As parents, we have heard it all from our
kid’s coaches/trainers.
“Your son did fantastic today.”
“I haven’t seen her skate so well.”
“She has what it takes.”
“He snipes corners like Crosby.”
“What an amazing talent!”
“Dangles like Ovechkin.”
“He is going all the way!”
‘He’s the next Brodeur!” …and so on.
All truths from the heart- and meant to
encourage - but perhaps a little off the
mark from reality.
Then parents watch their children play. And
although parents, like most of us, may be
too critical from time to time, they have
the right to assess and reassess as they,
too, have dreams for their child’s future.
AND they are paying you, as their child’s
coach/trainer, to help achieve some of those
dreams! Naturally, parents will focus on
what the coaches confided in them that their
kids did well, sometimes to be disappointed
in their child’s performance – and perhaps
with good cause.
“Was what the coach said just hype to make
my kid feel better?’
“Do the coaches/trainers really know what
they are talking about?”
“Was the coach just “selling me” to keep me
coming back?”
These are some of the real time questions
that parents ask themselves – especially IF
they do not see what they are expecting to
see when they see their kids playing. As a
coach/trainer, this is definitely NOT what
you want them to be obsessing over.
These questions, and in fact, the parent’s
feelings, can never truly be known to you as
a trainer – unless they are very upset.
Again, this is not a position a
coach/trainer wants to ever be in. That is
not a meeting you want to have!
BUT imagine if you could provide parents
with a partisan report, one that is
generated by a computer – and is based on
real time captured by photo cells. Then
perhaps parents can be educated to a point
that they will know, and with the coach’s
help – to understand, these “stats.”
Hopefully then, these parents will speak
with their wallets by continually coming
back for additional training. After all, as
a facility owner/trainer,
customer
life time value is what you are
after. This includes skate sharpening, food
& beverages, supplies AND training. There is
no better way than to achieve this than by
providing printouts of a skater’s actual
ramp times, or their actual shooting
accuracy percentages, etc. Doing so gives
basis to your comments to parents, and
presents you as the consummate professional
– as you relay and assess what is captured
by computer.
Like the Olympics, 1000th’s of a
second can make the difference. Incremental
movements, as small as they may be, are
encouraging for any student – and perhaps
justice for the expense parents put out year
round.
As a coach, you know you can’t improve what
you can’t measure. That is what
The Barracks
is all about. Providing proof-positive, all
the time, at all levels, at each station.
