More Meaningful Hockey Trophies for Kids by Brad Jubin of APIVEO

It is tradition for hockey programs to give participation trophies at the end of the season for, well, participating. Unfortunately, what does participating really mean? In this post Brad Jubin, youth sport coach from Atlanta and co-founder of APIVEO, explains the issues with mindlessly handing out trophies.

I would like to begin by saying that I am not in favor of “participation” trophies for youth athletes. The reason is not that we are giving out trophies to every player; instead, it’s the lack of creativity in what we call them and the meaning behind them. After coaching dozens of youth teams, I know that an eight- year-old player who came to practice, worked hard, played in the games and cheered on his/her teammates is not excited to be recognized as a “participant.” As parents and coaches, we have to be able to come up with something more meaningful than “participant.” 

Dr. Larry on ESPN Outside the Lines

Dr. Lauer discusses youth football bounties on ESPN Outside the Lines

My part is not included in the link, however...

The show re-airs Friday, December 7 at 3 pm eastern on ESPN.

The podcast is also available on itunes search Outside the Lines

Go to larry-lauer.com for my thoughts on the show

Timeouts; An Important Tool for Coaches to Change Momentum

In Sunday's Atlantic Division battle between the Philadelphia Flyers and New York Rangers, Rangers' Coach John Tortorella's decision to use a timeout early in the game helped his team stave off a persistent Flyers attack in a 5-2 victory. In today's NHL coaches are more liberally using their one allotted timeout. Whether it is to slow down the charging attack of a team on the comeback or to rest players after an icing call, coaches are more likely to use the timeout at any point during the game.

Traditionally, NHL coaches saved their timeout until the end of the game in case they needed it to set up a play to tie the game or even to get the goalie out and ease the transition to 6-on-5 play. This is no longer the case. Flyers Coach Peter Laviolette's famed timeout in Game 7 versus the Boston Bruins in the 2010 playoffs helped to turn the tide of a series. As the Bruins' fans were near bedlam Laviolette calmly implored his players to get the next goal during a timeout in the second period. Down 3-0 in Game 7, the Flyers stormed back to win 4-3 and shock Boston who had a 3-0 edge in the series.