On Ice sessions for younger hockey players should be treated differently than those for more experienced players.
One thing that always gets brought up from parents of young hockey players is whether or not their daughter or son is doing enough to improve. Often times these questions get brought up from parents who are newer to the hockey world and just haven't had any experience with player development.
And it is understandable that a parent would want their child to become a better player as quick as possible. However, my advice (and I guarantee it would be the same advice a more tenured coach that has experience with coaching youth hockey would give) is that at a young age, "practices" shouldn't be practice to the kids on the ice. All it should be is fun.
The Controlled Chaos of Intro Mites. This is part of a game of Noodle Tag, the coaches are using foam swim toy noodles that have been cut in half. The kids are competing and having fun while working on their skating.
I haven't had that long of a coaching career, but I have been coaching summer camps and developmental sessions since I was 14. I was probably even a little bit younger when I started helping out with some smaller groups. What I've learned is, that especially with groups younger than 8 years old, attention span is a major factor in the types of “drills” you can accomplish with a group on the ice.
http://www.admkids.com/page/show/915460-practice-plans
Just check out some of the USA Hockey Practice Plans for 6U. These are the types of practices that look like kids are just “playing” the whole time. And they are! These are the types of drills that work on necessary skills for future player development. Relay races, Sharks and Minnows and games of tag are all games that will force kids to use their edges, keep their head up and will get them to compete in a fun way. It is building essential abilities for when they are old enough to focus on and isolate particular skills.
In the past, I have coached a program called Intro Mites at the Schwan Super Rink in Blaine, Minn. The programs typically run about 8 weeks with one session a week. On occasion, we had 30 kids on the ice. Some of these kids weren’t even able to stand up on skates at the start of the program. At times, the coaches joked that it was like herding sheep! But the most important thing is to always keep players interested by making each “drill” fun.
Here is what a typical hour long session might look like for us with an Intro Mite group:
10 minutes- Free time with the aptly named Bucket of Fun. We have a trash bin filled to the brim with foam noodles, rubber ringettes, mini hockey pucks, Big Pucks (Pügis), small tires, hula-hoops, foam balls and any random item we could find that looked like it could be fun on the ice!
5 minutes working on a new skill- At the start of the program this was something as simple as lifting up one leg. We have the kids line up on the boards and just skate the width of the rink trying their new skill. So if we were practicing touching a knee that week, we have them skate across the ice and try touching a knee as many times as they could. Some of the skills we have younger groups learn include; balancing on one foot, C-cuts, knee touches, 360-spin, heel touches while bending your knees low, jumping.
10 minute game with whole group- We have a game that works well, probably because of the large fishing culture in Minnesota, called Going Fishing. We have 3-6 kids hop in the net, the boat, at a time, they’ll sit down and we’ll push them to a “fishing spot”. The rest of the players will have some item (a puck, ring or anything else you have on the ice!) and skate around. The “fishers” will try to take away the item and bring it back to the boat. We do this until each kid has had a chance to be the fisher. We also implement our skill for the day. So if you’re balancing on one foot or touching a knee for example, you can’t get “caught”. The biggest thing to remember is to keep it simple. If it doesn’t work with a group, it doesn’t work. Switch it up before they lose interest.
20 minutes split groups(10 minutes each station)- One group scrimmaging cross ice (it is hockey after all!) and another group either doing relay races or, another game we like that works on skating skills, soccer.
10 minutes of another full group game- My personal favorite and one that seems to have the kids compete the hardest is Noodle Tag. We bought foam swim toys and cut them in half, so they are probably only about 2.5” long and don’t hurt when kids tag each other with them. We play that if you get tagged, you go down on one knee but you can get back up if another player without a noodle touches you on the shoulder. We have at least 4 different color jerseys that the kids will wear, which makes splitting up for games a whole lot easier so we will give each group a chance being the designated taggers.
- 5 minutes free time if time allows!
Keep the practices fun and you will be amazed with how much improvement you will see. Like I said, there were times where we would have kids who couldn’t even stand in the beginning and by the end of the program they were Rink Rats flying around during games of tag or Going Fishing.
Here are some great tips from USA Hockey for coaching younger groups:
http://assets.ngin.com/attachments/document/0042/1169/Basic_Structure_for_6U_Mite_Practices2.pdf
Play hard, play fair and have fun
-Taylor
P.S. I don’t want to pump his tires too much, but look at some of the testimonials from Intro Mites. Coach Tadd has received quite a bit of praise for the program! Must be doing something right…