"The bottom line is that OHA needs to raise their standards. It used to be a good place to send your son. It was small and personal. Everything has changed. They have turned into a money making machine. Plus Mr. Kerr should not be coaching his kids, nephews and friends. They have enough coaches to make that happen yet Kerr places himself each year in position to coach his own kids. It's never a good idea to have these guys coach their own. It's not good for the parent coach and it is almost always terrible for the kid. There are a few exceptions but Kerr has a big reputation of being very harsh on his kids and berating them in front of their teammates which is not good for team morale."
Monday, April 13, 2009
OKANAGAN HOCKEY ACADEMY DADDY BRAND HOCKEY
"The bottom line is that OHA needs to raise their standards. It used to be a good place to send your son. It was small and personal. Everything has changed. They have turned into a money making machine. Plus Mr. Kerr should not be coaching his kids, nephews and friends. They have enough coaches to make that happen yet Kerr places himself each year in position to coach his own kids. It's never a good idea to have these guys coach their own. It's not good for the parent coach and it is almost always terrible for the kid. There are a few exceptions but Kerr has a big reputation of being very harsh on his kids and berating them in front of their teammates which is not good for team morale."
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
5 comments:
parents should not coach their kids period. Most of the time people focus on the favouritism issue but you touched on another issue of mistreatment in front of peers. I have witnessed Alan asking one of his boys he was displeased with after a game if he remembered to bring his purse. He made this hurtful remark in front of players and parents.
A parent can develop his own children but at what cost to the child and his team?
I agree that parents especially at the higher levels should not be coaching or too overbearing in their players development. Put them in a top program and let them develop. Finding the right program is what is really key. OHA does a fair job regarding the training, yet overall are poor in the overall development of high quality players. This is why most all of the better players either don't come there or leave after a year.
As to the purse comment, I don't think that is a big deal. Hockey coaches have to be tough and often times are quite harsh with the players. They are used to it and the real players expect it. Some of the best coaches often times are the most harsh. This isn't a game for a "Dr. Phil" feel good mentality. Top players have an adult mentality even at 14.
I coached my son when he was young which was fine at that age. I played NCAA Division I hockey and was qualified, yet when he began to play at the AAA level I turned it over to capable hands outside the family. A top player doesn't need a lot of advice and direction from his parents regarding his play all the way to the NHL. If they have what it takes they know what to do to get there. They primary thing they need is a lot of encouragement towards being a hard working and persevering player and person. It's never good to be intimately involved in every shift they play even if you are qualifed. They need some room.
I often wondered how Alan Kerr managed to get himself in position to coach his son in Port Alberni and now the same in Penticton. This situation is obviously a cancer in their program. We will not consider sending our son to play in this type of situation. It's hard to find a program without parental control and favoritism but we will take our chances here in the US. The tuition is obscene at OHA. What a joke. I have also followed their records and the teams perform very poorly.
The player doesn't need the added pressure of trying to live up to the dad's expectations shift to shift even if the dad is qualified. Coaching your own son at a high level is simply a formula for disaster. A lot of it with Alan is simply ego driven in that no one could coach them like him according to his way of thinking.
Parent's as a whole are often times way too involved in the development of their player. If a player really wants to be a top player and of course has the talent, the best thing parents can do is get them in a top program with a coach that really wants to advance the players. These programs are few and far between. The hit rate for this type of situation is about 1 in 25. There are a lot more organizations that will tell you whatever you want to hear, but few with character to live up to their word. OHA is one of the 24 of the 25 who does not live up to its word and does a poor job of advancing players. The worst part is there have been times where good players should have been advanced and OHA simply "sat on their hands" in getting the advanced.
Post a Comment