IN THIS ISSUE

TRENDING: Right-Sized Youth Sports

Pepsi Ice Center Hosts ADM Station-Based Practice

Aspen Institute Roundtable Praises Multi-Sport Play

Expectations: The Four-Way Intersection

Brewins Thriving, Growing in Mass.

Video: U.S. Soccer Player Development Initiatives

Video: Hide & Seek

Just for Coaches: On- and Off-Ice Practice Plans

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Volume 2 Issue 10
September 24, 2015
TRENDING: RIGHT-SIZED YOUTH SPORTS
By USA Hockey ~  More than 40,000 spectators, plus a national television audience, watched the Little League World Series on a glorious afternoon in Pennsylvania. There were smiles, cheers, entertainment and the noticeable absence of demand for those 12- and 13-year-olds to pitch from 60 feet, six inches or run 90 feet between the bases like their professional baseball heroes.

Right-sized baseball and softball fields, along with age-appropriate rule modifications, have been accepted wisdom in youth baseball for more than 50 years.

Coincidentally, while Little League was paring to its finalists, U.S. Soccer  announced a nationwide initiative to improve youth skill development. The centerpiece was a shift to small-sided game formats and field sizes to be phased in across the country by August 2017. As part of the new plan, American soccer at U6, U7 and U8 will be played 4v4 on a pitch approximately one-eighth the size of an adult soccer field. Nine- and 10-year-olds will play 7v7 on a one-quarter-scale pitch. Not until age 13 will players begin competing 11v11 on a regulation adult-sized pitch. 

"Our number one goal is to improve our players down the road, and these initiatives will help us do that," said Tab Ramos, U.S. Soccer's youth technical director. "In general, we would like for players to be able to process information faster, and when they are in this (new) environment, they are going to learn to do that. Fast forward 10 years, and there are thousands of game situations added to a player's development."  READ MORE>>
ILLINOIS ADM NEWS
PEPSI ICE CENTER PLAYS HOST TO SUCCESSFUL 8 & UNDER ADM STATION-BASED PRACTICE
Players, coaches and parents from all over the Central Illinois region converged on the Pepsi Ice Center in Bloomington, Illinois, on Friday, July 24. Forty-plus skaters from Bloomington, Springfield, Peoria, Pekin and Champaign took advantage of an 8 & under American Development Model practice led by Illinois State University Head Coach. Michael Hernbrott, as well as sixteen area coaches volunteering their time. There were six stations being run at once with no more than five skaters per station with at least two coaches each. All of the players received replica USA Hockey practice jerseys.  "It was great to see big smiling faces on the kids as well as the coaches as they stepped off of the ice, and this was after a sixty minute session where 95% of it the kids were moving and working on just about every hockey skill there is," said Joe Olson, Illinois Hockey Hall of Fame member and Hockey Director for the Pepsi Ice Center in Bloomington. READ MORE>>
USA HOCKEY ADM NEWS
ASPEN INSTITUTE ROUNDTABLE PRAISES MULTI-SPORT PLAY
By USA Hockey ~ As the world's greatest tennis players dueled at the U.S. Open, Martin Blackman had a message for the next generation:  "In the future, you're not going to be able to be a single-sport athlete and compete at the top level. The athleticism required is going through the roof and there's no way the necessary speed, agility and explosiveness can be developed through tennis alone."

The United States Tennis Association's player development expert was one of many who convened yesterday for an Aspen Institute Project Play roundtable at Arthur Ashe Stadium to discuss the importance of multi-sport participation. USA Hockey's Ken Martel  and New York Rangers captain Ryan McDonagh were also there, as were representatives from a large cross-section of American sports including Major League Baseball, U.S. Soccer, ESPN, NBC Sports and the U.S. Olympic Committee. READ MORE>>
ADM ACROSS AMERICA

EXPECTATIONS: THE FOUR-WAY INTERSECTION IN YOUTH SPORTS
BREWINS THRIVING,
GROWING IN MASSACHUSETTS
By Michael Rand, Special to USA Hockey ~  Communication, the expression goes, is a two-way street. In youth hockey associations, though, communication is the key to navigating a complicated four-way intersection between individual players, parents, coaches and the team as a whole. 

Each entity has a set of ideal expectations for the others - best illustrated by a matrix showing the flow of expectations from group to group (see image at the end of this story). While some might seem like common sense, associations are diverse groups filled with kids and adults of varying backgrounds.  READ MORE>>
By Mike Scandura, Special to USA Hockey ~  In recent years, the Brewins Youth Hockey Association (BYHA) has received the following accolades:
  • 2012-13 MA Youth Hockey Program of the Year 
  • 2011-12 Yankee Conference Program of the Year
  • 2008-09 South Shore Conference Program of the Year
Coaching Coordinator Chris Lavoie is quick to note the reasons why this association, based in Bridgewater, is held in such high esteem.   READ MORE>>
ADM MULTIMEDIA

HIDE & SEEK

U.S. SOCCER PLAYER DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVES
We have all been there. We watch our child play a hockey game and we know he or she can play better. The car ride home becomes a lecture about how they played. Do we correct their hide and seek abilities?
U.S. Soccer will standardize small-sided game participation and field size based on player age groups, while also aligning birth-year registration calendars with the start of the calendar year and run from January to December. The coaching initiatives, which will be mandated by August of 2017, are focused on advancing youth players' individual skill and intelligence, and providing players with the best opportunity to improve.
JUST FOR COACHES

PRACTICE PLANS FOR ON-ICE

PRACTICE PLANS FOR DRYLAND

Great drill for goalies and players.

Off-Ice Stick Handling - Push Pull Drill

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