Grassroots: The Minor Hockey Show

What does Leonardo da Vinci have in common with three intrepid French inventors and Scottish whisky distiller Lord Thomas Dewar? It's all about first having a parachute and then opening it. Without it, the game will remain mired in its age-old traditions and conventions about how it should be taught.Contact: richard(at)grassrootsminorhockey.comX (Twitter):Richard - @berky544Dean Holden: funlearnreturn@gmail.com

Canadian minor hockey players mostly play within their municipalities or regions. It's only at the highest competitive levels where there is more freedom to move. However, each playing area or association is largely a collection of teams governed by a board. With few exceptions, teams and coaches are on their own with respect to development, training, and direction. In Europe, for instance, clubs have  more clearly defined top-down training and guidance with coaching experts and mentors directing every team. Should such an approach happen in Canada?Contact: richard(at)grassrootsminorhockey.comX (Twitter):Richard - @berky544Dean Holden: funlearnreturn@gmail.com

John Castrillon's father brought his family from Colombia to Montreal in the 1970s. There, young John, already a fine soccer player, fell in love with hockey (and the story of Maurice Richard whom he once met) after watching it on TV. He taught himself how to skate on outdoor rinks then, at age 14, began to play hockey. Eventually, he was good enough to make a midget team and then a junior squad. He maintained his soccer skills and still plays at a high level. Today, John is a sought-after coach developer in the two sports, having worked with elite teams in both as a coach, evaluator and keen observer of practice approaches and training methods. In this episode, he shares his thoughts on the similarities between the sports' coaching methods and what minor hockey coaches need to do better.Contact: richard(at)grassrootsminorhockey.comX (Twitter):Richard - @berky544Dean Holden: funlearnreturn@gmail.com

The new coach of the Montreal Canadiens, Martin St. Louis, stated in his initial press conference that he was about teaching concepts, not systems. Whether or not that works remains to be seen. However, the idea of presenting concepts to players directly impacts minor hockey in various ways. In Episode 38, host Richard Bercuson and his guest, Dean Holden, examined the teaching of principles of play vs. systems. Now, with St. Louis' statement as a backdrop, how do concepts come into play for coaches of kids?Two books referred to in the show:Slavomir Lener: Transition Defense to OffenseErkka Westerlund: Transition: From Game to Practice(NOTE: Neither is on the Hockey Canada site nor in Amazon. You'll need to hunt.)Contact: richard(at)grassrootsminorhockey.comX (Twitter):Richard - @berky544Dean Holden: funlearnreturn@gmail.com

For any coach, there should be a tacit understanding of the need to make practices as game-like as possible. The one possible exception might be the teaching of raw skills. That aside, in order to best teach the game, how many players should be involved in an activity, be it drill or small area game? Shouldn't that number replicate what happens in a game? What is that number? In 2009, Slovakian coach Igor Andrejkovic published a scientific paper based on his  breaking down 60 game videos of a U18 team. His conclusions about how many players are actively involved in hockey events or plays should directly impact how we teach in practice. Listeners wishing to read his original paper should email host Richard Bercuson at richard(at)grassrootsminorhockey.comContact: richard(at)grassrootsminorhockey.comX (Twitter):Richard - @berky544Dean Holden: funlearnreturn@gmail.com

Jim Mercer and Vic Chiasson return from Episode 61 ("Culture is everything") to discuss the program they've created called "Creating a high performance environment." It includes a document participants work with in a seminar format. With a website and other social media connections on the horizon, the program is just under way after having been piloted last November with the Whitby Girls Hockey Association. Those wishing to contact Jim or Vic should email podcast host Richard: richard (at)grassrootsminorhockey.comContact: richard(at)grassrootsminorhockey.comX (Twitter):Richard - @berky544Dean Holden: funlearnreturn@gmail.com

The episode begins with an overview of a research report which showed how a group of Canadian college coaches completely changed their teams' culture without ever dealing with tactics or strategies. Can this be done in minor hockey? Guests Vic Chiasson and Jim Mercer have about 75 years of coaching and teaching experience between them. They are hot on the heels of defining culture in sport, explaining its importance, and determining what organizations or teams can do to improve it.Contact: richard(at)grassrootsminorhockey.comX (Twitter):Richard - @berky544Dean Holden: funlearnreturn@gmail.com

This one begins with the story of the dressing room eavesdropper before a championship game. Then, host Richard Bercuson reveals three short tales of his own dressing room talks that didn't go well. Otherwise though, this episode delves into what coaches should or should not be saying in minor hockey dressing rooms, let alone how they say it. And the guest host does an even deeper dive into a topic that is rarely examined.Contact: richard(at)grassrootsminorhockey.comX (Twitter):Richard - @berky544Dean Holden: funlearnreturn@gmail.com

We are inundated with drills from a host of sources. Leagues host drill exchanges. Coaches can access software that will provide them with more drills of every possible type than they will ever need. As tools, or learning opportunities, drills can serve a purpose. More importantly, however, is that using drills may be stultifying coaching creativity and not providing our young players with the kind of direction they should have. Then, there's the infernal whistle. In this episode, Richard and his guest host break this down and identify alternatives.Books: "The Hockey Handbook" by Lloyd Percival, "How to play hockey" by Tom Watt, and "The Road to Olympus" by Anatoli Tarasov.Videos: Funny Golf Tips by J.C. AndersonCounting to 100 in French with NYC cabbieContact: richard(at)grassrootsminorhockey.comX (Twitter):Richard - @berky544Dean Holden: funlearnreturn@gmail.com

After a few months of reflection and other distractions, host Richard Bercuson returns with a list of new topics he will address in future shows, along with a guest host. The minor hockey addiction, development planning, triages, how to teach space, what is said in a room and many more are on the agenda.  A new ride is about to begin on the only podcast about minor hockey.Contact: richard(at)grassrootsminorhockey.comX (Twitter):Richard - @berky544Dean Holden: funlearnreturn@gmail.com