Reflections of a Youth Sports Coach

Today marks a strange milestone for me in my youth coaching career. It’s the deadline for submissions for hockey coaches for the upcoming season in my home centre.

This year however marks the first time in a very long time that I’ve not thrown my name in the ring to coach. The last year has been filled with a mountain of change personally, professionally and on the coaching side.

While it remains to be seen if my hockey coaching days are over, on hold or just diminished for the time being, it has certainly been a big adjustment for me. For the better, actually. The ability to spend more time with family, on my career and on self-improvement has been a refreshing change.

That’s not to say I don’t want to coach - far from it. I’ve just accepted that there are simply not enough hours in the day to do it all. Over the past year I’ve been quietly unwinding my level of engagement with the hockey players I have so cherished coaching over the years.

At the same time, and at the advice of many, I have quietly written my first coaching book - Reflections of a Youth Sports Coach. The process started out in the same way as my other “Reflections” books, with lots of ideas and nudges from those I interact closely with saying “you could write a book on that”. Indeed.

This instalment lays out the process of becoming a coach and more importantly, navigating your way through the complexities of daily coach life.

“If you want good things to happen, you’ve got to put in the work…”

It serves as a how to for both new and experienced coaches on how to navigate the “system” and successfully set yourself up for your first season of coaching in a rep environment. Coaching can be a very rewarding career but at the same time it can be isolating and scathing experience.

As they say, seeing around corners is an art, and this book seeks to put you on your way to doing just that.

If you are a new coach or even an experienced one who just needs a fresh way of looking at things, I hope this first instalment serves you well. Link to the book: Reflections of a Youth Sports Coach

As with my other publications, proceeds from this latest project will go to the various girls and women’s sports organization my family and I proudly support.

Until next time, keep your stick on the ice…