| Essays |
6/12/2006
What is Fun?
What is Fun?
by Anonymous
What is “FUN”?
One of the first hockey articles I read was John Hannon’s “Fun vs. Satisfaction”. Having played hockey for 30 years and only coaching
for two years, I was amazed at the emotion triggered by the essay. As many of us realize, we as parents battle the never ending conflict
between politically correct and the real world. Any parent who played sports as a child can surely relate to the definitions of satisfaction
as laid out by John Hannon. Those definitions, specific to hockey, can easily be replaced by any concept in team sport. Any parent will
surely realize it is satisfaction, not fun, that keeps our kids playing hockey, or any sport for that matter.
Having been a coach now for three years and having developed a renewed passion for the game, I wonder why every time I am at the
rink I hear the question “Did you have fun?” I would like to ask them “what exactly is ‘fun’?” Fun is going to the playground to play on the
swings, to run around with friends. Fun is playing street hockey with the neighborhood kids, picking new teams after every game,
changing the rules after each game based on who was playing that day and rushing home, eating dinner as fast as you can, to be the
first one back in the street ready for the next game. Fun is playing hide and go seek, tag and dodge ball. Fun has no structure, no
environment and no rules. Fun has no consequence and no definable results.
So how is this different than satisfaction? It is impossible to derive satisfaction from something that is solely ‘fun’. Satisfaction can
only be derived from something with structure, with rules, with consequences, with expectations and with definable results. Satisfaction
is derived from accomplishment and accomplishment is defined by results. Organized sports provides the structure to allow your child
to experience satisfaction. This is why, for many reasons, we have heard that sports is a ”microcosm of life” We hope the satisfaction
they get from sports will lead them to strive for satisfaction in all aspects of their lives, whether it is sports or academics. It is the desire
for satisfaction that we hope will drive them to be the best person they can be and the person we as parents hope they would be since
the day they were born.
So why is it that I always hear this question “Did you have fun?”. Because it is the modern politically correct way of accepting
mediocrity. Because it is a parent’s way of admitting and accepting their child is mediocre. It is a parent’s way of protecting their child
from realizing themselves that they are mediocre. It is a parent’s way of diverting their own disappointment in their child, instead of
accepting their child’s ability and helping them to improve. It is unfortunately and probably inadvertently the way parents teach their child
that life has no rules and has no consequence.
Then again, maybe I have read too much into a simple question. Maybe it’s just convenient. Could you imagine the look on your kids
face if you asked “Are you satisfied?” My own son came into the locker room after he had a great practice in which he worked very hard
and was doing things he had never done before. I could only ask “Did you have fun?” In what turned out to be a great father-son moment
he answered “YAHHH!!!!!!!” My son understood the real meaning of my question. He knew his accomplishment when he left the ice, and
he knew I noticed his accomplishment. Did he have “fun”? I am not sure. But I guarantee he felt the satisfaction referred to by John
Hannon. So the next time you ask your child “Did you have fun?” ask yourself what you mean by “fun” and what does your child think
when you say “fun”.
So in this politically correct society that has become so accepting of mediocrity in the name of “fun”, I say “ Encourage your child to
practice, encourage your child to get better, don’t be ashamed if your child is “good” and certainly do not be ashamed if your child is not
“good”. To reference another concept from John Hannon, if we keep pushing everyone up the ladder instead of pulling down the ones at
the top, we will all be better off.
5/29/2006
Why are the 98s 1-2 years Behind the Canadians Already?
Why are the 98s 1-2 years behind the Canadians already?
by John Hannon
We took some of the top 98s and 99s in the area to the Brantford Tournament in mid May. After watching mostly Pro, College, and
Junior hockey over last winter, coaching eight games and watching another six in Brantford gave me a chance to observe and reflect on
player development at the youngest ages.
As we saw with a trip to the Midwest Tournament with the 96s two years ago, at the youngest ages, the Canadians are 1-2 years ahead
of the WNY kids already.
Why? There are bunch of issues. We can help fix some of them, but others are far beyond our control (and, of course, it is certainly not
the kids fault at this age)..
We have been working on these issues since the beginning of the Prospects program. If they are not addressed, the gap will only
widen. As I see it, here are the main ones:
1. They make a bigger time and financial investment. I am not necessarily advocating this, but the parents of some of their 6-7-8 year
olds spend up to $10,000 a year on hockey development. When you put a team of these guys together - watch out!
2. Almost all of the winter and summer teams have 3-4 qualified coaches on the bench. Their teaching is strong and fairly standardized,
so putting different kids together in the summer is easy. Our players come from all sorts of teams with all sorts of coaches.
3. They take hockey more seriously, not missing hockey for baseball, soccer, musicals, Sabres games on TV, etc.
4. They play considerably tougher and stronger - winning more one-on-one races and battles. We tend to play timid.
5. They play 40-50 games a year that feel like life or death battles to the kids. They get very hardened. Here, there are too many
meaningless games.
6. They don't watch the game. Instead, they pursue the puck with abandon. We tend to pull up and watch.
7. The rules we play by (no physical play until pee-wees, no slapshots, no retaliation) weaken our kids and put them at a disadvantage.
8. They play a team game, moving the puck, rather than the end-to-end individual rushes we condone. Team play always trumps
individuality.
9. They have been taught the subtleties of the game (like board passes and space passes) early and repeatedly. We don't have enough
knowledgeable people coaching to transfer this knowledge.
10. They play with a full bench. Everyone must give it their all, or there is someone there to take their ice time --- or their spot. Our stars
can get away with all kinds of things --- on and off the ice.
The tournaments we are taking the kids to serve as a mirror. They facilitate introspection. Competing is an accomplishment. Winning
is a bonus. Whether we get thumped, compete, or win, we will not abandon our mission, which is to teach and advance the best and
hardest working players from Western New York. Many years ago we assembled all-star teams from across the US ands Canada. We
could do this again in an hour on the phone. Although we would win more, that is not our interest or our calling.
To keep the gap between Buffalo kids and the Canadians from widening, we must combat the problems outlined above. The Prospects
main themes have been developed and implemented to turn the tide.
However, to use a football analogy, we have found that we can advance a Prospects player or team from the 20 to the 40 yard line over
the course of a summer. We hope to pick them up the next year at least at the 40 or 45. Unfortunately, we have found in many cases
that when we pick them up again the following spring they are not at the 40, 45, or 50, but instead they have slid back to the 35 or 30.
Then, we have to start all over again. This has been an unexpected, yet consistently disappointing, finding over the eight years of the
program.
If you have questions, reasons, or solutions pertaining to why the kids are 1-2, or more, years behind, I'd love to hear your thoughts.
PS. For those of you who are coaches, you may also be interested in one thing I have told parents over my 30 years of coaching. That
is, "Rather than focusing on other players, please spend your time and energy worrying about making your child better (and there's
plenty to get done there). If every parent does this, each player will improve - thus improving the team as a whole."
5/1/2006
Should We Have Chosen Chess Instead?
Should We Have Chosen Chess Instead?
by John Hannon
After having been at the Pepsi Center for 19 of the first 21 days of the Prospects program, being 9,500 miles away from the rink for a
week has allowed me to step back and give more thought to a question that rattles around my brain often, “Why do we put so much time,
effort, and money into our children’s youth sports?”
I have to admit, I am sometimes torn up over pouring so much into what sometimes seems like an addiction. With the amount of
money we’ve spent on our three sons over the last 10 years, we could have bought and paid for a condo in Florida or a stable of 5-6 cars
and boats. Speaking of boats, when we have to go without this or that, sometimes it seems like we missed the boat.
So, why have we chosen to invest so much of our time and our money in our kid’s sports?
Some would say you and I do it because it is an investment that will pay off in a college scholarship. If that were the case, the odds and
the payback probably aren’t worth it. If we’d saved and invested the same amount of money instead of handing it over at a rink, hotel, or
sporting goods store somewhere, college might already be bought and paid for.
There must be reasons, other than we’re all crazy. I’m not sure if you’ve sorted out these reasons that your family pursues youth sports
with the passion you do, but after some careful thought, I’ve settled on our three: Fitness, Friends, and Fullness.
To start, youth sports, when pursued toward achieving excellence, require exhausting physical dedication and precise execution. Mind
you, there is a difference between one of our son’s baseball coaches who said, “It’s time for some conditioning. Let’s run around the
bases once and we’re done,” and disciplined hard work that pushes you to your physical limits and makes every muscle ache. First
and foremost, youth sports are about physical fitness, the enemy of inertia.
Next, youth sports necessitate and foster the making of good friends. Meals, sleepovers, travels, pre-game speeches, and time in the
locker room all serve to strengthen the bonds of friendship. Once the contest starts, passing to each other, protecting each other, and
pulling for each other bind athletes in a unique way. When the game is over, winning or losing generates emotions and actions that
shape the way a young person will react to similar situations numerous times over that person’s life.
Finally, youth sports provide a bigger, crazier arena for kids to experience the fullness of life. You make a team or you don’t. Things are
fair or they are unfair. You win or you lose. You score the winner or you are the goat. You get the spotlight or you toil away unnoticed.
Fullness is also found in the natural deepening of the parent/child relationship that slowly bakes during the thousands of hours spent
together over the career of an athlete. You travel to & from practice and games. You kill time together between games. You stay
overnight together. Indeed, if you are like us, we see more of our kids under these circumstances than we do for weeks on end co-
existing under the same roof.
Who knows, maybe all this good could be accomplished by joining a chess club for $100 or $200 a year. I don’t think so, and I know I
don’t have any regrets about not choosing that route. I can’t quite figure out how fitness, friends, and fullness could be achieved through
chess or other many other pursuits. When I calculate the costs and benefits, something deep down tells me that our decision to invest
our time, our money, and our children’s’ time in youth sports makes us all winners in the bigger game of life.
What is Fun?
What is Fun?
by Anonymous
What is “FUN”?
One of the first hockey articles I read was John Hannon’s “Fun vs. Satisfaction”. Having played hockey for 30 years and only coaching
for two years, I was amazed at the emotion triggered by the essay. As many of us realize, we as parents battle the never ending conflict
between politically correct and the real world. Any parent who played sports as a child can surely relate to the definitions of satisfaction
as laid out by John Hannon. Those definitions, specific to hockey, can easily be replaced by any concept in team sport. Any parent will
surely realize it is satisfaction, not fun, that keeps our kids playing hockey, or any sport for that matter.
Having been a coach now for three years and having developed a renewed passion for the game, I wonder why every time I am at the
rink I hear the question “Did you have fun?” I would like to ask them “what exactly is ‘fun’?” Fun is going to the playground to play on the
swings, to run around with friends. Fun is playing street hockey with the neighborhood kids, picking new teams after every game,
changing the rules after each game based on who was playing that day and rushing home, eating dinner as fast as you can, to be the
first one back in the street ready for the next game. Fun is playing hide and go seek, tag and dodge ball. Fun has no structure, no
environment and no rules. Fun has no consequence and no definable results.
So how is this different than satisfaction? It is impossible to derive satisfaction from something that is solely ‘fun’. Satisfaction can
only be derived from something with structure, with rules, with consequences, with expectations and with definable results. Satisfaction
is derived from accomplishment and accomplishment is defined by results. Organized sports provides the structure to allow your child
to experience satisfaction. This is why, for many reasons, we have heard that sports is a ”microcosm of life” We hope the satisfaction
they get from sports will lead them to strive for satisfaction in all aspects of their lives, whether it is sports or academics. It is the desire
for satisfaction that we hope will drive them to be the best person they can be and the person we as parents hope they would be since
the day they were born.
So why is it that I always hear this question “Did you have fun?”. Because it is the modern politically correct way of accepting
mediocrity. Because it is a parent’s way of admitting and accepting their child is mediocre. It is a parent’s way of protecting their child
from realizing themselves that they are mediocre. It is a parent’s way of diverting their own disappointment in their child, instead of
accepting their child’s ability and helping them to improve. It is unfortunately and probably inadvertently the way parents teach their child
that life has no rules and has no consequence.
Then again, maybe I have read too much into a simple question. Maybe it’s just convenient. Could you imagine the look on your kids
face if you asked “Are you satisfied?” My own son came into the locker room after he had a great practice in which he worked very hard
and was doing things he had never done before. I could only ask “Did you have fun?” In what turned out to be a great father-son moment
he answered “YAHHH!!!!!!!” My son understood the real meaning of my question. He knew his accomplishment when he left the ice, and
he knew I noticed his accomplishment. Did he have “fun”? I am not sure. But I guarantee he felt the satisfaction referred to by John
Hannon. So the next time you ask your child “Did you have fun?” ask yourself what you mean by “fun” and what does your child think
when you say “fun”.
So in this politically correct society that has become so accepting of mediocrity in the name of “fun”, I say “ Encourage your child to
practice, encourage your child to get better, don’t be ashamed if your child is “good” and certainly do not be ashamed if your child is not
“good”. To reference another concept from John Hannon, if we keep pushing everyone up the ladder instead of pulling down the ones at
the top, we will all be better off.
5/29/2006
Why are the 98s 1-2 years Behind the Canadians Already?
Why are the 98s 1-2 years behind the Canadians already?
by John Hannon
We took some of the top 98s and 99s in the area to the Brantford Tournament in mid May. After watching mostly Pro, College, and
Junior hockey over last winter, coaching eight games and watching another six in Brantford gave me a chance to observe and reflect on
player development at the youngest ages.
As we saw with a trip to the Midwest Tournament with the 96s two years ago, at the youngest ages, the Canadians are 1-2 years ahead
of the WNY kids already.
Why? There are bunch of issues. We can help fix some of them, but others are far beyond our control (and, of course, it is certainly not
the kids fault at this age)..
We have been working on these issues since the beginning of the Prospects program. If they are not addressed, the gap will only
widen. As I see it, here are the main ones:
1. They make a bigger time and financial investment. I am not necessarily advocating this, but the parents of some of their 6-7-8 year
olds spend up to $10,000 a year on hockey development. When you put a team of these guys together - watch out!
2. Almost all of the winter and summer teams have 3-4 qualified coaches on the bench. Their teaching is strong and fairly standardized,
so putting different kids together in the summer is easy. Our players come from all sorts of teams with all sorts of coaches.
3. They take hockey more seriously, not missing hockey for baseball, soccer, musicals, Sabres games on TV, etc.
4. They play considerably tougher and stronger - winning more one-on-one races and battles. We tend to play timid.
5. They play 40-50 games a year that feel like life or death battles to the kids. They get very hardened. Here, there are too many
meaningless games.
6. They don't watch the game. Instead, they pursue the puck with abandon. We tend to pull up and watch.
7. The rules we play by (no physical play until pee-wees, no slapshots, no retaliation) weaken our kids and put them at a disadvantage.
8. They play a team game, moving the puck, rather than the end-to-end individual rushes we condone. Team play always trumps
individuality.
9. They have been taught the subtleties of the game (like board passes and space passes) early and repeatedly. We don't have enough
knowledgeable people coaching to transfer this knowledge.
10. They play with a full bench. Everyone must give it their all, or there is someone there to take their ice time --- or their spot. Our stars
can get away with all kinds of things --- on and off the ice.
The tournaments we are taking the kids to serve as a mirror. They facilitate introspection. Competing is an accomplishment. Winning
is a bonus. Whether we get thumped, compete, or win, we will not abandon our mission, which is to teach and advance the best and
hardest working players from Western New York. Many years ago we assembled all-star teams from across the US ands Canada. We
could do this again in an hour on the phone. Although we would win more, that is not our interest or our calling.
To keep the gap between Buffalo kids and the Canadians from widening, we must combat the problems outlined above. The Prospects
main themes have been developed and implemented to turn the tide.
However, to use a football analogy, we have found that we can advance a Prospects player or team from the 20 to the 40 yard line over
the course of a summer. We hope to pick them up the next year at least at the 40 or 45. Unfortunately, we have found in many cases
that when we pick them up again the following spring they are not at the 40, 45, or 50, but instead they have slid back to the 35 or 30.
Then, we have to start all over again. This has been an unexpected, yet consistently disappointing, finding over the eight years of the
program.
If you have questions, reasons, or solutions pertaining to why the kids are 1-2, or more, years behind, I'd love to hear your thoughts.
PS. For those of you who are coaches, you may also be interested in one thing I have told parents over my 30 years of coaching. That
is, "Rather than focusing on other players, please spend your time and energy worrying about making your child better (and there's
plenty to get done there). If every parent does this, each player will improve - thus improving the team as a whole."
5/1/2006
Should We Have Chosen Chess Instead?
Should We Have Chosen Chess Instead?
by John Hannon
After having been at the Pepsi Center for 19 of the first 21 days of the Prospects program, being 9,500 miles away from the rink for a
week has allowed me to step back and give more thought to a question that rattles around my brain often, “Why do we put so much time,
effort, and money into our children’s youth sports?”
I have to admit, I am sometimes torn up over pouring so much into what sometimes seems like an addiction. With the amount of
money we’ve spent on our three sons over the last 10 years, we could have bought and paid for a condo in Florida or a stable of 5-6 cars
and boats. Speaking of boats, when we have to go without this or that, sometimes it seems like we missed the boat.
So, why have we chosen to invest so much of our time and our money in our kid’s sports?
Some would say you and I do it because it is an investment that will pay off in a college scholarship. If that were the case, the odds and
the payback probably aren’t worth it. If we’d saved and invested the same amount of money instead of handing it over at a rink, hotel, or
sporting goods store somewhere, college might already be bought and paid for.
There must be reasons, other than we’re all crazy. I’m not sure if you’ve sorted out these reasons that your family pursues youth sports
with the passion you do, but after some careful thought, I’ve settled on our three: Fitness, Friends, and Fullness.
To start, youth sports, when pursued toward achieving excellence, require exhausting physical dedication and precise execution. Mind
you, there is a difference between one of our son’s baseball coaches who said, “It’s time for some conditioning. Let’s run around the
bases once and we’re done,” and disciplined hard work that pushes you to your physical limits and makes every muscle ache. First
and foremost, youth sports are about physical fitness, the enemy of inertia.
Next, youth sports necessitate and foster the making of good friends. Meals, sleepovers, travels, pre-game speeches, and time in the
locker room all serve to strengthen the bonds of friendship. Once the contest starts, passing to each other, protecting each other, and
pulling for each other bind athletes in a unique way. When the game is over, winning or losing generates emotions and actions that
shape the way a young person will react to similar situations numerous times over that person’s life.
Finally, youth sports provide a bigger, crazier arena for kids to experience the fullness of life. You make a team or you don’t. Things are
fair or they are unfair. You win or you lose. You score the winner or you are the goat. You get the spotlight or you toil away unnoticed.
Fullness is also found in the natural deepening of the parent/child relationship that slowly bakes during the thousands of hours spent
together over the career of an athlete. You travel to & from practice and games. You kill time together between games. You stay
overnight together. Indeed, if you are like us, we see more of our kids under these circumstances than we do for weeks on end co-
existing under the same roof.
Who knows, maybe all this good could be accomplished by joining a chess club for $100 or $200 a year. I don’t think so, and I know I
don’t have any regrets about not choosing that route. I can’t quite figure out how fitness, friends, and fullness could be achieved through
chess or other many other pursuits. When I calculate the costs and benefits, something deep down tells me that our decision to invest
our time, our money, and our children’s’ time in youth sports makes us all winners in the bigger game of life.