Hi Coach's

I am a coach of a Mite level(7-9 yr olds) hockey team and would like to here the opinion of coach's around the country.

Playing the kids at one position or moving them around to different positions constantly.

I will tell you a little bit about my opinion at this level and would love to hear yours.

first off, it is my opinion that you start to look at what position the kids are best suited for based on size, speed(both in open ice and in traffic), and puck handling. I believe that you need to start preparing them for the future of playing in the more competitive level of squirts, especially the kids that are moving up the following year. I also believe in letting the kids play other positions as well throughout the year but keeping them at one main position that I feel they are best suited for and will probably play in the future.

My thinking on this is that the kids that are being switched around to different positions throughout the game are not learning the positions to the fullest and are getting more confused. I like to keep them at one position throughout a few games or more and let them play other positions on occasion but keep them at the position that are best suited for. My thinking of this is that they are going to have a better chance of competing when they move to the squirt level and start trying out for teams.

Just for your information, I have never had a parent complain about this to me, just a debate my assistant and I were having and I was just curious what others around the country thought.

Would love to here what you coaches did when your child played and you coached at this level.

My background:
I played all my childhood, I have coached 3 years mini mites, 3 years mites, 1 year helping in squirts.


Thanks, Hockey Nut

Yep, I agree. I have coached my boy from mini-mites up to 2nd yr squirts. I agree with what you are doing. I would also say to incorporate some easy breakout type drills at the mite level. I did this and it worked very well. The kids will pick it up sooner or later. Because this was not done by last years coaches, I have first year squirts that want to run all over and not play position, very frustrating. Good luck neighbor!!!

Hi Railscoach,

My kids have had really great success on doing a basic break out(around the net and up to the wing and out to the center), it has worked so well the kids are truly using it rather then trying to carry through all the traffic.

You can see the teams that do not work on this, coaches just let the kids go and it does not work well against a team like ours that plays position, forechecks hard and interrupts there progress. If these teams would work even just a little on a break out they would cause our kids to hold back more and they would be able to get out of their zone better.

I think too many coaches and USA hockey big wigs are selling these kids short at the mite level, if they had it there way we wouldn't teach any position or structure at the mite level. They believe that it slows the kids down and does not teach them how to handle the puck. I think by keeping it simple, you give the kids a head start on the knowing the game and playing fast.

Just my OPINION!

Hope your team is doing well, Hockey Nut.

Guys, I found your ideas and comments interesting and admirable, and I just wanted to offer a few thoughts from my 102-year old perspective...
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- I tend to agree with Hockey Nut -- about slotting young kids in a position for most of a season. And, while you hinted at this, I'll confirm with my own belief, in that very young players probably benefit from a reasonable amount of stability. In other words, it's likely a lot easier for a new-ish player to learn and begin mastering the basics at a single position. And, even though a youngster might spend most of his/her time at a spot like left defense, I'm guessing he/she eventually notices a lot of things that the other positional players are being asked to do.

- I also agree with your wrestle between skill development and positional play. If I had to recommend a plan of attack here, it would be to suggest that BOTH areas should be relatively well covered... If anything, I like to give young kids the basics of a SIMPLE and rather AGGRESSIVE playing system so that they are able to begin learning the mental skills they'll later need. (And, by an "aggressive" system, I'm suggesting one that doesn't inhibit or stifle their creativity or their love of the game.) I think a basic system provides the framework within which kids can learn about pressuring the puck, about covering open men, about making wise choices with the puck, and about interacting with teammates.

All that said, we can't forget that the earliest years are a time when basic skills are best ingrained (at some point, we're not going to be able to very much change a player's skating style, his or her "hands" and the likes).

- If I had to slightly disagree with one area of your thinking, Hocky Nut, it would be in reference to our abilities to project a 7- or 8-year old's future playing position. The problem is that a youngster's ultimate size, speed and other such physical characteristics won't truly be known until at least puberty. (In other words, the big, slow beginner might eventually end-up as the smallest and fastest of the lot when all is said and done.)

- Finally, over a lot of years in the game, I've ultimately settled on something I think has helped me in my day-to-day choices when it comes to dealing with "developmental level" players. And, I share this with you guys, if only as food for thought... In every instance, I attempt to ask myself, "What is best in the long-term?" At times, I might be annoyed with a player or players, but then I pinch myself and consider the fact that I want to send all the kids home laughing and looking forward to our next time together. At yet other times, I'll opt for additional skill development drills in a given practice, because I know such things are going to help the kids more in the long-run. And, very interestingly, even the winning and losing of games takes on new meaning when I apply this kind of logic.

Anyway, good luck as you guys look forward to another season!

- If I had to slightly disagree with one area of your thinking, Hocky Nut, it would be in reference to our abilities to project a 7- or 8-year old's future playing position. The problem is that a youngster's ultimate size, speed and other such physical characteristics won't truly be known until at least puberty. (In other words, the big, slow beginner might eventually end-up as the smallest and fastest of the lot when all is said and done.)

Coach Chic,

Thank you for your response and especially this qoute here, I totally agree with you on this. Your probably thinking well then why did you say differently? Well this is why. In pretty much everything I do in my life I will do a self evaluation of things I did, whether that be in work, coaching, or parenting. I pretty much look at myself honestly and ask myself did I do my best? In most cases I do, that is the way I was raised. In this case with hockey last season I still feel I did my best and learned alot, the only thing I would change is to not tell the kids that I feel they are best suited for a particular position, even if I feel that way that year. I will continue to coach the way I did but I do not want a kid to hear that from me and take that with them, I want them to feel they can play any position and play it well when the season is done. I want a kid that played for me to say to the next coach: Where do you want me to play coach? Not, I play the ( ) position. I want them to feel confident in any position, that is a mistake I have made this last year. I have learned from that and it will help me to be a better coach.

After the season I did alot of networking with coaches and non coaches I respect, about kids in hockey and non hockey life, and the one thing that always came up was kids develop both physically and mentally at different levels. Some kids are the superstars at a young age and the parents and the kids think this is the way it will be, then all of a sudden the other kids catch up or move ahead of them. Alot of kids can't handle this and have a hard time coping with it, some quit or are poor sportsmen, some just work hard and adapt to being equals on the ice.

What I found in evaluating myself is that I was probably holding the kids back by making the impression that this is where they will play. So I say to all fellow coaches of these young impressionable kids, coach them and send them to the next level prepared to play where the next coach wants them to play or where they feel their skills are best suited at that time of their lives, I know I will.

Remember also, Coaches learn just like the kids, have an open mind and be honest with yourself.

Thanks for the responses, keep them coming!

Hockey Nut!

Wow, Hockey Nut! Your little quote at the end of your last post is pretty close to something I've preached for years (to parents and players at the developmental levels)... I tell them, "The games are only our weekly quizzes, just to see if our (my and their) practices have been effective."

As I said previously, your attempts with the kids are truly admirable; there ought to be more like you in the youth coaching ranks.

As far as slotting kids into positions goes... I think it's more important that YOU know there's a chance young players will be moved around as they climb the hockey ladder. You might also ultimately let the parents on your team know that this is always a possibility.

Then, you might find something interesting... I run 3-teams under my hockey school banner. Being the boss, I've created what I see as the perfect practice plan, in that I hold 3 distinctly different types of sessions during a typical week. One is your usual Xs and Os practice, another is a combination of off-ice and in-line training, and the third involves an hour of high-speed skills.

And, I'll tell you that during the times when we're not specifically working on team tactics or strategies, everyone is treated exactly alike. I mean, I want everyone -- from goalers to defensemen to forwards -- skating their buns off, doing tricks with the puck and firing bullets. That's the nature of the modern game, you know... Today's goaltenders now have to be great skaters, and they also have to help their mates with the puck. And, just think about the NHL's best blueliners, in that they move and handle the puck like we used to only expect from playmaking forwards.

My point in the latter paragraph is to suggest that you, I and most others who work with developmental kids would be doing them a huge favor by really enhancing their individual skills. In that way, they ought to be capable of playing anywhere a future high school coach might want to slot them.

yeap i am agree with this idea of coaching

Thanks, tobbilla78. And, while I know that field hockey is very popular in your country, I didn't know they had ice hockey!