Reply To: Ive been asked to mentor a group of young coaches.

Aberdeen all the things Dean wrote are true and I would add some meat to the philosophy because the parents want to know if their children are going to learn the skills of the game.

Draw a circle in front of each net and tell them that the idea is to get to that area in the opponents end and score and to keep them out of that area.

Tell them that there are five things the players need to learn.
1. Skating forward, backward and being able to move in all directions with balance.
2. Role one – individual offensive skills.
3. Role two – team offensive skills (introductory at this level but learn to play up to a 3-3.)
4. Role three – individual defensive skills.
5. Role four – team defensive skills (at this level dside and protect the circle in front.
6. Good habits – face the puck, give a target, stick on the puck, stick in the lanes, move to open ice with the puck, pass to someone in better position than you, use escape moves, etc. )