is The Tyranny of Talent by Prof. Joe Baker. Baker is a professor of kinesiology and physical education at the University of Toronto and inaugural holder of the endowed Tanenbaum chair in sport science, data modelling and sport analytics at U of T’s Tanenbaum Institute for Science in Sport (TISS). In this episode, he discusses some of the key points of this seminal work and how they relate to hockey and talent identification.The Tyranny of Talent  is available through Amazon.Contact: richard(at)grassrootsminorhockey.comX (Twitter):Richard - @berky544Dean Holden: funlearnreturn@gmail.com