Green Bay Area Youth Hockey Association

Cunningham Named Coordinator of USA Hockey's Coaching Education Program



To Begin Duties at USA Hockey in October



COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - Matt Cunningham, who has experience coaching at the youth, high school, adult and collegiate levels, has been named coordinator of the coaching education program for USA Hockey, it was announced today.



In his new position, Cunningham will assist in creating new coaching education curriculum and programs in concert with USA Hockey's new American Development Model.



"We're excited to welcome Matt to USA Hockey," said Mark Tabrum, director of coaching education at USA Hockey. "His varied experience will be a valuable asset as we advance our coaching education program."



In 2008-09, Cunningham served as an assistant coach for both Brophy Prep (Ariz.) High School and the Union (Ariz.) Polar Bears U18 AA teams. The USA Hockey Level 4 certified coach was also an instructor and evaluator at several player development camps, including the Arizona Amateur Hockey Association Player Development Camp and the Elite Edge Hockey Showcase in Nashville, Tenn.



Cunningham spent the 2006-07 campaign as a volunteer assistant coach with the Western Collegiate Hockey Association's Colorado College men's ice hockey team. He also served as an assistant coach for Mankato (Minn.) West High School in 2003-04.



Cunningham was the Central Hockey League's manager of hockey operations from June 2007-September 2008. He was a member of the league's competition and bargaining committees, worked with league counsel to ensure all players had proper work authorization, and evaluated and supervised league officials.



Prior to working at the CHL, Cunningham served as interim operations specialist and programs coordinator at the United States Olympic Committee from October 2005-June 2007. During his tenure, he assisted with events held at the Olympic Training Center and served as a liaison between National Governing Bodies and the USOC operations staff.



Cunningham was a four-year member (1995-99) of the WCHA's Minnesota State University men's ice hockey team. Upon graduation, he played parts of two seasons (2000-02) with the CHL's Lubbock Cotton Kings.



Cunningham, a native of Phoenix, Ariz., will begin his duties at USA Hockey on Oct. 7.



usahockey.com  

By Dan Bauer
It is official, all youth athletics are nuts. Hockey may have earned the right of getting there first, but every other sport has now fallen in place. They are all too organized, travel too much, too expensive and too time consuming. We place put too much emphasis on keeping score and winning and too little emphasis on having fun.

As another youth hockey season descends upon us I have some simple advice for parents to help make your hockey experience more enjoyable.

Skip tryouts. Leave the rink, go to a movie, have dinner with your spouse, just stay away. If your child makes the A team, be happy and humble. If your child makes the B team, be happy and calm. Next to skill, the most important quality of a good athlete is confidence. Benefit: Stress Reduction.

Every rink has a water fountain. Save time and money on the Gatorade, because I’m not certain that 10 year-olds even have electrolytes. And if they do, I bet they have a lot of them. We only start losing things when we get older. Savings: 80+ games & practices @ $2.00 = $160.

They can carry their own bag and if they can’t it’s too big. You don’t carry your kid’s backpack to school for them; you shouldn’t have to carry their hockey bag either. Donate your wheelie bag to a stewardess and get one that has to be carried. Benefit: Increased leg strength.

Kids can dress and undress themselves—go get a cup of coffee and relax. Once they have been through it a few times they can figure it out. And if they can’t, that is why they have teammates. Eventually they will get it on or off. Be patient. Benefit: Team Unity. (PS: Coffee is cheaper then Gatorade)

Teach them to tie their own skates as soon as possible—good skaters have loose skates, so let them get use to it early. As long as you keep tying them they are going to let you. Haven’t we learned this “helpless” lesson before? Benefit: Ankle strength.

New equipment is for Christmas, maybe a birthday—but should not be a birthright of every new season. Buy used equipment—a 58lb squirt doesn’t need the support of a $300 pair of skates. A $300 pair of skates could be worn by a 58lb squirt for ten years and still not be worn out—it’s basic physics. Today’s skates are as rigid as marine core training. Savings: $200+.

On the subject of skates, as soon as they are old enough to drive, they are old enough to get their own skates sharpened. If they tell you they don’t have time, compare your schedule to theirs, then hand the skates back to them. Benefit: Time for you & responsibility for them.

Buy wooden sticks. Force dealers to put them back on the stick rack; it is supply & demand economics. A 9 year old doesn’t need a composite stick unless he is 6’ and 200lbs, or you can buy a 10 flex. A wooden stick will do fine. Save me the sales pitch on response and feel. Until they can feel the difference between clean and dirty hair save your money. And like tying skates, they can learn to tape their stick much sooner than they would like you to believe. Savings: $200+. Benefit: Wrist strength & eye-hand coordination.

Kids believe that the concession stand is an essential part of hockey—like their skates. If they go out and skate well, have fun and come off with a smile on their face—they don’t need a reward, except maybe a pat on the back. Walk past the concession stand a few times—I know we need to support the rink, but it shouldn’t be the place where you eat most of your meals.

They also don’t need breakfast at Perkins or lunch at Mc Donalds after every game or practice. Let them learn that the reward is hockey! It is a privilege to be able to play and if they don’t make their bed and feed the dog you will take it away. Benefit: Discipline, help around the house, more money for coffee.

Herb Brooks said it best, “The name on the front of the jersey is a heck of a lot more important than the name on the back”. This is a team sport; the sooner kids learn that, the better. Names on the back of jerseys are for when you get to the NHL. You should be able to figure out which one is yours without that visual aide. If you can’t, remember that is why we put numbers on the jerseys—those numbers aren’t a ranking system—they are for identification. Nobody wears two nametags at work, right? Benefit: Team Unity & Humility.

Don’t watch every practice—let them tell you about a few—they’ll enjoy it. Send them the message that you have more important things to do than watch the practice. This is not neglect, but common sense. If parents spent as much time helping kids with their homework as they do watching practice, our kids would all be getting straight A’s. This is their experience—not yours. Turn them loose. Benefit: Time.

Let your kids have fun. If their best friend calls on a Friday night and wants them to: a) go to a movie, b) go to the outdoor rink, c) go sledding, don’t say no because they have a game tomorrow, or in most cases three games. They are kids, if you haven’t noticed they don’t get tired. Do you ever remember being too tired as a kid? Let them go swimming at the motel, play football in the snow. AJ Hawk might need to sleep in a hyperbaric oxygen chamber, but your kid doesn’t. Benefit: Balance, & a Happier Child.

Don’t try to coach—your team already has one. Pat them on the back after a tough loss and thank them for their time and effort. Buy them a cup of coffee and talk about anything, but hockey. Benefit: Respect.
Last, but not least, at an athletic contest you can be a player, a coach, a fan or an official—but you can only be one. For those parents who are confused, you are a fan. Cheer when your team does something well. Drink coffee the rest of the time, it tastes better than your foot. Benefit: More friends, fewer enemies.

Enjoy your season!
 

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Ken Martel, with 20 years of experience in player development, has been named the first-ever director of USA Hockey’s American Development Model, it was announced today by USA Hockey.
 
The ADM, which was created in January 2009, provides for the first time a blueprint for associations nationwide to follow for optimal athlete development.
 
“With his background and thorough understanding of the basis of the American Development Model, Ken is the perfect fit to lead this initiative,” said Dave Ogrean, executive director of USA Hockey.
 
After a four-year playing career at Lake Superior State University (1985-89), where as a defenseman, he helped the Lakers to the school’s first-ever national title in 1988, Martel ventured into coaching.
 
He served one season (1989-90) as a graduate assistant for the men’s ice hockey program at St. Cloud State University before moving on to Michigan Tech University, where he spent seven seasons (1990-97) as an assistant men’s ice hockey coach. He then moved to Colorado Springs, Colo., to the U.S. Air Force Academy, where he served for one year (1997-98) as an assistant coach for the Falcons. Martel then journeyed to Ann Arbor, Mich., where he was part of USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program staff as an assistant coach for eight years, including a dual role with responsibilities for player personnel his final five seasons.
 
Martel moved to USA Hockey’s national office in Colorado Springs, Colo., in the summer of 2006 to work on coaching education and player development projects in the organization’s youth hockey department. Among his accomplishments, he led the organization’s efforts in the development of the highly successful USA Hockey Skills and Drills for the Complete Player and Coach DVD.
 
“Ken will do an excellent job leading our efforts related to the American Development Model,” said Jim Johannson, assistant executive director for hockey operations at USA Hockey. “He has the knowledge, passion and experience we need in the position.”
 
Martel will begin in his new role at USA Hockey immediately.
 
NOTES: Martel has served on the coaching staff of nine U.S. teams that have competed in International Ice Hockey Federation World Championships, including four times with the U.S. National Under-18 Team in the IIHF World Men's U18 Championship (2000-04), four times with the U.S. National Junior Team in the IIHF World U20 Championship (2004, 2006, 2008-09) and once with the U.S. Women’s National Team in the IIHF World Women’s Championship (2007). He has been part of two gold medal-winning teams, including the first-ever U.S. gold medals in the IIHF World Men's U18 Championship (2002) and the IIHF World U20 Championship (2004) … Martel will report to Jim Johannson, assistant executive director of hockey operations.