How a hockey team should be organized

I'm being fertile today -- well it's raining and the bathroom contractor is not here -- he's taking care of his sick child.

Now on to the topic at hand -- How an MSHL hockey team should be organized.

First look at how the school teams are organized or in a better term, how high school sports are organized at our public high schools. From the top down we have:

MPSSAA (Maryland Public Secondary School Athletic Association
^
County Athletic Boards
^
High School Principal
^
Athletic Director
^
Team Coach
^
Athletic Team

Along this track is also the local school board and the State Board of Education. The MPSSAA and the County Athletic Boards are part of the Boards of Education, which reminds us that high school athletics are not separate from the educational arena, but are part of it.

So now we look at a typical MSHL team. Here's what we have:
MSHL
^
Coach
^
Team

Whoa!! Who is the coach accountable to? The MSHL? Not hardly. The league does not have the power to hire or fire coaches. The league may discipline any coach or player for violation of the league rules and USA Hockey playing rules. Anything else? Forgetaboutit.

So, what's needed? Ideally there should be a structure similar to the school's athletic and administrative areas for each team. Somebody should be the equivalent of the principal and somebody should be the equivalent of the athletic director. All the power should not be concentrated in one person. This country decided that almost 240 years ago.

So what should happen are the following steps:

1. Each team should follow the guidance found here and incorporate and form themselves as a 501(c)(3) corporation under the IRS guidelines. Each team should elect a board and appoint one person to act as the president (principal) and the other as coaching director (AD). If you have a co-op team, I would recommend that each school in the co-op have representation on the board.
2. Simultaneously with #1, each conference should do the same. Each conference would then appoint a commissioner, vice-commissioner, and secretary/treasurer and such committees as it needs to take care of the business of running the conference

What about the MSHL? Well, the MSHL acts like the MPSSAA. The MSHL sets the policies and acts as the supreme umpire. The conferences deal with their teams and the MSHL deals with the conferences and runs the state tournaments and any other post season stuff.

A few schools and conferences have done #'s 1 and 2. It is my hope that all teams avail themselves of this opportunity.

The Hockey Word

Yes we all know what THAT word is. We hear it all the time in the ice rink - ANYWHERE in the ice rink. It is a rather unique word in the English language. It is a noun, verb, object, adverb, adjective, gerund, and probably a few other forms that I have forgotten. And, it is VERY common at the ice rink.

But - do we ever hear a teacher use it in a classroom?

I hope the answer to the above is a resounding "NO!". At the same time, I hope that the students never use it to a teacher or any administrator in school either. It's been a while since I was in high school (1973) and a few years since my children were last in that environment (2006). So, consider me part of the Ozzie and Harriet world where we may have used the S word every now and then - and got hit with a quick "T" when we did.

OK, now that that is out of the way, what, you may ask, is the point of this blog entry?? Simple -- if interscholastic sports are an extension of the classroom, the decorum and respect that occurs in the classroom MUST extend to the playing field - or, in our case, the ice rink.

There have been instances of coaches being fired for swearing - not at the game officials, but at the student-athletes. While the MSHL does not have the power to fire or discipline coaches for profanity at their student-athletes (or vice versa) each school club does have the power. While I hope it never becomes necessary, the coaches are responsible to their school. The league cannot and will not intervene. You said it, you meant it. Now accept the consequences.

Just as the players are responsible. In no way, shape, or form, should a student-athlete drop the Hockey Word at a coach. Oh, it is an easy word to use. And it does seem to fit most every hockey situation there is. But, since we're supposed to be educated and have a wide vocabulary to get high scores on the verbal portion of the SAT, ACT, and PSAT, let's use that wonderful vocabulary that's been learned in the classroom and use it instead of the hockey word.

If you do drop the HW at the coach in a vipurative manner, expect to be disciplined. Don't ask Mommy or Daddy to help you out. You said it, you meant it. Accept the consequences.