What if a league decided to be innovative and wanted to make a monumental shift for the betterment of the players and their future? What if anything and everything was on the table?
Far too often in the hockey world or the sporting world for that matter, some people have no desire to even have conversations surrounding change based on the traditional aspects of the game and “oh, that’s just how we have done it for years.” The status quo is safe and secure, “that’s the way we have done it, and we will continue to do it,” model is often only prolonging the inevitable.
What if there was a league and its board willing to make a change, what if they had the best interest of current and future players in mind when making these decisions?
What if this group was willing to have and welcomed these difficult conversations to occur? What would be at the top of your list for let’s say a U13, U15 and U18 AAA league to change or potentially mandate to help the game and their players?
Obviously, overall player development would be at the heart of any conversation centering around “developmental” hockey, but what if it went beyond that?
What if all three leagues and those invested were to sit down at the table and look at the final end result or best practices to maximize player development in order to give their players the best possible chance and opportunity to play the game beyond the minor system?
What would it take for those executives and coaches to agree to initially buy in and make the changes that are needed to ensure players would have the best chance to grow and develop across the entire league? What if there is such a league out there right now considering making these changes?
What advice or suggestions would you tell them to consider before embarking on this courageous and innovative quest?
What if everyone did get on board, what if they had everyone in hockey circles finally agree on something?
What if every player starting at the U13 AAA level could follow and have access to the same developmental model, but the primary focus of every team with in the three categories mentioned above shifted from trying to win banners into seeing how many players they could develop while staying competitive across the entire league or leagues as they climb each rung of the ladder?
Why would leagues make such a monumental change? Why would they even consider it? Well, what if they were forward thinking and saw the potential writing on the wall? What if they were trying to be innovative before it was too late to stop the inevitable? What if they were right? What if they could drastically change the landscape of player development in their province and leagues? What if they had all the right people in place to pull it off? What if it would work?
Innovative hockey people and minds usually instantly get labelled and classified as renegades, but what if this was different? What if there was true collaboration within the league, it’s coaches and teams? What if it now was the right time to take action? Would you want to hear what they have to say? Would you want to be part of the conversation? Would you want to be part of the change? What if?
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