Announcement
MAYBE YOU SHOULDN'T PLAY HOCKEY ON GRAND MANAN ISLAND
Posted by ERIN DOUCET on
Nov 03 2013
at
04:00PM PST
Dear District 5 Presidents:
Everything you’ve heard about playing hockey on Grand Manan is true. The trip to and from the Island is an adventure; the rink facility is top-notch; the Island people are incredibly welcoming and hospitable; Grand Manan Minor Hockey Association players and coaches are both enthusiastic and sportsmanlike competitors; and mainland players typically love their Island hockey experiences. For two years now, EDZA South has partnered with GMMHA to put on Hockey Canada Development Weekend events, and our players and coaches have raved about their time on the Island. For example, one of our Bantam AAA team captains was disappointed to learn that his team was not making the ferry trip to Grand Manan this past weekend. This player, who has travelled far and wide with many elite teams, called his 2012 Grand Manan Development Weekend the most fun hockey trip ever. Yet, all of those great reasons aside, I’m not sure that we should encourage our mainland teams to play on the Island. That’s because Grand Manan is building a pretty great hockey environment, and I’m worried that we mainlanders will ruin it.
I was part of EDZA South’s contingent that travelled to Grand Manan for the 2013 Development Weekend. We led 7 on-ice sessions and 3 off-ice sessions on the Island, after which our Peewee AAA Riptide and Seadogs teams played in front of a crowd of appreciative spectators. Within the first hour of our time with the Grand Manan players, I could see and feel a difference in the way that the Island players and coaches approach the game of hockey. Unlike some mainland hockey teams and players, the Islanders seem to have a pure passion for the game, unpolluted by the need for individual glory, alpha-dog superiority and constant parent negativity. On Saturday morning after a practice, I sat down beside James, one of the Bantam players, a relatively skilled and highly passionate fellow. He was sitting by himself at the time, and I asked him how long he had been playing hockey. Politely, James said “Three years”. “Only three years?” I asked in surprise, given his skill level. At that point, he highlighted the difference between Island thinking and our mainland thinking. “Yes, our team has played together for three years now.” “Oh”, I said. “But what about you? How long have you been playing?” That was different. “Personally, I’ve been playing since IP”, he explained matter-of-factly. What was interesting was that James’ first thought and response to my question about hockey centered on his team and not on himself.
As we talked, at least half a dozen of his Bantam teammates gathered around James and, together, they regaled me with stories about their experiences as a team – from some wicked beatings last season to an early and promising tie this season. As they talked, it was clear that these young people were in the sport together, regardless of the outcomes. Throughout the discussion, they complimented each other and were not once critical of any of their teammates. I was equally impressed and disappointed by the way these players described their hockey experiences. Impressed by their sense that every player belonged as a member of the team and was included by the other players; disappointed by the glaring realization that many of our mainland players never have that experience. The discussion made me realize that, in the right environment, hockey can promote the right values.
While I know that nothing, including Grand Manan’s hockey environment, is perfect, I’m still a little bit envious of the Grand Manan Minor Hockey Association’s players. What they seem to have is a great, loving relationship. When the Bantam and Peewee team practiced together this past weekend, the older players were careful to adjust their intensity for the benefit of younger, smaller players. When the Novice and Atom players were on the ice, the Bantam and Peewee players helped them and treated them like brothers and sisters. They cared about each other. No one made fun of anyone else. We know that the greatest sports coaches of all-time have spoken of that kind of close team bond as the fuel for success, but many mainland minor hockey teams never achieve it.
The legendary American high school football coach Bob LaDouceur has said that a key to his team’s success was that the players loved each other. Many less skilled coaches and athletes are uncomfortable with even the word “love”, but LaDouceur’s De La Salle Spartans relied on love to achieve the longest winning streak in American football history (the team’s 151 consecutive game wins was called “The Streak” by Sports Illustrated). On the mainland, too many players see their teammates as competitors in the imaginary race to be “the” dominant player. Associations and coaches have too often failed to overcome the team-killing attitudes of some players and parents, and it shows. EDZA South and all of District 5’s associations have something to learn about teamwork from GMMHA.
Travelling to Grand Manan for a day of hockey has a lot of positive benefits to offer. The ferry crossings are interesting, the atmosphere at the Grand Manan rink is excellent and the Island players and coaches are great, enthusiastic hosts. Overall, it is a pure hockey experience based on playing for the love of the game. It is a difficult experience to find on the mainland. And that’s why, when we mainlanders go, we should be careful in the same way that we would be careful walking through a garden of endangered flowers. It would be easy to trample a very beautiful thing.
Everything you’ve heard about playing hockey on Grand Manan is true. The trip to and from the Island is an adventure; the rink facility is top-notch; the Island people are incredibly welcoming and hospitable; Grand Manan Minor Hockey Association players and coaches are both enthusiastic and sportsmanlike competitors; and mainland players typically love their Island hockey experiences. For two years now, EDZA South has partnered with GMMHA to put on Hockey Canada Development Weekend events, and our players and coaches have raved about their time on the Island. For example, one of our Bantam AAA team captains was disappointed to learn that his team was not making the ferry trip to Grand Manan this past weekend. This player, who has travelled far and wide with many elite teams, called his 2012 Grand Manan Development Weekend the most fun hockey trip ever. Yet, all of those great reasons aside, I’m not sure that we should encourage our mainland teams to play on the Island. That’s because Grand Manan is building a pretty great hockey environment, and I’m worried that we mainlanders will ruin it.
I was part of EDZA South’s contingent that travelled to Grand Manan for the 2013 Development Weekend. We led 7 on-ice sessions and 3 off-ice sessions on the Island, after which our Peewee AAA Riptide and Seadogs teams played in front of a crowd of appreciative spectators. Within the first hour of our time with the Grand Manan players, I could see and feel a difference in the way that the Island players and coaches approach the game of hockey. Unlike some mainland hockey teams and players, the Islanders seem to have a pure passion for the game, unpolluted by the need for individual glory, alpha-dog superiority and constant parent negativity. On Saturday morning after a practice, I sat down beside James, one of the Bantam players, a relatively skilled and highly passionate fellow. He was sitting by himself at the time, and I asked him how long he had been playing hockey. Politely, James said “Three years”. “Only three years?” I asked in surprise, given his skill level. At that point, he highlighted the difference between Island thinking and our mainland thinking. “Yes, our team has played together for three years now.” “Oh”, I said. “But what about you? How long have you been playing?” That was different. “Personally, I’ve been playing since IP”, he explained matter-of-factly. What was interesting was that James’ first thought and response to my question about hockey centered on his team and not on himself.
As we talked, at least half a dozen of his Bantam teammates gathered around James and, together, they regaled me with stories about their experiences as a team – from some wicked beatings last season to an early and promising tie this season. As they talked, it was clear that these young people were in the sport together, regardless of the outcomes. Throughout the discussion, they complimented each other and were not once critical of any of their teammates. I was equally impressed and disappointed by the way these players described their hockey experiences. Impressed by their sense that every player belonged as a member of the team and was included by the other players; disappointed by the glaring realization that many of our mainland players never have that experience. The discussion made me realize that, in the right environment, hockey can promote the right values.
While I know that nothing, including Grand Manan’s hockey environment, is perfect, I’m still a little bit envious of the Grand Manan Minor Hockey Association’s players. What they seem to have is a great, loving relationship. When the Bantam and Peewee team practiced together this past weekend, the older players were careful to adjust their intensity for the benefit of younger, smaller players. When the Novice and Atom players were on the ice, the Bantam and Peewee players helped them and treated them like brothers and sisters. They cared about each other. No one made fun of anyone else. We know that the greatest sports coaches of all-time have spoken of that kind of close team bond as the fuel for success, but many mainland minor hockey teams never achieve it.
The legendary American high school football coach Bob LaDouceur has said that a key to his team’s success was that the players loved each other. Many less skilled coaches and athletes are uncomfortable with even the word “love”, but LaDouceur’s De La Salle Spartans relied on love to achieve the longest winning streak in American football history (the team’s 151 consecutive game wins was called “The Streak” by Sports Illustrated). On the mainland, too many players see their teammates as competitors in the imaginary race to be “the” dominant player. Associations and coaches have too often failed to overcome the team-killing attitudes of some players and parents, and it shows. EDZA South and all of District 5’s associations have something to learn about teamwork from GMMHA.
Travelling to Grand Manan for a day of hockey has a lot of positive benefits to offer. The ferry crossings are interesting, the atmosphere at the Grand Manan rink is excellent and the Island players and coaches are great, enthusiastic hosts. Overall, it is a pure hockey experience based on playing for the love of the game. It is a difficult experience to find on the mainland. And that’s why, when we mainlanders go, we should be careful in the same way that we would be careful walking through a garden of endangered flowers. It would be easy to trample a very beautiful thing.
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“I think hockey is a game, a child's game, played by men and to play it effectively you must have fun just like children do.” – Fred Shero, former coach of the Philadelphia Flyers
Kelly VanBuskirk EDZA South
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