Coaches Appreciation Day - Jan 26, 2008
I thought you might be interested in this letter I wrote to CBC Maritime
Noon in support of HNS Coaches Day - It is about the great coaching team
of the SMHRA Peewee House team The WildCats. I suggested that they have
a call in show on the important role of coaches in kids lives and they
took me up on it. www.cbc.ca/maritimenoon/index.html
Jan 16, 2008
Dear Costas
Jan 26 is the first Coach Appreciation Day sponsored by Hockey Nova
Scotia and I wanted to bring to your attention as I thought this would
be a great idea for a call in show. Memories of how a coach inspired you
- or just an appreciation. I am only doing this as a hockey Mom - I
hold no official or unofficial title with the Hockey association but I
very appreciative of the strong mentors - coaches, scout leaders,
teachers that are the volunteers amongst us and deserve recognition.
I'm mainly writing because I wanted to tell you about my son's
wonderful coach - Scott MacKenzie. I want to tell you this because often
it is the Coach of the "big teams" - the rep league champs or the
semi-pros who get a lot of attention and yet there are hundreds of men
and women who dedicate their time for weekend tournaments, early morning
practices, fundraising, etc., for the love of the game of hockey and
for the kids. Scott coaches a house league Peewee team in the Sackville
Minor Hockey and Ringette Association. He does not have children playing
on the team which makes his dedication even more unique.
Scott is an exceptional coach. While he works on lots of needed skills,
he focuses the players on being part of a TEAM - on working together to
make the game happen. He always seems to see the positive side for the
kids and that is critically important especially in my son Liam's case
where he is "not the best player" on the team. Scott, with Troy and
Shaun, "his Assistants" are a quiet and dedicated bunch. They go the
extra mile for the kids arranging dry land training, ice time to play
the parents and tournament where possible.
It is the above and beyond the call of coaching to being a caring
person that I think also needs to be celebrated. Last June Liam's Dad
died very suddenly - while we hadn't played hockey or seen the
parents/coaches since the end of March - a group of parents lead by
Scott and Troy showed up at the Wake to give Liam and I their
condolences. It was such a heartwarming experience - It's hard to
convey the expression of incredibility and excitement on Liam's face
(in the midst of tragedy) as he told me "Mom - even my hockey
coaches are here!"
Like too much of the media, we hear about the negative stuff "the
bad coaches" who only play their child or incite fighting". when 99%
of the time coaches are the solid foundation of our children's
positive experiences about sport and the importance of teamwork. I hope
you're able to take a moment to think about your favourite coach be it
in hockey sport, music or elsewhere, and enable your listeners to share
some of the positive experiences that they themselves or their children
have had because of their coach. And Remember to say a special thank you
to your Coach on January 26 -Coach's Appreciation Day.
Janice Keefe
Hockey Mom (and Player)
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