Youth sports coaching 101 aka time for a new blog!

Hockey season has just completed, and spring football is not yet upon us. As the mite coaches convene to perform post-mortems on what went well and didn't go so well during the past season, I thought it would be a good idea to start documenting youth coaching best practices - and what not to do - I've learned over the years. Here's my coaching checklist that I focus on each season...I'll dive into each of these over the coming weeks and months. As I do, I'll share my keys to how I've been able to combine fun, winning, and player development to create happy parents and players.

1. Set parent expectations
2. Set player expectations
3. Consistent structure
4. Keep it simple
5. High expectations
6. Realistic expectations
7. Fair, firm feedback
8. Groom leaders
9. Separate player development from competition
10. Experiment. More things won't work than will work.
11. Tailor for the many, not the few