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Image courtesy of Aspen Junior Hockey
Youth
sports often focus on the skills and training required to develop successful
athletes, but what about age-appropriate skills and training that aim to
develop great human beings?
That’s
the focus of Aspen Junior Hockey, which coaches its youth and
young adult players using the USA Hockey’s American Development Model — a model
that has produced successful results, both on and off the ice, since its
inception 10 years ago.
“We
have development plans that essentially define each of the skills that should
be mastered at each age, and then build from there,” said Shaun Hathaway, Aspen
Junior Hockey executive director. “We’re not just playing hockey, we’re
building adults; we’re building great citizens.”
Age-appropriate ‘windows of
trainability’
Image courtesy of Aspen Junior Hockey
The American Development
Model was partly influenced by studying how Swedish and Finnish youth hockey programs
became such powerhouses with considerably less participants than other
countries.
“They
put training ahead of competition,” said Joe Bonnett, the American Development
Model regional manager for the Rocky Mountain district. “In the U.S., we were
concerned about wins and losses.”
After
talking to sports science leaders from around the world, the ADM was developed
to complement both biological and psychosocial growth and development.
Bonnett
said the ADM’s goal is to develop more world-class athletes and more kids
playing hockey for longer — who become fans of hockey, give back to hockey, and
play adult league hockey.
In
Aspen, Hathaway and other Aspen Junior Hockey coaches use the model to guide
the culture of the entire program.
Aspen
Junior Hockey coaches teach kids prescribed skills, while connecting the
lessons learned playing the game with life lessons they’ll need to better
navigate the world.
“The
goal is when our kids leave, they are more intrinsically motivated and take
more ownership for their sport and their studies, that they have character and
they’re respectful of officials and adults,” Hathaway said.
Above
all, kids are expected to have fun as they learn these powerful lessons about
self-motivation, hard work, empathy, trust, respect, accountability, humility
and more.
Kevin
Freitas, an Aspen Junior Hockey parent and past volunteer coach, said the model
isn’t like the tough-love hockey he grew up playing in Aspen, but he sees how
it’s impacted his son’s development and wholeheartedly believes in the
principles.
“I
think it’s groundbreaking and it’s going to be good for the big picture, from
mites to high school,” Freitas said. “You have to look at the big picture when
it comes to development.”
Sports skills translate into life
skills
Image Courtesy of Aspen Junior Hockey
According
to the American Development Model, “overall athlete development involves not
only sport-specific skills and an understanding of the game, but also
understanding kids while developing general athleticism and fitness,
fundamental movement skills, recovery, nutrition, and mental skills.”
Freitas
said this model, and the sport of hockey in general, teaches an incredible
amount of sportsmanship. Hockey is never a one-man game — you can’t win with
just one good player on the team.
“It’s a
full team sport,” he said. “The support you have to give to your team members
on the ice carries over to school, the playground and into life.”
To learn more, visit http://www.aspenjuniorhockey.com. Registration for the 2019-20 season is currently open.