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There are so many different things that coaches look for in building a team. Player skill is just one thing and sometimes not even the most important. Coaches evaluate players on a variety of other criteria including:
  • Team Skills - Does the player grasp the way teams work together to win games?

  • Relative Physical Development - Is the player physically larger or small than his teammates?

  • Leadership - In tough game situations, could the player step up as a role model for teammates?

  • Listening - Does the player pay attention and understand things quickly?

  • Personality - Does the player's personality fit with the other player's selected?

  • Mentoring Ability - How much can the player positively impact others on the team?

  • Positional Knowledge - How much does the player know about the playing the variety of situations faced in regular game?

  • Unselfishness - Does the player make plays for the benefit of the team or build individual stats?

  • Level of Effort - How hard does a player work during tryouts?

  • Familiarity - Does the coach have experience working with the player?

  • Family Involvement - Does the coach have good or bad experience working with a player's family?

  • Team Needs - How many players are needed for each position? Though last on the list, team needs are often the most important. Teams don't need five skilled catchers. So even though a player may be a great catcher, the chances of making a team are greatly diminished if the coach prefers another player for that limited need.

While a tryout may look like a skills contest, coaches can observe these factors by the way the skills are carried out. Most coaches believe that skill deficits are much easier to correct than the issues listed above. Coaches will gamble with lesser skilled players that present the best overall package.

Good coaches can make skilled players but only the players themselves (with the help of their parents) can make skilled teammates.
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digitalefforts Thursday, July 19, 2007 @ 7:25 am
This is a presentation written by Al Bloomer that provides information regarding various options available to a hockey player that has completed or is about to complete his/her high school education. For eligibility purposes, the NCAA expects the student-athlete to graduate from high school when they are 18 years of age. The expected graduation date is the NCAA eligibility bench mark.

From the author "I have been involved in hockey as a player, coach or administrator for over 50 years. For the last 20 years I have been directly involved with players between the ages of 15 and 20 years old. When it comes to choosing options for their hockey future, I am continually troubled by how poorly prepared and uninformed many players and their parents are. Answers can be found if you know where to look. The challenge is to be realistic about your hockey abilities and pro-active when planning your hockey future. As your skills develop to the higher  levels, you begin to think about your options. I believe parents and players should begin to think seriously about hockey opportunities when the player is 12 to 14 years old. This is not the forum to debate when a player's hockey potential can be evaluated or predicted. Although there may be optimism concerning potential when players are 12 and under, their potential cannot be realistically evaluated until they reach the age of maturity. All have dreams and expectations - but players and parents need to make informed and realistic decisions."

Some typical questions:

  • What are my hockey opportunities after high school?

  • How do I determine what is best for me?

  • What are some determining factors?

  • What are my chances?

  • How can I find out where I fit?

  • How and where do I get noticed?

  • How important are academics?

  • What role does my coach play?

  • Should I actively pursue opportunities or should I wait until opportunity knocks?

 

Download the attached file to read the presentation. Requires Adobe Acrobat reader.
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digitalefforts Saturday, February 03, 2007 @ 5:24 am
From the NCAA website:
Student-Athletes Men's
Basketball		 Women's
Basketball		 Football Baseball Men's Ice Hockey Men's Soccer
High School Student-Athletes 549,500 456,900 983,600 455,300 29,900 321,400
High School Senior Student-Athletes 157,000 130,500 281,000 130,100 8,500 91,800
NCAA Student-Athletes 15,700 14,400 56,500 25,700 3,700 18,200
NCAA Freshman Roster Positions 4,500 4,100 16,200 7,300 1,100 5,200
NCAA Senior Student-Athletes 3,500 3,200 12,600 5,700 800 4,100
NCAA Student-Athletes Drafted 44 32 250 600 33 76
Percent High School to NCAA 2.9 3.1 5.8 5.6 12.9 5.7
Percent NCAA to Professional 1.3 1.0 2.0 10.5 4.1 1.9
Percent High School to Professional 0.03 0.02 0.09 0.5 0.4 0.08

Note: These percentages are based on estimated data and should be considered approximations of the actual percentages. Click here to view the methodology used to arrive at these estimates.
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digitalefforts Friday, November 10, 2006 @ 4:46 am

Habit - A recurrent, often unconscious pattern of behavior that is acquired through frequent repetition.-- The American Heritage® Dictionary 

Each activity in sports has a correct way to perform and a way that only gets by. Whether throwing a ball, shooting a basket or passing a puck, there are techniques that provide better accuracy, distance and success. Excelling and playing at advanced levels requires the mastery of these better techniques.Replacing old techniques with new ones is not easy. The ability of the human body to walk and move without much thought also makes it difficult to change techniques. 

Many experts estimate that it takes approximately 21 days to break old habits and create new ones. For players, this means that learning new skills may require weeks of consistent thought and effort until these new skills are mastered. Like many things in life, consistency and patience are the keys to success.

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digitalefforts Tuesday, December 02, 2003 @ 10:32 am
Most everyone knows the story of Michael Jordan, the all-star basketball player who led the Chicago Bulls to six NBA championships. But, his path to the championships wasn't so certain during his sophomore year in high school. That was the year Michael Jordan failed to make his high school team.

When something doesn't work out as planned, there are always three courses of action any player can take. The first course is to do nothing and just hope that things will be different the next time. The second course is to quit and find other things to spend time on. The third course, and the one that Michael Jordan took, is to use the situation as a challenge and work harder.

Each challenge a player faces can only be answered from within. Coaches and parents can give advice, but only the player can determine the course taken. Not everyone who is challenged grows up to be Michael Jordan. And, not all challenges a player faces are in sports. However, every time a player quits when faced with a challenge, there is little hope of future success.

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digitalefforts Thursday, May 15, 2003 @ 3:36 pm
From childhood through adulthood, everyone always seems to ask "Are you listening?"  In life, as well as in sports, listening skills are at least as important, if not more so, as communicating skills.  In sports, player listening starts with an attitude and ends with an action.

Before players can listen, they must be first be ready to listen.  No player is good enough or smart enough to have it all figured out.  If this were the case, then professional sports teams wouldn't require coaches.  Players must have an attitude that allows them to hear how to do things better or differently, no matter what level their skill or experience.

With a good attitude as a start, the next step is for players to listen and analyze comments.  An instruction from a coach that a player hasn't thought about is fairly easy to process.  However, if a player is hearing something that the player thinks is already being done, it may be time for a talk with the coach.  There may be a miscommunication between coach and player that requires more discussion.

The last step in sports listening is doing.  Putting into practice the things a player hears is the only way for coaches to determine if players listen and the message is understood.

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digitalefforts Wednesday, April 02, 2003 @ 3:02 pm
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