COMPETITIVE EDGE - Page / 1

Competitive Edge Hockey, Inc.

2201 Florida Avenue South

St. Louis Park, MN 55426

612-978-4030

COMPETITIVE EDGE - Page / 1

Welcome to Competitive Edge’s Practice Plans for Edina Youth Hockey’s Mite Program!

We have endeavored to minimize the length of these plans (in terms of how many pages they include when they are printed) and worked to keep them as simple as we can so that one can get a grasp of the plans quickly. We are confident that this is the best approach, but it does leave a few holes that could be problematic.

As such we would like to provide the following instructions to help us eliminate problems before they happen.

1. If you are running an upcoming practice and you don’t know or understand a drill or progression…

  • Worst case, simply replace it with a drill that you do know
  • If you can, check with another coach who may have happened upon an effective interpretation of the drill or progression.
  • If you have time, contact Andy at Competitive Edge () as he can likely provide a diagram or at the very least, an explanation.
  • Also, consult the diagrams that we have provided for selected drills. The diagrams cover either the set-up for the more confusing drills themselves or a “base drill set-up” that makes subsequent similar drills obvious.

2. Due to the constraints of scheduling that we are working with you may have a shared ice practice where the two teams are not on the same plan…

  • If possible, just split up the ice and run your plan on your end (plans are designed to work in half-ice, the small ice at Hat Trick, or a Full Sheet). You may run into a drill that really demands full ice. If so, you may be best off replacing it with another drill that works better on a half sheet.
  • Discuss with the other coach to see if you can blend the two plans, or if it works for either team, simply run one team’s plan or the other’s.

3. It may be necessary to let a drill run longer than the time allotted in the plan in order to hit all the teaching points that the players should learn. If this happens…

  • Preferably skip a later drill or progression in the plan as opposed to the fun part at the end. We want kids to want to cone back. If they miss out on a skill, it can be addressed later (or they can always come to Competitive Edge ).

4. There are a handful of plans in the program that are not supplied in the format that Competitive Edge is providing. Instead, these are going to be ones where we use the ADM type practices that were used at the Mite level in Edina in previous years for that specific skate. Those plans will be provided as well.

5. As we stated, the plans are designed to be adaptable to all 3 situations that Edina Mite teams can expect to be in for a practice… (1 team on a full sheet, 2 teams on a full sheet, and 1 team on a smaller sheet at Hat Trick). The only situations where this is not straightforward is with 2 teams on a full sheet.

  • Many drills can be done with both teams participating using the full sheet.
  • Other drills work well with the two teams splitting the ice and doing a half-sheet version of the drill.
  • Some drills are simply half-sheet drills by nature.

6. Details are the key. Teach details. Use continuous reminders and reinforcement to hold players accountable to details. Even tell them we will do this drill the rest of the time unless we can concentrate and do it better at times. If you don't know or understand the details based on the practice plans, contact Competitive Edge.

7. If a practice plan is too confusing and you don’t have time to consult with another coach or with Competitive Edge, you can simply go to a plan that you do understand as that is certainly better than nothing!

8. Keep in mind that the schedule is tight on these plans, so…

  • Plan on starting the practice within a few minutes of the scheduled start time.
  • Try to transition between drills pretty quickly and on a progression, most of the time it is easier to just get the kids familiar with the first step of the progression to make it easier and quicker to explain the second step rather than explaining all steps right away.
  • Keep an eye on the clock to make sure we don’t needlessly go over on time for a given drill or progression.
  • Remember if we don’t get to everything, that is not the end of the world!

COMPETITIVE EDGE - Page / 1