To all our Nextgen family. I cannot tell you all how excited we are to begin our adventure into the 2018/19 hockey season! Many of you have just finished training camp or already are traveling, with your season in full swing! School has begun or is beginning this week. We cannot stress the importance of your time management as student-athletes, your responsibilities go far beyond the rink and locker rooms, we are your support system and will do everything we can to help you as you prepare for a successful academic year and season with your respective teams!
Your student-athlete's coaches and teachers have their standards and expectations, of which you and your student-athlete will be held accountable, my role will be to help support and reinforce their expectations! We will never contradict your coaches but rather contribute to strengthening further your ability to live up to the standards your team and coaches mandate! Through film analysis, I will help our student-athletes develop their hockey IQ. We will provide resources that will help further improve the players' ability to add to his or her strengths and build on their weaknesses.
I will have monthly conversations with your coaches or more if necessary, to ensure that expectations are being met or to help the coaches with what it is they are asking you to do for your team! For our Bantam and Midget age players, we will break down several games throughout the month, the film is very telling and humbling it’s an objective view of what and how a player is performing. For the younger players, we will also provide feedback through film, we hope that in addition to your coaches feedback, our insight will help strengthen your understanding of our great game.
I also wish to impart some hockey wisdom to our parents! Hockey is a highly competitive game, but you have to let the coaches coach. Part of developing character is allowing your son or daughter to develop a relationship with their coaches and teachers. There are ups and downs in the season and dealing with adversity is part of the process and some of the greatest life and hockey lessons come from dealing and overcoming these challenges! We hope to give your child the confidence to speak to their coaches and teachers should they be faced with these challenges and better equip them with the means necessary to change what needs to be changed.
I am lucky in that I get to coach hockey. A game that has given so much to me. Your children are now part of my love for this game and I will do everything I can to help them enjoy their experience on and off the ice. Please trust us to grow their love for hockey and education and allow them to someday look back upon their experiences at some of the best times of their life. It is our wish that they will at Some point foster the growth and development of the future NextGEN student-athletes. We wish you all the best and look forward to this season together.
Regards,
Coach Jeff