Many hockey parents finding costs 'unaffordable,'

By April Lim, Postmedia News April 7, 2011



As hockey season comes to an end, parents across the country are feeling the chequebook hit of another expensive hockey season and are already worrying about gearing up for next year.

The poll, done by Harris/Decima on behalf of Scotiabank, found almost half of surveyed parents expected to spend more than $1,000 on their child's hockey this year and that 90 per cent of the parents had already started saving money for next hockey season.

The survey also showed one-third of hockey parents think the current cost of having their children enrolled in the sport is unaffordable.

"We know that Canadians are passionate about hockey, and we know that hockey can be expensive," said Diane Giard, a senior vice-president for Scotiabank, which promotes itself as "Canada's Hockey Bank" by helping to fund minor hockey teams.

The survey found the bulk of the costs come from enrolment fees, which averaged $645 a year for those polled. Another big cost was equipment, where the average cost for the year was found to be $375.

Matt Ralph, 17, has been playing hockey since he was five years old. He plays in the Greater Toronto House League on both a house league team and a select team. He also plays on his high school team.

Registration fees for both Matt's hockey teams are $400 each. Luckily, the costs for his school team are not as expensive.

"It's unbelievable sometimes when you sit there and try and figure out what it costs to put a kid on the ice. And how long he can last with the equipment he has," Tim Ralph, Matt's father, said.

Tim recently bought Matt new pants and shoulder pads because he grew out of his old ones. But since Matt lives and breathes hockey, not only does he grow out of equipment, he quickly wears them out.

Tim said Matt's gloves need to be replaced frequently because the palms tend to wear out, affecting his grip on his stick.

Although hockey sticks can be bought at a reasonable price, some can break easily from just a slap shot. Matt carries two sticks when he goes to a game because he needs to have another stick should one break.

"You want your child to have the best equipment. You can go buy a pair of the cheapest skates, but depending on how often your child skates, you could end up turning around and buy a new pair of skates within the season just because they can't handle the stress being used all that time," Tim said.

Tim said buying used gives parents a break from the costs, but buying second-hand is not always the best option when it comes to performance.

Tim bought Matt a pair of used skates in the past, but the previous owner had the skates sharpened a certain way making the blade lower in the heel causing Matt to develop back problems.

"Technology is one of the biggest things that's killing (parents) because you can buy a wooden hockey stick for $25 to $30 in most stores, but kids these days see what the professional hockey players are wearing and they want these $200 to $300 hockey sticks," Tim said.

Hockey costs can put an added strain on families with multiple children, Tim said.

"Say you have two kids, you can hand skates down or equipment down to the next child, but say your kids are roughly the same age and physical size, you got to buy two sets of equipment," Tim said.

Jim Kinkley, a Minor Hockey Foundation Ontario spokesman said he is aware of the problem Canadians families face when paying for their child or children's hockey fees or equipment.

The non-profit foundation's Financial Subsidy Program offers families who have a gross income of $20,000 or less, a grant of up to $300 to be used toward their registration fees for the hockey season.

The survey results were based on 500 online surveys conducted between Nov. 30 and Dec. 7 last year on parents with at least one child 17 or younger playing organized hockey.

A spokeswoman with Scotiabank would not provide a margin of error, saying it was not applicable because respondents were selected from an online panel to make the survey sample representative by region and sex.

alim (at) postmedia.com

Confidence and Trust!

I often inform my players about the three Cs for athletic success.
These three keys include: (1) clarity, (2) confidence, (3)
concentration...

But today I'd like to introduce another "C" for your success in
sports. This overlooked mental skill is a close cousin to
confidence and trust in your skills. Without it, you are doomed to
lose.

Today's tip is about commitment. Commitment to your decisions when
perform. The opposite of hesitate...

I'm sure you know the commitment I'm talking about. Lack of
commitment or hesitation leads to bad outcomes. Here just a few
examples:

--> A golfer who second-guesses his club and can't swing freely. He
swings too easy and pulls the shot.

--> A baseball player who can't decide on a plan at the plate as he
silently rejects the third-base coach's decision.

-- > A tennis player who's caught between two shots; down the line
or cross court. She dumps the ball into the net.

-- > A quarterback who second-guesses the coaches call and can't
commit to the play resulting in a broken play.

-- > A basketball player who can't decide whether he should shoot
or pass the ball and loses the chance to take the open shot.

Can you identify with any of the above scenarios? It happens every
day in sports--when athletes are wishy-washy and can't commit to a
plan.

The problem: indecision can cause you to hesitate just long enough
that you lose the open shot. In self-paced tasks such as serving,
second-guessing your plan can cause you to undermine trust in your
performance.

PGA Star Rory Mcilroy confessed that he lost commitment on the
greens during his final round blunders at the Masters. "I was sort
of second-guessing lines and second-guessing my speed, and on these
greens you can't do that."

I recently coached an NHL referee who was hesitating with his
calls on the ice. Justin was second-guessing his calls, which led
to a lack of commitment and indecision before other calls.

Justin was worried about what other officials thought about his
call. "Did I make the right decision," he pondered?

What started his indecision on the ice? Self-doubt was eroding his
confidence. A lack of confidence caused him to hesitate with his
officiating.

If you don't have confidence in your ability to perform, it's
harder to make quick split-second decisions or be committed
to your decisions.

Thus, the key is build a stable level of confidence and learn not
to second-guess your decisions....

The moment a batter "thinks" if it's a good pitch to take, the ball
is past him. In this situation, you have to react and allow your
talents to take over.

Here's the formula for success:

**Confidence in abilities --> Commitment to decisions --> TRUST**

For more information on how to be a mentally stronger athlete click below:
http://www.peaksportsnetwork.com/members/695.cfm

10 Secrets to Leadership

Check Out This Powerful Leadership Movie!

Want to know the secret to being an effective leader?

There is no single secret.

There are 10 "secrets" which we call:

The 10 Commandments of Leadership

Take a moment to check out this movie; sit back, turn up the volume, and enjoy the show.

Click here for movie!

Hockey touches one young fan!

Tremendous story about Bug, young fan who was able to move with his fave team from Albany to Charlotte. 2 great videos!! Hockey touches many people throughout the world!

Click below for the videos!

http://www.swamphockey.com/2011/04/youtube-wednesday.html

Sacrifice ....

We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother

Sacrifice Needed To Be Successful

 "Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment
 that something else is more important than fear."

 *Ambrose Redmoon

Shot Blocking is a key 'intangible' for a team to be successful! 

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=362760

Quote of the Day!

Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.

Winston Churchill

Winning Small Battles!

Now here is a great article on what it takes to be a winner – 2^nd,3^rd effort!

 

The importance of winning the small battles that occur along the boards in various areas around the surface should NEVER be underestimated.

In fact, over 75 percent of the games I’ve coached, my team has won or at the very least tied the contest, IF we ended up winning the larger percentage of documented “board battles.”

So how do we define “board battles?”

It really is not very complicated...

Anytime the puck squirts loose along the boards and possession is clearly undetermined, you have a scrum situation. Keep in mind that it only takes one representative from each team to create a battle situation. (This would be known as the classic “one-on-one” confrontation). It should also be noted that the prototypical battle occurs with both players (or both “sets” of players) primarily in stationary positions.

Okay, now that we have defined the phrase “little battle” and have emphasized the importance of working hard to outright win each and every one, just how do we go about trying?

First of all, we must begin with the premises that you, as a player, are without fear and are filled with tenacity. Those are two traits that ALL hockey players must have to compete successfully. You see, regardless of your size and strength, you must barge into the corner as if you alone OWN the biscuit and you ALONE have the right to lay claim to it.

So, assuming that we’ve installed the appropriate mental framework, what are the physical tools required to leave the battle with sole ownership of the puck?

Strong hands, arms, midsection, rear-end, shoulders, elbows, hips, knees and feet are all required, and it definitely doesn’t hurt if you combine those strength’s with quickness. Because once you establish possession, it helps to be able to move as quickly as possible to an area that will allow for increased options or maneuverability.

Can you practice winning the small battles?

You bet! And as coach or player, you MUST. It is fairly easy to manufacture situations in practice that call for one-on-one or two-on-two board battles. By the way, verbal communication becomes vital when the battles feature two or more players from each team, so force your team/teammates to work in tandem by talking to each other.

I am often asked if there is an area on the surface that is more important than another when it comes to winning/losing the small battles ... and my answer is always an unwavering – NO!

You see, losing a battle anywhere on the ice is dangerous, simply because it means you have lost possession. And generally speaking, the other team can only score when THEY HAVE ownership of the puck!

And ...

Especially so at the younger levels, players smaller in stature must be made to understand the concept of leverage and how it can be harnessed to flat-out win battles against much larger competitors.

That can only be accomplished by getting in the trenches and demonstrating what leverage actually means. If you, as a coach are not capable of illustrating this technique, you must find someone who can.

BONUS TIP

Coaches, consider adding a line item on your statistical tracking form that includes board battles won/lost. Single out the champion “board battle winners” on your club and award them a trophy. You will be surprised at how aware your team will become of the importance of winning the small battles if YOU honor the winners on your team consistently.

A Warrior!

Here is a picture of young lady (Paige) who attended one of our Core Hockey Camps just before xmas of 2010. She showed some very good charactertics. I want to share some of them with you:

1) She was always positive
2) She has excellent listening skills
3) She was not afraid to fail
4) She trusted the staff that we were providing the best training we can to make her better
5) Most important she believed in herself and challenged herself to be better

Her improvement over the year was fantastic! Her parents and coaches should be proud of her development. We here at Core Hockey are all very proud of her accomplishments and most importantly her Development as a hockey player and as a person!

Great Job Paige on your fantastic year!!!!

How Stress Can Affect Sports Performance

Parents, Coaches and Players:

Check this website out - great information for understanding how to mentally prepare for any sport!

http://www.peaksports.com/free_newsletter.php

Feature Mental Game Article
How Stress Can Affect Sports Performance
By Patrick J. Cohn, Ph.D.
Not all stress is bad for your performance. Stress can affect your performance in two different ways. Stress can help you when it makes you more alert, more motivated to practice, and gain a competitive edge. In the right amount, stress helps you prepare, focus, and perform at your optimal level. Conversely, too much stress, or bad stress, can cause performance anxiety, which hurts your health and does not allow you to play relaxed, confident, and focused in competition.

"You're always going to be nervous teeing it up in a Major Championship. It's very natural and it's a good thing. It means that you want it."
~Rory Mcilroy, first round leader at the 2011 Masters

Every competitive athlete experiences some stress; good and bad. Your stress may be positive and helpful or instill anxiety and apprehension. Pregame jitters can cause some athletes to not sleep well the night before competition. Some athletes can’t eat the morning before a big game. Your pre-competition jitters may make you feel like you have to throw up.
You want to feel excitement or thrill in anticipation for competition (what I call positive pregame jitters). A high level of activation will help you perform your best – up to a point where you may be too jacked up to play well. Too little or too much intensity (or stress) can cause your performance to decline. Your ability to cope effectively with pregame nerves is critical to consistent peak performance.
Sources of Stress in Sports
Worry, stress, anxiety, or tension can come from several sources depending on your personality. What causes you to become anxious or stressed is different than what another athlete experiences. I have found that most worry comes from focusing too much on results or more specifically, the consequences of poor results.
For example, a golfer might worry about shooting a high score, but the real anxiety might be directed at the fear of embarrassment or letting a parent down. The fear isn’t really about shooting a poor score. It’s about what you think others might say or think about you.
Performance anxiety comes from the following:

• Focus on outcomes or scores
• Excess mental chatter or negative self-talk
• Fear of failing
• Worrying about what others might think
• Not performing up to expectations
• Not feeling fully confident – being doubtful
• A poor practice leading up to a competition
• Worrying about performing well in the “big game”
• Worrying about not playing well due to injury
• Feeling intimidated by the quality of the competition

Fear of Failure and Stress
Fear of failure is the major source of stress or anxiety for athletes. I believe anxiety and fear of failure are closely related. And most athletes who are afraid to fail have anxiety about disappointing coaches, teammates, or parents, for example. Many athletes worry about embarrassing themselves when they do not perform well. They are afraid others will judge them harshly or not approve of them in some way.
You should also know that fear of embarrassment or rejection (social approval “threats”) are not always based on reality. Your fear and anxiety may feel very real, but the source is not realistic. Worrying about shooting a high number and fear of embarrassment feels real to golfers, but it may not be rational or helpful to one’s game. You do not want to base your fear on false assumptions about what others might think about you or your game.
Some athletes feel this when they are afraid to lose, get embarrassed, or afraid of injury. You might be worried about your opponent, or impressing others. You might start doubting your ability and it snowballs prior to a game and thus you feel anxious. Once you experience anxious symptoms, you become obsessed with the uncomfortable feelings, which distract you from what you need to focus on. Focusing too much on the uncomfortable feelings only heightens the tension.
What's Your Ideal Performance State?
Why is finding your ideal mindset so important? Every athlete has an ideal performance state or mindset which you can use as a model for future performance. You should realize that NOT every athlete needs to be relaxed to perform well. Many athletes indeed need to relax while others would perform better by getting energized. Keep in mind that performing your best includes a mix of focused intensity and a relaxed or calm mind.
You intuitively know that too much stress or anxiety can cause you to perform poorly. Likewise, too little intensity or physical activation can cause you to under perform as well. What does this mean? You need to find a balance. A balanced mindset will help you focus to do your best and be “up” for competition, but one that also allows you to think clearly and have a calm mind.
Think back to when you felt "over the edge" and too anxious when performing. Contrast this with when you felt energized, focused, alert, but not stressed. Ask yourself the following questions to help you contrast these mindsets:

• What was your pregame attitude like?
• How did that affect your ability to perform?
• How juiced or up did you feel?
• Did you feel full of energy or drained?

Embrace the Butterflies
One important lesson here: Avoid turning positive stress or excitement into anxiety or worry. Feeling jacked up or excited is a natural part of sports, and you need to feel it to play your best! If you think you can’t handle the challenge, you will lose confidence and tighten up. If you think you are up for the challenge, you will embrace the excitement and perform confidently. Embrace your pregame intensity. It's your body’s way of preparing for action. Welcome it and it will help you perform at your peak.

Hockey Teaches "Life Lessons"

The following article from USA Hockey’s American Development Model discusses why hockey is so important for our players. In addition to being a great way to keep your child active, it offers so many important life lessons. These lessons define the mission and goals of American Development Model.

http://www.bluejacketscare.com/columns/usa-hockey/the-american-development-model-%E2%80%93-teaching-kids-lessons-for-life/

Quote

"A winner is someone who recognizes his God-given talents,
works his tail off to develop them into skills, and uses these
skills to accomplish his and the teams goals."

*Larry Bird

The Talent Code

Good Afternoon!

Coach's and Parents  - Here is other great website for understanding athletes!

Here is a small sample of what you can learn:

• Rule: Remove Your Watch

When it comes to measuring practice, we reflexively obey clocks. We naturally presume that an hourlong practice is twice as good as a half-hour practice. This reasoning is faulty, because it creates the false expectation that you will succeed merely by filling the allotted time. Deep practice is not about time passing, but about the number of times you stretch yourself to the edge of your ability, make mistakes, and fix them. Studies show you can accomplish more learning in a deep 10 minutes than a shallow two hours.

So instead of counting minutes or hours, count your reaches.  Instead of saying, “I’m going to practice piano for 20 minutes,” instead tell yourself “I’m going to do five reps of that new song.”  Instead of planning to hit golf balls for an hour, plan to make 25 quality swings with each club.

• Rule: Practice in Short Segments

TV executives who schedule commercials have long known what scientists are just figuring out: your natural span of attention is around ten minutes. Therefore, it’s smart to organize your practice into short, intense sessions with a quick breather in between. Using short segments creates a clarity of target, and avoids the pitfall of mushy, vague practice. (This is one of the reasons coach John Wooden set up his drills to last around ten minutes each.)

Divide your practice into segments, with each segment focused on reaching for one particular goal — a new move in your repertoire.  Don’t worry if you don’t perfect the move in that time — you can always come back to it. The point is not to get it perfect the first time, but to build a system that helps you improve steadily and systematically.

• Rule: Be Willing to Be Stupid

Being willing to endure the emotional burn of failure is a prerequisite for improvement, since without it we are cut off from the wellspring of our progress: reaching, failing, and learning from our mistakes. As baseball Hall of Famer Lou Brock said, “Show me a guy who is afraid to look bad, and I’ll show you a guy I can beat every time.”

• Rule: “Practice Begins When You Get it Right”

This is a saying from violin teacher Kimberly Meier-Sims, director of the Suzuki program at the Cleveland Institute of Music. I like it because it addresses the common misconception that our first moment of success represents the finish line.  To the contrary: getting it right is not the finish, but the beginning. It marks the moment when the real work begins; the moment when you begin (through reaching and repetition) the process of taking ownership of your skill.

• Rule: Try Sh*t

Practicing the same thing over and over in exactly the same way seems like a smart thing to do. Problem is, it’s usually not. Studies show that variable practice — where you move around, experiment, try new things and see how they work — is far more effective than “blocked” practice with no variance.  A good example is basketball free throws, where practicing from variable distances produces skill far faster than practicing from the same distance every time.

The reason this works is that embracing variability helps us sharpen our control — our ability to make small, crucial changes to adapt our performance to the situation. When we make a habit of experimenting — when we try sh*t, and do it systematically — we are increasing our ability to modulate our performance.

Check out the rest of Daniel Coyle talent - http://thetalentcode.com/

Coach Wooden

This post is for coaches who are looking for information to make them better coaches.
The following website is a blog from a former player coached by Coach Wooden.
He has a unique way to 'story tell' what Coach Wooden taught him while he played in UCLA.

I have gained so much knowledge from this site! I would recommend you bookmark it and visit it frequently!

http://blog.coachswen.com/

Be a leader, Not a By-Stander

Nothing relating to hockey but yet again, its about being a good person and finding solutions to problems, rather then being a by-stander!

http://www.walkthetalk.com/blog/2010/10/06/1676/BLOG

Mental Training Tip - Lose Your Mind

Although the information below is regarding baseball. The information can be used in any sport!


Many athletes go into competition and put undue pressure on
themselves to perform well or win. This prevents them from getting
into a zone performance state...

More pressure or expectations often translates into anxiety, excess
tension, and a lack of trust in your learned skills. I call this
"getting in your own way."

I recently talked to Basketball coach Dave Jones about his system
for helping athletes get into the zone. "When a player is conscious
and playing their sport, they are thinking about what they're
doing. The game happens too fast for thinking... Athletes have to
get out of the thinking and 'lose their mind'," says Jones.
According to Jones, you have to move from a conscious state to an
unconscious state of performing, which means "just do it" and stop
over thinking about how to perform -- if you want to enter the zone.
"Give the conscious mind a job that allows the unconscious mind to
do what you have trained it to do. When the conscious mind is out
of the way, it has a job and is no longer in the way with
self-talk, etc.," says Jones.

Interestingly, I noted that Jones' approach is very similar to Tim
Gallwey's approach, who wrote the "Inner Game of Tennis" many years
ago. To perform in the zone, you must suspend the trying or
analytical mind (used for practice and learning), which allows the
intuitive or creative part of the mind to take over in competition.
Jones teaches athletes to focus on a very specific target when
performing a task such as shooting a basketball. He says this
suspends the "trying mind," as Gallwey puts it, and allows you to
react.

What are some others tips for removing your interfering conscious
mind (or trying mind) so you can react when you perform?

(1) When you go to compete, keep in mind it's time to perform and
not continue to train yourself. You study hard for the test and
then take the test in competition. Be a performer, not a learner.
(2) If you make a mistake, avoid over analyzing what you did wrong
and then trying to fix it. Fixing mistakes only leads you to trying
too hard.
(3) React to what your eyes see and skip the thinking in between
what you see during performance and your reaction. For example, a
batter in baseball has less than a half second to react. If the
thinks about how to swing the bat, the ball is past him.

For more information go to: http://bit.ly/findthezone