We've already has one fight this season - which is one too many. Fighting has no place in interscholastic sports which is why the MSHL reserves its harshest penalties for those who do fight.
How do we eliminate fighting? Simple. It takes an act of will by the student-athlete to say to him/herself, "I will not fight." That's it. If you ingrain it into your conscience that the ice rink is not the time nor the place to settle your differences by punching your opponent, then there will be no more fights.
It's not the ref's job to prevent a fight from starting, nor is it the parent(s) in the stands, nor the coach. The responsibility falls on the players.
So next time the adreniline starts rushing through the veins, take a deep breath and get even in the traditional way -- on the scoreboard.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Game Counts
There are many differences between High School sports and youth sports. One of them is that high school sports is an extension of the classroom. To that end, rules are set up by the various governing bodies to prevent one side or the other from exerting too much influence over the student. That's why all high school sports have competition limits for a season and for a given week.
Let's look at game limits for a minute. Let me work backwards
MSHL (MPSSAA Basketball) -- 22 games before the tournament
NCAA Divsion III - 25 games before the tournaments
NCAA Division I - 34 games before the tournaments
USA Junior - 40 - 54
USA Youth - unlimited to the extent of budgets.
The MPSSAA says that you can play 3 games in a week (Monday - Saturday) TWICE in a season and that an in-season tournament must happen when schools are not in session.
The MSHL has roughly a 10 week window to play league games and 2 more weeks of pre-season time. That means if a school wishes to play a full 22 game schedule, they have to play 1.8 games per week. Throw in a week of exams, and the number gets to 2 games / week, which fits nicely into the MPSSAA guidelines.
Why all the restrictions? We're trying to strike a balance between academics and extracurricular activities where one is not more important than the other, but each complements the other. "All work and no play make Johnny a dull boy." is the old adage. We want our students to have time for academics and sports, which is why we should not overload the extracurricular at the expense of the curricular (and vice versa).
A coach is a teacher and the practice is where his/her knowledge of the sport is conveyed to the players (students). The game is where he/she finds out how well his/her players absorbed the concepts taught in practice. Any coach can proctor an exam, I mean supervise a bench during a game, but the special ones are those who take raw talent and make it better by school's end.
So why my fuss about game counts? If you treat a game as an examination of what you have learned in practice, then you can see the concern. Imagine a teacher who scheduled 5 tests in 5 days (Monday - Friday). As a parent, would you say anything? You should. First, the teacher is not teaching. The students are learning the subject by examination and the teacher can get lazy. We pay our teachers to teach, not to proctor exams, though that is part of their duties.
Let's look at game limits for a minute. Let me work backwards
MSHL (MPSSAA Basketball) -- 22 games before the tournament
NCAA Divsion III - 25 games before the tournaments
NCAA Division I - 34 games before the tournaments
USA Junior - 40 - 54
USA Youth - unlimited to the extent of budgets.
The MPSSAA says that you can play 3 games in a week (Monday - Saturday) TWICE in a season and that an in-season tournament must happen when schools are not in session.
The MSHL has roughly a 10 week window to play league games and 2 more weeks of pre-season time. That means if a school wishes to play a full 22 game schedule, they have to play 1.8 games per week. Throw in a week of exams, and the number gets to 2 games / week, which fits nicely into the MPSSAA guidelines.
Why all the restrictions? We're trying to strike a balance between academics and extracurricular activities where one is not more important than the other, but each complements the other. "All work and no play make Johnny a dull boy." is the old adage. We want our students to have time for academics and sports, which is why we should not overload the extracurricular at the expense of the curricular (and vice versa).
A coach is a teacher and the practice is where his/her knowledge of the sport is conveyed to the players (students). The game is where he/she finds out how well his/her players absorbed the concepts taught in practice. Any coach can proctor an exam, I mean supervise a bench during a game, but the special ones are those who take raw talent and make it better by school's end.
So why my fuss about game counts? If you treat a game as an examination of what you have learned in practice, then you can see the concern. Imagine a teacher who scheduled 5 tests in 5 days (Monday - Friday). As a parent, would you say anything? You should. First, the teacher is not teaching. The students are learning the subject by examination and the teacher can get lazy. We pay our teachers to teach, not to proctor exams, though that is part of their duties.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Hockey on Campus
OK, I confess, I am a college hockey geek. I saw my first college hockey games at Madison Square Garden in 1972 watching the ECAC Holiday Hockey tournament. Those first games?
In the consolation round: Clarkson vs St. Lawrence and in the championship it was St. Louis vs. Notre Dame. I was planning on going to Clarkson the following fall and I was interested to see what college hockey was all about. CCT beat SLU and ND beat St. Louis, and I was hooked.
This love affair with college hockey is now 38 years old and I am pleased to find other college hockey geeks through US College Hockey Online (www.uscho.com) and the meets and greets at the Frozen Four. It is a fun group and yes, a bit geeky, but we all love our schools, even though Clarkson will never make the NCAA Divsion I finals again. Plus, there are a bunch of us in the MSHL.
So now I find a new resource - Hockey on Campus (www.hockeyoncampus.com) which is an internet radio show devoted to college hockey. Last night was the first broadcast and they archive them as well for later listening. Yesterday they interviewed the college hockey conference commissioners and mens and womens college coaches. The focus was all on D-1, but I hope they do focus on D-III in later shows as I have a financial interest in D-III hockey.
So, if you have any interest in college hockey, every Wednesday night at 7 PM the show is live. Apparently, you can tweet or email the show, too!
In the consolation round: Clarkson vs St. Lawrence and in the championship it was St. Louis vs. Notre Dame. I was planning on going to Clarkson the following fall and I was interested to see what college hockey was all about. CCT beat SLU and ND beat St. Louis, and I was hooked.
This love affair with college hockey is now 38 years old and I am pleased to find other college hockey geeks through US College Hockey Online (www.uscho.com) and the meets and greets at the Frozen Four. It is a fun group and yes, a bit geeky, but we all love our schools, even though Clarkson will never make the NCAA Divsion I finals again. Plus, there are a bunch of us in the MSHL.
So now I find a new resource - Hockey on Campus (www.hockeyoncampus.com) which is an internet radio show devoted to college hockey. Last night was the first broadcast and they archive them as well for later listening. Yesterday they interviewed the college hockey conference commissioners and mens and womens college coaches. The focus was all on D-1, but I hope they do focus on D-III in later shows as I have a financial interest in D-III hockey.
So, if you have any interest in college hockey, every Wednesday night at 7 PM the show is live. Apparently, you can tweet or email the show, too!
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Bob Otte
Bob Otte sent me an email on Sunday afternoon announcing that he had to resign as Rules Interpreter of the MSHL. Bob has been taking more and more responsibilites with USA Hockey plus, his new job at his old place with a new employer that actually had him working more hours now then before he retired!!
Bob is a voice of reason. He and I knocked heads a few times over some rule interpretation or another, but it was always civil. Invariably, he was right. But in the end we both respected each others opinion.
So now another of the original 6 (or so) who founded the league has moved on. It is up to us to nurture what they began over 20 years ago so that when our successors look back they can give us the same warm kudos and we give them.
If you see Bob at an ice rink, please give him kudos for a job well done!
He will be missed.
Bob is a voice of reason. He and I knocked heads a few times over some rule interpretation or another, but it was always civil. Invariably, he was right. But in the end we both respected each others opinion.
So now another of the original 6 (or so) who founded the league has moved on. It is up to us to nurture what they began over 20 years ago so that when our successors look back they can give us the same warm kudos and we give them.
If you see Bob at an ice rink, please give him kudos for a job well done!
He will be missed.
The Referee - Coach - Player partnership
You all know the scenario. Big game, maybe late in the game or maybe not, and the official makes a call that your side does not like. Can be any level from little kids to pros and can be in any sport.
What happens next? Well if we watch TV, the camera immediately pans to the player and/or coach who goes ballistic, or the manager who comes flying out of the dugout and starts arguing with the official. Looks great on TV - great entertainment -- but it has no place in interscholastic sports!!!!!!
So what should you do??? Ask the official in a calm voice if you and he/she could discuss the call at the next break. You all know that the call is not going to change, so why take away valuable ice time arguing???? At the break, go to the end of the bench - away from the players -- and ask the official what happened. He/she will generally give you their side of the story. And that's it. End of discussion. You got the information you wanted and now its back to coaching/teaching.
Referees are not 100% perfect -- not at this level. And guess what, neither are the players and neither are the coaches. Imagine the ref in the middle of the game yelling out, "that was a horrible line change.", or "that was the worst pass I have seen in the last 6 months." You wouldn't like it, and the players would not like it. So, as my mother once said, "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all."
Coaches coach
Players play
Officials officiate
Spectators cheer
If everyone does their assigned job, we have a great game. When we try to do more than what we have been assigned, then that is when problems arise.
As Patrick Swayze said in Road House, "Be nice."
What happens next? Well if we watch TV, the camera immediately pans to the player and/or coach who goes ballistic, or the manager who comes flying out of the dugout and starts arguing with the official. Looks great on TV - great entertainment -- but it has no place in interscholastic sports!!!!!!
So what should you do??? Ask the official in a calm voice if you and he/she could discuss the call at the next break. You all know that the call is not going to change, so why take away valuable ice time arguing???? At the break, go to the end of the bench - away from the players -- and ask the official what happened. He/she will generally give you their side of the story. And that's it. End of discussion. You got the information you wanted and now its back to coaching/teaching.
Referees are not 100% perfect -- not at this level. And guess what, neither are the players and neither are the coaches. Imagine the ref in the middle of the game yelling out, "that was a horrible line change.", or "that was the worst pass I have seen in the last 6 months." You wouldn't like it, and the players would not like it. So, as my mother once said, "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all."
Coaches coach
Players play
Officials officiate
Spectators cheer
If everyone does their assigned job, we have a great game. When we try to do more than what we have been assigned, then that is when problems arise.
As Patrick Swayze said in Road House, "Be nice."
Monday, September 21, 2009
YAHOO
When you first think of the word Yahoo, you generally associate it with a web page or a search engine or some other part of that giant web service company out on the left coast. But, do you know what Yahoo means?
You
Always
Have
Other
Options
That's right, you always have other options. So what, in the context of the MSHL does this mean? First, there is the golden rule - what happens in the MSHL stays in the MSHL. We don't air our dirty laundry in public. Disputes are discussed internally amongst the board and, when appropriate, the membership. However, we don't go around gossiping in rinks about internal issues.
OK, enough of that. Some school has issues with a decision made by MSHL management. Could be anything ranging from a suspension to player placement, to how cold the rink is. You know what happens? Our email box gets flooded with wailing and gnashing of teeth from one or more people claiming (figuratively) that the world is going to end if their problem is not solved right now and to their satisfaction.
And that's the way it is left. They dump their problem on the league's lap and then expect the league to become Solomon and solve the problem. The trouble is, if they don't agree with the solution, the league is wrong and more emails come flooding in.
What's missing is Yahoo. OK, you have an issue. Instead of asking the league to solve it, why not present an alternative that may work for all parties, not just yourself. Be creative. If you think it is too cold for your team, don't go out and buy space heaters and blow the fuses, but maybe offer to buy the ice at an indoor rink at a time convenient to both teams. It may not be the best solution for you, but it may be the best solution for all.
So if you have an issue, don't be a complainer, be part of the solution. Just remember that when the league makes a determination it is making it with the whole league in mind, not just you. Keep that in your mind as you pound out the email to the league.
You
Always
Have
Other
Options
That's right, you always have other options. So what, in the context of the MSHL does this mean? First, there is the golden rule - what happens in the MSHL stays in the MSHL. We don't air our dirty laundry in public. Disputes are discussed internally amongst the board and, when appropriate, the membership. However, we don't go around gossiping in rinks about internal issues.
OK, enough of that. Some school has issues with a decision made by MSHL management. Could be anything ranging from a suspension to player placement, to how cold the rink is. You know what happens? Our email box gets flooded with wailing and gnashing of teeth from one or more people claiming (figuratively) that the world is going to end if their problem is not solved right now and to their satisfaction.
And that's the way it is left. They dump their problem on the league's lap and then expect the league to become Solomon and solve the problem. The trouble is, if they don't agree with the solution, the league is wrong and more emails come flooding in.
What's missing is Yahoo. OK, you have an issue. Instead of asking the league to solve it, why not present an alternative that may work for all parties, not just yourself. Be creative. If you think it is too cold for your team, don't go out and buy space heaters and blow the fuses, but maybe offer to buy the ice at an indoor rink at a time convenient to both teams. It may not be the best solution for you, but it may be the best solution for all.
So if you have an issue, don't be a complainer, be part of the solution. Just remember that when the league makes a determination it is making it with the whole league in mind, not just you. Keep that in your mind as you pound out the email to the league.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Emails
Emails -- we get emails.
High school hockey is a winter sport. This means that we follow the winter sports season, with some adjustments due to ice availablity and spring sports and youth hockey playoffs. The Maryland Public Secondary School Athletic Association (MPSSAA) sets the first day of winter sports practice as November 15, and the first day of competition in early December (19 days of practice later). The winter sports season ends around the middle of March. While we'd love to follow those guidelines, with the lack of ice rinks and available ice times, we can't. So here are our dates...
1st day of organized practice: 10/18/09
1st day of non-league games: 11/2/09
1st league game : 11/16/09
Last day for games for teams not involved in post season play: 2/5/10
Playoffs start: 2/8/10
Playoffs end: 2/20/10
All Star week: 2/22-26/10
Spring sports start: 3/1/10
In addition each team is limited to playing 22 games (TOTAL) between 11/2/09 and 2/5/10.
If there is a registered USA Hockey MSHL team practicing right now, then it should be brought to the attention of the league. If there are teams that exceed the game count, then that, too, should be brought to the league's attention.
High school sports is built upon trust that every one of the student-athletes, coaches, and administrators are playing within the rules. If one team, coach, or student-athlete breaks the trust, then we have a weakening of the educational system that we are part of along with the teachers and administrators in the school systems.
Sounds like a parent who is more familiar with youth hockey that high school hockey. Many youth 16U and 18U hockey teams have a high proportion of high school students on them. It may look like Great Northern High School out there, but in reality it may be the Upper Patapsco 18U AA team. Why they are practing in mid-August when the season does not start until mid October is another matter.I was called last night by a parent asking me why we were not practicing and playing tournaments like several schools to be named later in our conference. I told them as far as I understood we were supposed to follow the MPSSA rule on when we could start a winter sport. I want to follow the leagues guidance and advise my parents accordingly. Would you give me the leagues guidance on this issue, Thank you.
High school hockey is a winter sport. This means that we follow the winter sports season, with some adjustments due to ice availablity and spring sports and youth hockey playoffs. The Maryland Public Secondary School Athletic Association (MPSSAA) sets the first day of winter sports practice as November 15, and the first day of competition in early December (19 days of practice later). The winter sports season ends around the middle of March. While we'd love to follow those guidelines, with the lack of ice rinks and available ice times, we can't. So here are our dates...
1st day of organized practice: 10/18/09
1st day of non-league games: 11/2/09
1st league game : 11/16/09
Last day for games for teams not involved in post season play: 2/5/10
Playoffs start: 2/8/10
Playoffs end: 2/20/10
All Star week: 2/22-26/10
Spring sports start: 3/1/10
In addition each team is limited to playing 22 games (TOTAL) between 11/2/09 and 2/5/10.
If there is a registered USA Hockey MSHL team practicing right now, then it should be brought to the attention of the league. If there are teams that exceed the game count, then that, too, should be brought to the league's attention.
High school sports is built upon trust that every one of the student-athletes, coaches, and administrators are playing within the rules. If one team, coach, or student-athlete breaks the trust, then we have a weakening of the educational system that we are part of along with the teachers and administrators in the school systems.
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