U11 A, Rep Teams, 2022-23, U10-11 (Milton Minor Hockey)

Our hockey family continues to find ways to grow both on and off the ice. This weeks experience included a Mississauga Steelheads game, and a pre-game locker room tour. Our team manager also made arrangements for backstage access, and a mini game between the 1-2 period! A great day had by all!

Last weekend, the U11-A team represented Milton at the Kitchner Oktoberfest Tournament. We grew significantly as a team both on and off the ice; while making special memories each family can share for years to come. This time around, our special memory event was attending a Kitchener Rangers game, with backstage access, and a mini game between the 2-3 period!

We have been working with the U11-A team on reducing pregame anxiety. One of the most effective tools we have provided the players is visualizing the first few moves of a game. If we are honest with each other, we can use tools to reduce these feelings but cannot eliminate them -- and that is totally normal. What we haven't talked a lot about is not allowing the anxiety to creep back in during a game. Brenley Shapiro does a great job in this short clip of helping players and parents understand what not to do during a game; have a watch: Click Here

We talk to the U11-A team in practice about reaction time. We apply this to every aspect of our game – passing, dekeing, shooting, one-timers and goaltending. Elite NHL goalies, when the puck is 100ft away and traveling at 90-100mph require a reaction time of less than half a second to have a chance to make the save. At this age, science supports a goalie reaction time of approximately two seconds to achieve the same success. This is the goal we challenge our players to achieve. To gauge how quickly you currently make decisions, here is a fun tool (see if you can beat my 0.224 average): ...

We have a strong organization in Milton, full of dedicated parents, coaches and players. As a parent and coach, I often reflect on how to support my player and team in Game Day Preparation -- we all know how nervous we get when the puck drops! Here is a quick read that supports some great fundamentals: Game Day Preparation