Reply To: The Art and Science of Coaching

[Tom Molloy]

Team Covenant

I got this idea when former NHL coach of the year Bob Murdoch was a guest speaker in my college hockey coaching class. I asked him to speak on team play and he said he would rather speak about how to develop a team.

A Team Covenant is a charter that the players develop themselves. It is signed by all of the players and is the template for how they behave, practice, approach the game and their life outside the game. Bob says he will never coach a team without them agreeing on a covenant and I agree with him.

This season as soon as the team was chosen and we had played a few ex games and chose captains, I met with the captains and explained the Team Covenant and asked them to lead a meeting to develop one for the season.

We had a picnic after an exhibition game and then the team met without the coaches and developed a 10 point covenant that they all signed and then laminated it. It travels with the team all of the time and defines what they expect of each other and what the coaches can expect of them.

They can refer to it when talking with each other about behavior issues, practice intensity etc. and it is something the coaches use as a guideline to accomplish the goals they have set for themselves and the team.
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Bob's class is in the video section and it has a lot of other great ideas.

'The Game is the Greatest Coach'
'Enjoy the Game'