Explore every episode of the podcast Grassroots: The Minor Hockey Show
| Title | Pub. Date | Duration | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Episode 105 - Greg Revak: "I'm just trying to be less dumb." | 16 Sep 2024 | 01:10:38 | |
Greg Revak, an Ohio-based coach and USA Hockey coach developer, has unique and progressive ideas on coaching the game. His podcast and newsletter hit on various topics which are pertinent to coaches at every level. In this episode, he shares with Richard his personal bugaboos and annoyances about practice design and what we can do better. Contact: | |||
| Episode 104 - Are you a new coach - of some sort? | 30 Aug 2024 | 00:58:13 | |
However you define "new," Richard and Dean discuss what coaches need to consider at the start of a new adventure and the resources they should access. Podcasts: Contact: | |||
| Episode 95 - Madame President: Where we are - Where we're heading | 09 Nov 2023 | 01:25:38 | |
Kealy Lambert is a former college hockey player, now a mom, a coach, a lawyer and the president of Bow River Minor Hockey in Calgary. She's seen the game from just about every angle and now, as the head of an organization, she suspects Canadian minor hockey is heading...well...listen to find out where. Contact: | |||
| Episode 6: The team from hell | 10 Apr 2020 | 00:45:01 | |
What coach hasn’t had a group that was, at best, forgettable. Here’s the story of one , from former AAA and junior A coach Rick Ladouceur. Contact: | |||
| Episode 5: Part 2 - The modified ice program | 03 Apr 2020 | 00:46:47 | |
"I was skeptical at first," says former pro Corey Lucas, a teacher and coach in the new program. "But it works. It really does." Contact: | |||
| Episode 4: Part 1 - Hockey Canada's modified ice program | 27 Mar 2020 | 00:26:06 | |
Steve Millar has been teaching hockey for a long time. He gladly changed his approach when the new program came about. Contact: | |||
| Episode 3: Do hockey schools work? | 20 Mar 2020 | 00:43:38 | |
Rick Ladouceur, a former junior A and AAA coach, has run hockey schools for ages and ages and…well, let’s hear what he has to say about them. Contact: | |||
| Episode 2: The Coach Selection "Process" | 13 Mar 2020 | 00:41:34 | |
Richard invites his former TSN co-host Gregg Kennedy to discuss what goes on, or should go on, in the coach selection process. Contact: | |||
| Episode 1: Golly Gee! | 13 Mar 2020 | 00:13:50 | |
This first episode reminisces about one of Canada’s greatest hockey teachers and previews the show’s future content. Contact: | |||
| Episode 94 - Dr. Stephen Norris - Part 2 | 18 Oct 2023 | 00:50:03 | |
Stephen Norris delves deeper into Canada's minor hockey world, finishing with the challenge: What would you do if declared King of Hockey Canada? Contact: | |||
| Episode 93 - Dr. Stephen Norris - Part 1 | 14 Oct 2023 | 01:12:19 | |
Stephen Norris, one of Canada's pre-eminent sport scientists and performance experts, has worked with numerous sport organizations including Hockey Canada. He refers to himself as a "performance guide to a chosen few." In this first of a two-parter, we hear about how and why he started in the field and ends with his annual suggestion to a minor hockey organization that was voted down every time he brought it up. Contact: | |||
| Episode 92 - Holding my feet to the fire | 05 Oct 2023 | 01:29:24 | |
Podcast host Richard Bercuson has taken on coaching a U18AA team this season, a somewhat new experience for him even after coaching for decades. In this episode, Dean Holden poses some interesting questions for him to consider as he navigates these waters using a competition or game-based approach. Contact: | |||
| Episode 91 - What is Coach Development? | 11 Sep 2023 | 01:21:51 | |
Season 4 kicks off with Richard and Dean in a pretty deep discussion about the definition of coach development, professionalism in coaching and related topics. It all begins with Richard's follow-up presentation to Oshawa coaches in August when he asked participants to provide their definitions of coach development. Contact: | |||
| Episode 90 - Follow the leader? | 15 Jun 2023 | 01:19:37 | |
For Canadian minor hockey to evolve and improve, solid visionary leadership is the key. Richard and Dean invite Rick Ladouceur to discuss what we have and where we can go. Ladouceur is the executive director of Prairie Storm Minor Hockey near Regina. In addition to an extensive coaching and teaching background, he's held key leadership positions in hockey and recreation/sport management. Thus he is able to offer some interesting perspectives. Contact: | |||
| Episode 89 - The Evolution of the Coaching Life of Brian | 19 May 2023 | 01:34:04 | |
It took Brian Gillam nearly 20 years to realize that perhaps his coaching approach had room for adjustment. His epiphany came at a High Performance conference and, since then, his readings about leadership, ecological approaches, constraints, etc. have made him reconsider what coaching the game could be about. As Hockey Eastern Ontario's (HEO) coaching development coordinator, he's also in a position to influence others into seeing coaching in a different light. He has created a YouTube series for HEO about skill acquisition, interviews with some of the key figures in the field. All of which, however, leads to one key question: then what? Contact: | |||
| Episode 88 - Reflecting on a S.E.E.P. Presentation | 25 Apr 2023 | 00:38:02 | |
S.E.E.P. - Six Elements for Effective Practices - is a presentation Richard created to educate, inform, and assist coaches in improving their approaches. In this episode, he describes how the first one went on April 18 in Oshawa, ON, attended by 27 competitive level coaches. Contact: | |||
| Episode 87 - Five Questions that need Answers | 27 Mar 2023 | 01:22:59 | |
There are questions we need to address in order for coaching and coach development to move forward, utilizing research evidence now available to us. Richard and Dean attempt to answer these questions, which were posed recently by Dr. Mark Williams, a research scientist at the Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition and the University of Utah. Contact: | |||
| Episode 86 - Raymond Verheijen: The Evolution of Coaching | 08 Mar 2023 | 01:26:56 | |
Dutch football (soccer) coach and coach developer Raymond Verheijen has developed a worldwide following through books and courses on how to coach, not just football but coaching in general. In this episode he explains the importance of using objective facts and logical reasoning to counter long-standing beliefs on coaching approaches, whether they be in his sport or hockey. Though Richard and Dean had first touched on his work in episodes 78 and 80, hearing from him directly on various aspects of coaching provide a banquet of food for thought on what we do and why we do it. Contact: | |||
| Episode 103 - Checking in on checking | 11 Aug 2024 | 00:58:55 | |
Season 5 begins with an important pre-season look at how contact and checking need to be taught to take it beyond the confines of the current checking clinic module. Richard and Dean examine an approach using spectrums of skill for different ages and levels of play, built within the current four-stage checking progression espoused by Hockey Canada. Contact: | |||
| Episode 85 - The Language of Coaching | 12 Feb 2023 | 01:12:49 | |
In recent years, coaching has taken on an entirely new lexicon thanks to research into coaching methods and approaches. Richard and Dean examine some of the key ones pertaining to hockey, ones they feel are essential for the modern coach to not only be aware of but also employ. These include: constraints (as in the Constraints Led Approach), ecological dynamics, TGfU, skill vs. technique, observation, variability, and small area games (aka. small sided games). Contact: | |||
| Episode 84 - Wally Kozak: For the good of the game | 21 Jan 2023 | 01:14:15 | |
Wally Kozak is a resident of host Richard Bercuson's virtual Pantheon of Canadian hockey developers. Here, he begins by reflecting on his stint with Father David Bauer's national team and its influence on his future as a teacher and coach. Then comes the segue into the importance of creating a mission statement as most recently done with the parents of a U13 girls team. Along the journey, he shares stories of his experiences in developing the exercise. This includes one about how Hockey Canada's instructional DVD series, Goals 1 & 2, once included a third DVD which featured the exercise but somehow never got published. Contact: | |||
| Episode 83 - S.E.E.P. - Six Elements for Effective Practices | 19 Dec 2022 | 01:06:31 | |
Organizing a practice is challenging enough. However, Richard and Dean contend that incorporating six key elements will make a practice hum and provide the players with all they need to experience success and enjoy themselves. The first element is Fun. After that comes...well, listen in and find out. Contact: | |||
| Episode 82 - Wherefore bodychecking? | 26 Nov 2022 | 01:12:37 | |
In the last few months, two Canadian research studies have concluded that bodychecking in hockey should not begin till age 18, when kids are out of minor hockey. One of those studies, headed by the renowned brain injury and concussion expert, Dr. Charles Tator, reached some startling conclusions about long term concussion symptoms. The other study was completed by researchers in Alberta with teenagers in various minor hockey organizations. And so in this episode, Richard and Dean ask if it's time the question not just be posed but also answered: what are we doing?
Contact: | |||
| Episode 81 - Beer League Hockey Practice | 15 Nov 2022 | 00:53:47 | |
A departure from the normal content as this one scratches an itch: how to get adults who've never played hockey to give it a try. Peter Munro has started a venture called "Beer League Hockey Practice" which invites adult learners in various Ontario municipalities to learn to play the game. But will this also become a breeding ground for new coaches? According to one participant, a coach who's registered in the program, he's unearthed a whole new respect for what he asks his youngsters to experience. How did this get started and where is it heading? Richard discusses with Peter while co-host Dean takes a break to continue working on his PhD. Contact: | |||
| Episode 80 - Applying C-D-E-F to minor hockey coaching | 30 Oct 2022 | 01:00:03 | |
The fascinating C-D-E-F approach taken by Dutch coach and coach developer Raymond Verheijen is the subject of this episode, a sequel to Episode 78 with Neil Sedgwick. Richard and Dean adapt Verheijen's ideas that were designed for soccer coaches and re-package them for minor hockey. They base the discussion on Verheijen's recent guest appearance on the John O'Sullivan podcast "Way of Champions." Here's the link to Episode 294 of that show: Contact: | |||
| Episode 79 - Explaining critical thought in coaching | 20 Oct 2022 | 01:00:51 | |
"A Problem Well Stated is Half Solved," said the late Charles Kettering who headed the GM research department in the mid 20th century. How does this apply to the application of critical thought in coaching, especially in minor hockey? Dean Holden explains what it means and how it applies, referring as well to the work of Robert Ennis ("Critical Thinking Dispositions"). Also mentioned is the 2006 World Cup match between Argentina and Serbia/Montenegro in which the Argentines completed 26 consecutive passes before scoring. Here is the YouTube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GR3Om0WfErA Contact: | |||
| Episode 78 - A paradigm shift: C-D-E-F | 04 Oct 2022 | 01:10:42 | |
Neil Sedgwick is the head coach of the Univ. of Northern British Columbia (UNBC) women's soccer team in Prince George, BC. His coaching approach has been radically changed by the teachings and courses offered by Dutch coach Raymond Verheijen who is transforming the coaching landscape. The long-accepted ways of looking at coaching invasion team sports like soccer using the technical-tactical-mental-physical-social criteria need to be re-examined. Since soccer and hockey have much in common, we can see through Sedgwick's experiences with Verheijen how the minor hockey coaching landscape should now also change. Contact: | |||
| Episode 77 - Practice Structure | 14 Sep 2022 | 01:11:52 | |
Once a coach gets past the basic practice template, what are the myriad of priority considerations to have in a good practice? What to teach, when, and, most importantly, how are the key questions a coach should be answering. In this episode, Richard and Dean delve into how to shape practices while also dispensing with some of the myths about what we've long done. Contact: | |||
| Episode 76 - Deconstructing Deconstruction | 04 Sep 2022 | 01:05:39 | |
This episode takes the listener from sewing quilts to line dancing to "Achy Break Heart" and finally a western bar in Houston. The journey is all about wondering why we've long accepted that deconstructing hockey skills in practice would actually produce improvement. We know now it doesn't. And Dean puts Richard on the hot seat with an important question. A conversation rife with clever metaphors. Contact: | |||
| Episode 102 - The Norwegian Blue and Coach Education | 08 Jun 2024 | 01:27:18 | |
This episode is a unique collaboration with Stuart Armstrong whose podcast is The Talent Equation. His May 28, 2024, show was called "Coach Education is broken." It struck a chord with Grassroots host Richard Bercuson who felt it reminded him of the famous Monty Python Dead Parrot sketch. He connected with Stuart and here's the result: a tripartite discussion with Stuart, Richard, and Dean Holden about coach education's demise. Contact: | |||
| Episode 75 - Observational Insanity: Copy & Paste | 22 Aug 2022 | 01:15:34 | |
The first show of Season 3 features a discussion with soccer and hockey coach John "the Colombian" Castrillon on his observations of elite team practices. Are teams just recycling timeworn drills? Why? What's missing? He also comments on how goalies are used in practice, what guest host Dean Holden refers to as "punching bags." Contact: | |||
| Episode 74 - About that conference | 09 Jun 2022 | 00:36:45 | |
In this final episode of the 2021-22 season, Richard and guest host Dean chat about the June 4-5 coach conference hosted by the Whitby Girls Association that Richard set up, its first ever such conference. The agenda was designed for coaches to reflect on their past approaches, by "opening their parachutes," so as to improve their coaching methods through the latest research and knowledge on how children learn. The conference included presentations by Vic Chiasson and Jim Mercer who have developed a unique program to develop the culture on teams and in organizations. Former Olympic champion Jenn Wakefield also presented on developing proper fitness habits. The podcast includes commentary from Chiasson and Mercer on how they felt the conference went. Contact: | |||
| Episode 73 - Prof. Rob Gray: "How we learn to move" | 23 May 2022 | 00:56:20 | |
Rob Gray, from Caledon, Ontario, is a professor at Arizona State University where he specializes in perceptual motor skill development. His recent book "How we learn to move," available on Amazon, may very well be what he wrote on the cover: A revolution in the way we coach & practice skills. While his work in Arizona has been primarily in soccer and baseball, in this podcast he seemed pleased to delve into hockey and the myriad of timeworn traditions about how we teach and practice the game he played so much himself growing up. His own podcast, The Perception and Action podcast, can be found at perceptionaction.com. Warning: No pylons or plastic sticks died in the making of this episode, though they may be shoved into storage for a long while. Contact: | |||
| Episode 72 - The end of patterned coaching approaches is coming | 03 May 2022 | 00:49:53 | |
"How we learn to move" by Rob Gray, PhD, may be the game-changer minor sports, especially hockey, needs to shake up the coaching tree. If you like pylons, patterned drills, and specialty toys on the ice for kids to skate around, follow or go through, then this podcast will not be for you. Best to move on to a different episode right now! Contact: | |||
| Episode 71 - Do our coaches need what they're doing in Australia? | 18 Apr 2022 | 00:49:33 | |
Those who run Australian sports have concluded that the coaching of children has become too structured. Now they're doing something about it. The CEO of Water Polo Australia, Richard McInnes, explains what it is and how they're going about it. Interestingly, it involves many of the same approaches to coaching children as are being advocated in Canada. He also reveals their novel way to entice coaches to become better educated and trained. Here is the link to the cricket video he referenced in the podcast: vimeo.com/184622185. It employs the same ideas USA Hockey used in 2014 when they placed adults on a frozen river to point out what kids see on a large rink. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXhxNq59pWg). Opening and closing guitar music for this episode is "Waltzing Matilda" as performed by Australia's brilliant guitarist Tommy Emmanuel. Contact: | |||
| Episode 70 - Yogi was right! (Part 2) | 12 Apr 2022 | 00:45:03 | |
"We take a minor hockey coach off the ice, stand him at the glass, and we're going to ask him to watch his practice that the assistant coaches are going to run. What does he look for - and why?" So begins Part 2 with host Richard Bercuson posing the questions. Dean Holden and John Castrillon describe the importance of self-reflection in observations, beginning with, as Dean says, the constraints of what the coach even knows. So, even by posing the right kind of questions to the coach, the depth of knowledge to be able to properly and adequately answer is at the core of the issue. Contact: | |||
| Episode 69 - Yogi was right! (Part 1 of 2) | 06 Apr 2022 | 00:36:54 | |
"You can observe a lot by watching," said Yankees Hall of Famer Yogi Berra. He couldn't have known just important that statement would become for minor hockey coaches. The power of observation is indeed linked to critical thought, self awareness and self reflection, which is to say that all coaches would well to step back a moment and watch themselves. This is what mentors and coach developers do on a regular basis. In this first of a two-parter, host Richard Bercuson dives into a discussion with guest host Dean Holden and previous interviewee John Castrillon, a longtime soccer and hockey coach developer. Contact: | |||
| Episode 68 - It's not the what; it's the how and why | 24 Mar 2022 | 01:12:34 | |
USA Hockey's American Development Model (ADM) has made huge strides since its 2009 inception. One of the program's original regional managers, Roger Grillo (www.admkids.com/rogergrillo), a successful college coach for 20 years before joining the ADM, provides a unique perspective on the ADM's successes and challenges. He also delves into practice and teaching approaches that are now tried and true, describing what he sees as the three key elements of a good practice. Contact: | |||
| Episode 67 - Do you have an open parachute? | 12 Mar 2022 | 01:08:26 | |
What does Leonardo da Vinci have in common with three intrepid French inventors and Scottish whisky distiller Lord Thomas Dewar? It's all about first having a parachute and then opening it. Without it, the game will remain mired in its age-old traditions and conventions about how it should be taught. Contact: | |||
| Episode 66 - Could a club system work in Canada? | 03 Mar 2022 | 00:43:20 | |
Canadian minor hockey players mostly play within their municipalities or regions. It's only at the highest competitive levels where there is more freedom to move. However, each playing area or association is largely a collection of teams governed by a board. With few exceptions, teams and coaches are on their own with respect to development, training, and direction. In Europe, for instance, clubs have more clearly defined top-down training and guidance with coaching experts and mentors directing every team. Should such an approach happen in Canada? Contact: | |||
| Episode 101 - Hockey Coaching Terminology 101 | 06 Apr 2024 | 01:25:46 | |
Modern coaching approaches include a litany of expressions, phrases, words and acronyms that are sometimes baffling in what they mean. In this episode, Richard and Dean delve into some of the more common ones and relate them to coaches need to understand about them and how to apply them in minor hockey. Contact: | |||
| Episode 65 - What a master soccer and hockey coach sees | 23 Feb 2022 | 00:49:44 | |
John Castrillon's father brought his family from Colombia to Montreal in the 1970s. There, young John, already a fine soccer player, fell in love with hockey (and the story of Maurice Richard whom he once met) after watching it on TV. He taught himself how to skate on outdoor rinks then, at age 14, began to play hockey. Eventually, he was good enough to make a midget team and then a junior squad. He maintained his soccer skills and still plays at a high level. Today, John is a sought-after coach developer in the two sports, having worked with elite teams in both as a coach, evaluator and keen observer of practice approaches and training methods. In this episode, he shares his thoughts on the similarities between the sports' coaching methods and what minor hockey coaches need to do better. Contact: | |||
| Episode 64 - Concepts: What a concept! | 16 Feb 2022 | 00:54:01 | |
The new coach of the Montreal Canadiens, Martin St. Louis, stated in his initial press conference that he was about teaching concepts, not systems. Whether or not that works remains to be seen. However, the idea of presenting concepts to players directly impacts minor hockey in various ways. In Episode 38, host Richard Bercuson and his guest, Dean Holden, examined the teaching of principles of play vs. systems. Now, with St. Louis' statement as a backdrop, how do concepts come into play for coaches of kids? Contact: | |||
| Episode 63 - The 90% Factor | 07 Feb 2022 | 00:53:58 | |
For any coach, there should be a tacit understanding of the need to make practices as game-like as possible. The one possible exception might be the teaching of raw skills. That aside, in order to best teach the game, how many players should be involved in an activity, be it drill or small area game? Shouldn't that number replicate what happens in a game? What is that number? In 2009, Slovakian coach Igor Andrejkovic published a scientific paper based on his breaking down 60 game videos of a U18 team. His conclusions about how many players are actively involved in hockey events or plays should directly impact how we teach in practice. Listeners wishing to read his original paper should email host Richard Bercuson at richard(at)grassrootsminorhockey.com Contact: | |||
| Episode 62 - How to create a positive culture | 31 Jan 2022 | 00:36:12 | |
Jim Mercer and Vic Chiasson return from Episode 61 ("Culture is everything") to discuss the program they've created called "Creating a high performance environment." It includes a document participants work with in a seminar format. With a website and other social media connections on the horizon, the program is just under way after having been piloted last November with the Whitby Girls Hockey Association. Those wishing to contact Jim or Vic should email podcast host Richard: richard (at)grassrootsminorhockey.com Contact: | |||
| Episode 61 - "Culture is everything" | 24 Jan 2022 | 00:46:17 | |
The episode begins with an overview of a research report which showed how a group of Canadian college coaches completely changed their teams' culture without ever dealing with tactics or strategies. Can this be done in minor hockey? Guests Vic Chiasson and Jim Mercer have about 75 years of coaching and teaching experience between them. They are hot on the heels of defining culture in sport, explaining its importance, and determining what organizations or teams can do to improve it. Contact: | |||
| Episode 60 - The Room | 17 Jan 2022 | 00:40:37 | |
This one begins with the story of the dressing room eavesdropper before a championship game. Then, host Richard Bercuson reveals three short tales of his own dressing room talks that didn't go well. Otherwise though, this episode delves into what coaches should or should not be saying in minor hockey dressing rooms, let alone how they say it. And the guest host does an even deeper dive into a topic that is rarely examined. Contact: | |||
| Episode 59 - The Addiction to Drills | 10 Jan 2022 | 00:57:57 | |
We are inundated with drills from a host of sources. Leagues host drill exchanges. Coaches can access software that will provide them with more drills of every possible type than they will ever need. As tools, or learning opportunities, drills can serve a purpose. More importantly, however, is that using drills may be stultifying coaching creativity and not providing our young players with the kind of direction they should have. Then, there's the infernal whistle. In this episode, Richard and his guest host break this down and identify alternatives. Contact: | |||
| Episode 58 - Where have you been? | 04 Jan 2022 | 00:12:02 | |
After a few months of reflection and other distractions, host Richard Bercuson returns with a list of new topics he will address in future shows, along with a guest host. The minor hockey addiction, development planning, triages, how to teach space, what is said in a room and many more are on the agenda. A new ride is about to begin on the only podcast about minor hockey. Contact: | |||
| Episode 57: Final words for the season | 01 Jun 2021 | 00:02:36 | |
This shorty is the last podcast for the long, Covid-laden season. A few words from the host and then we'll be back in August with more great interviews and discussions about the minor hockey world. Till then... Contact: | |||