Coaching Section

WELCOME to SYHI's Coaching Resource Page

Welcome Coaches. Please take a few moments to familiarize yourself with the information presented here. We will try to make this a useful resource for coaches at all levels and will make regular additions. If you have something you would like to contribute, please let us know; our coaches are our most valuable resource for player development and satisfaction.

COACHING CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS

All SYHI Coaches must be properly certified based on USA Hockey guidelines and credentialed by SYHI. This past year we had a number of coaches lose their certifications for the remainder of the year. FOR THE 2019-2020 SEASON, AGAIN NO RELIEF WILL BE GRANTED if you do not meet the requirements by the stated deadlines.

IMPORTANT: In order to go on the ice or be on the bench you must be registered via SYHI.com, as a "COACH". The deadline for this is September 1, 2019.

Volunteers & Team Managers are NOT allowed on the ice at all or the bench during games.

SYHI'S DEADLINES FOR MEETING 100% OF THE REQUIREMENTS LISTED ON THIS PAGE:

IMMEDIATELY/PRIOR TO GETTING ON ICE:

USA Hockey Coach Registration, Completed NYSAHA Background Screening, Unexpired CEP Number & SYHI Coach Registration.
USA Hockey SafeSport module & Age Appropriate Module for the level you intend on coaching or assisting.

NOTE: Coaches with CEP #'s that expire on December 31, 2019, will need to take the next level of certification or if level 3 you may recertify up to three times before having to take the level 4 certification. Exceptions are Coaches with Level 4 certification-those certifications do not have an expiration date and Mite Level (8U) coaches.

USA Hockey Registration Requirements (with links)

To coach, you must have a USA Hockey ID (annual renewal). Register as a member of USA Hockey. Click here for more information.
Complete the background screening. Click here for more information.
Complete the USA Hockey Safe Sport Training (required every year). Click here for more information. Note the deadlines above.

USA Hockey's Coaching Education Program (CEP) Requirements

Find, register and attend the required certification clinic. (Cost is $40 plus any lunch fees if applicable) You can only attend one clinic per season. (The coaching clinic season for Levels 1-3 officially runs from September 1 to December 31). Click here to find a clinic. Note the deadlines above.
Complete the online age-specific module(s) for the age level of play you are coaching. (Cost is $10 per module) (The online modules are available from September 1 to December 31.) Click here for the modules. Note the deadlines above.
Must attend the required clinic and complete the necessary online age-specific module(s) by December 31 of the current playing season to continue coaching on January 1. Note the deadlines above.

SYHI Requirements

Register online (by 9/1) at the Saratoga Coaching Application. Please click on the below link. You must provide SYHI with background screening information and USA Hockey credential information as per the guidelines on this page.

Link to NYSAHA Screening - SafeSport Policy:

Reports can be found here to check individual cert and screening expiration dates and confirmation numbers.

QUESTIONS

Please contact the SYHI ACE Coordinator at the below link.

USA Hockey Student Coach Application Form

USA Hockey Student Coach Form

Coaching Misson

SYHI depends on us. The future of the game depends on us. In our mission to grow the game by helping players foster a love for hockey, we must strive for excellence in what we do, what we bring to the rink in terms of good energy, good communication habits, preparedness, patience and a willingness to do what is necessary to effect positive change, for without it there can be no improvement. We have to take fun seriously. If we want our players to love hockey, we have to do our part or we risk draining their enthusiasm and losing them.

Coach's News

Coaches - Good Article on Early Specialization....

01/07/2014, 8:15pm EST

By Bob Tribley

Early Specialization and Year-Round Training is Destroying Youth Hockey

by Josh Devine, 7 November 2013

Today’s hockey culture is damaging youth hockey players’ futures and putting the integrity of our game at risk. Year-round training schedules for the youngest hockey players and the pressure to always do more is not only harming young skaters emotionally and academically, but also athletically. Yet, we are constantly told the opposite. Many have argued that early specialization in hockey is required to become elite. They couldn’t be more wrong.

Early specialization is when a player, prior to puberty, decides to completely focus his or her efforts on one sport and engages in high amounts of repetitious, monotonous, deliberate training regimens designed to maximize skill development. The problem with early specialization in hockey and in many team sports, however, is that it is harmful at young ages, causing a host of problems and hindering athletic development.

The first major problem with specializing in hockey too early is that practice makes permanent, not perfect. For example, Mite skaters have short attention spans, and this limits the amount of time they can focus and perform repetitions correctly.

Year-round training schedules also cause fatigue as young athletes aren’t given proper rest and recovery periods. As a result of the constant practice, many young players develop short, choppy and more upright strides. Some parents have even asked me how their player could possibly seem to be getting worse at skating when they are doing skating clinics, AAA programs and off-ice training regimens all at the same time!

Finally, despite all the hysteria and pressure to start early, specialize early and train as much as is physically possible, the reality is that young athletes prior to puberty cannot achieve significant muscular gains.

One common argument for early specialization is that in sports like gymnastics and figure skating, athletes specialize early and are elite or well on their way to elite status at young ages. This is an utter fallacy. In team sports like hockey, peak performance isn’t reached until post puberty, whereas in gymnasts peak performance is always reached prior to puberty.

Hockey is a game with an infinite amount of possibilities, movements, and patterns. It requires an athleticism far different than gymnastics or figure skating; foresight, creativity, patience and quick decision making are needed. Athletic skills can’t be compartmentalized – skating, shooting, reading and reacting occur at the same split second. Contrast this with a gymnast’s routine where the exercises are planned and moves are routine. Hockey is the exact opposite.

Only playing hockey at a young age versus participating in multiple sports limits the variety of motor skills a young player should learn. Like a child that learns two languages and can more easily pick up a third, a young athlete that plays multiple sports and learns multiple movements will be better able to pick up new skills. In addition, playing multiple team sports introduces an athlete to varied game situations and helps improve an athlete’s ability to read and react to the rest of the players in the game.

The most unfortunate consequences of early specialization include the epidemic of overuse injuries and the psychological burnout that many players experience. Today, overuse injuries in sports have hit a record high. Many doctors attribute this to the increasing intensity of organized youth sports. Often, young athletes are getting hurt before they have a chance to fully develop physically. Many others are becoming so burnt out that they quit altogether. However, the hidden cost of year-round hockey is the untold number of athletes still playing but without a passion for the game.

We don’t have to accept this state of affairs. Although time is running out, we can still restore sanity and integrity to the game of hockey. This will require families to start resisting the enormous pressure to always do more. Community associations, coaches, collegiate and professional hockey players, and many others will need to step up in order to change the tide. It’s time to save our game.

—–

Josh Levine is a former Jefferson Jaguar, a Princeton University graduate, founder of The Fortis Academy, and author of “Save Our Game: What’s wrong with hockey training today and how to fix it.”