Being a youth hockey coach is never easy. It’s a labor of love fueled by a passion for the game and a desire to develop the next generation of players. Sure, there are some coaches who get paid, but the majority are still doing it because they want to carry on the time-honored tradition of giving back to move the game forward.
For those coaches, it’s not easy to juggle the demands of a full-time job, family commitments and running a hockey team. Many find themselves racing from work to the rink, often skipping meals and family time at home to make sure they are there for their players and teams.
Finding time to create practice plans that will challenge and develop their players over the course of the season is no easy task. No coach wants to go through the motions and dust off some tired, old practice plan. They want to create something fresh that develops individual skills while bolstering team goals.
For coaches throughout New York State Amateur Hockey Association, that’s where Ice Hockey Systems can be an asset. Thanks to a new partnership between NYSAHA and Ice Hockey Systems, coaches around the state will have access to a state-of-the-art coaching platform that will provide them with thousands of skill-developing drills and comprehensive practice plans that will help them develop individual skills and foster greater team play.
All of this and much more is available to NYSAHA registered coaches for the discounted price of $45. The standard fee for a yearly IHS membership is $60.
According to NYSAHA President Eric Guzdek, access to IHS’s extensive library of drills, videos and practice plans will be a game changer for coaches to help their players and teams of all ages and skill levels take their games to the next level.
“Our members will gain a real advantage by using the Ice Hockey Systems platform in addition to all the USA Hockey resources out there. Ice Hockey Systems connects them with proven drills, expert insights and professional level resources that can elevate a practice and a game,” Guzdek said.
“It’s like having a team of experienced coaches at your fingertips and helping our players and coaches continue to grow on and off the ice. I’m looking forward to working with IHS to create a partnership that will serve all our members by enhancing their experience in the game.”
Established in 2011, IHS has a growing membership of more than 34,000 coaches around the globe, and works with the top minds in the game, including current and former NHL coaches, to continuously expand its library of resources that includes drills, systems, videos and practice plans.
“We are an online coaching platform that has every type of content, including drills, systems, coach education videos, skill videos, and now we have a parent and player platform,” said Chris Howard, president of IHS, which is based in Buffalo.
“We’ve always focused on coaches and giving them tools and resources that are easy to navigate. No matter what age or what topic you’re looking to teach, you can find it very quickly and also software to keep you organized.”
One of IHS’s most popular features is the drill drawing tool that allows coaches to create their own drills and then save them in a personal library and share them with players, parents and fellow coaches. Howard said more than one million drills were drawn on the tool last year alone, and more than a quarter million practices were created in the practice planner.
IHS has also teamed up with the National Hockey League to use game clips to illustrate specific skills and concepts. That allows coaches to search for clips related to a specific skill and imbed them to their practice plans to illustrate an individual skill or team play concept.
“We mesh content and software to make life easier on coaches and to make them better so that they can learn,” Howard said. “It’s extremely important for us that the content we’re delivering to these tens of thousands of coaches is top-notch. We break down the coaching points so coaches know what the key talking points are so that they can help teach the game.”
As part of the partnership, IHS will produce a “Drill or Skill of the Week” that will be shared with NYSAHA coaches through digital communications. The two organizations will also work together to create co-branded initiatives to promote grassroots hockey development and enhance coach and athlete education.
NYSAHA is currently working on organizing a webinar to showcase the IHS platform’s tools and provide an in-depth overview for prospective members.
To sign up for your discounted IHS membership, click here:
https://www.icehockeysystems.com/cart/add/e-p8807481_q1_a36o1151-isub?destination=cart/checkout
