Why Small Intentional Decisions Matter. We’ve all been there. A tournament 45 minutes outside a third-tier city. Three-star hotel. Rink. Lobby. Repeat. Vacation days disappearing faster than expected. The parent playdate goes a little too long. The next morning…the idea of the gym, reading, or anything beyond breathing and blinking feels like a stretch. A […]
Tag Archives: Mindset Training
In a world of constant comparison, identity is under pressure, and grit is what holds it together. We’ve all heard it: “Kids these days aren’t built like we were.” And honestly… that’s true. But not for the reason people think. It’s not that kids are softer. It’s that they’re growing up in a completely different […]
As participants in the hockey community, there are moments where we, as coaches, observe parental behavior and try to reconcile it with our own sense of reality. This week felt like a live experiment. Daryl Jones — a.k.a. Jonesy, a.k.a. the real most interesting man in the world, a.k.a. The Gold Coast’s Most Eligible Bachelor […]
Every season we try to anchor our team with a theme—something that captures how we want to play and who we want to be. A few years ago, that word was grit. It fit the game perfectly. Hockey is a little grimy. A little chaotic. It rewards the player who keeps going when things aren’t […]
A lighthearted guide to surviving hockey tryout season If anxious energy could be measured with a thermometer, Fairfield County would be in the middle of a heat wave. It’s hockey tryout season. The nervous chatter. The heightened gossip. The speculative “I heard they’re taking six forwards from the A team…” All hallmarks of tryout uncertainty. […]
I was 14, sitting behind the starting block, staring down my lane with a death stare. 90’s hip hop in my Walkman, goggles on, everything else fading out. From the outside, it looked like I was just waiting for the race to start. On the inside, I was doing something completely different. I was calming […]
Some players bring fire every shift; others skate flat. Why? It often comes down to passion, and that’s built not just on love for the game, but on the security to risk failure. Parents can help by focusing less on stats, and more on connection. As a coach and a curious observer, I’m often standing […]







