Alumni Feature - Eddie Gale'05 Double Degree Ice Hockey Coach, Focus on Winning and Concerning Growth in China

Article - https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/8VDAdF8PgX1IjdvqxHAehA

Translated Article Via Google Transations:

Edward Gale is a young ice hockey coach from Canada who has a double degree in landscape architecture and law and is currently teaching at the Chenlu International Ice Sports Center. Last season, Edward led his small players to a 12 wins, 1 loss and 1 overtime outstanding record. In order to understand the teaching style and philosophy of Edward Gale, the Canadian coach, we interviewed him in early November.

We have only known that Edward is a good Canadian coach with a double degree. However, when we reopen the resume of this young coach, we will find that in addition to the double degree, he has more experience and experience: in Canada, the United States, UK, Germany played ice hockey and also worked in the New Zealand, Australian Ice Hockey School.

At the age of 14, Edward left home and entered the world's top ice hockey school, Notre Dame College in Saskatchewan Canada. Many NHL hockey players are from this school, like Jordan Eberle (now New York Islanders), Jaden Schwartz (now St. Louis Blues player), Sean Kutri Sean Couturier (now Philadelphia Flyer player) Morgan Reilly (first Toronto Maple Leaf player) and so on. There, there are hockey players from all over the world who are extremely passionate about ice hockey and eager to improve their level. In this school, there is a hockey culture and atmosphere: You come to the rink work hard, improve and have fun (to the ice field to train hard, keep improving, and enjoy it). This concept has always influenced him. Now, in Beijing, Edward wants to bring this kind of ice hockey culture to China. He believes that this culture exists not only in ice hockey, but also in all sports anywhere.

Work hard, improve and have fun

Last season, the Xuanjia team won 12 wins, 1 loss and 1 overtime, and won the third place in the Beijing Youth Ice Hockey League. Speaking of this record, Edward's face showed a proud look.

Ice hockey is a competitive sport with victory. Edward is a sportsman and his pursuit of victory is always first. Not only ice hockey, but also golf, chess, he has a strong desire to do anything.

But as a coach, Edward has to consider more than just a game victory.

For him, he will feel frustrated when his team fails after 100% of the effort, but he won't worry about it. After analyzing the children's game videos, he will show the children videos, tell them where they are doing well, where they are not doing well, and how to do things that are not doing well. He will not teach children to cheat, take shortcuts, or convey utilitarian ideas to them.

How to convey the correct information to the players, how to create a positive and harmonious ice hockey culture, how to help small players grow, this is a coach needs to think. The win or loss of a game is short-lived, and the growth of children is more important. Edward said: "My goal in China is to help players develop and see them become better. If they are cautious, afraid of making mistakes, afraid of losing, or if I want to win more players, I will fight more." The team won't grow."


In normal training, Edward and the little players talked and laughed, but the techniques and skills of the training could not be dropped. He emphasized that Have fun does not mean that there is no plan: "We are doing things in a planned way. It’s definitely not a child slipping on the ice. In our experience, know how to make the boring glide and cue practice interesting. The ability to develop this will not be ignored, it’s just a more In a positive way. For example, there are also 100 shooting exercises. If I am rushing to the child, he will be nervous; if I explain to him reasonably, he will do better."

Last season, the Xuanjia team lost only in the semi-finals, and finally won the third place. For this season's results, Edward said: "At the moment we played 2 games, 1 win and 1 loss. The players are getting better every game. Our team has a talented piano prince who is good at capturing opportunities, but also practicing track and field. Little Jian, they don't necessarily come every time. I just hope that they can do well in what they do. Everyone has a good attitude and enjoys it. Over the past one year, It’s amazing progress that some children are flying from the ice to the present."

The young players are also confident in the new season, but they also have their own worries. They believe that the flying bears who compete in the same group are very strong and cannot be careless. Some parents also told us that their children will remind themselves to sign up for training as soon as they arrive.

Develop a comprehensive hockey player

Teaching in China, Edward is also clearly aware of the problem, that is, many small players will stop playing after 14-16 years due to the increasing academic burden and reduced competition opportunities. The parents of the Xuanjia club players also expressed the same troubles. They said: "Children of international schools may go out (going abroad) at this age, but some children will be in China. I really hope that the club's coaches can organize. Play with the children, or take the children to go abroad to compete with their peers. Children and parents will begin to pay attention to their studies when they arrive at a certain time. After all, no one wants to see the difference of 0.1 points. But I still hope that there are more domestic schools. Promoting sports is good for your child's body."

Edward said: "We want the players to know that their hockey career will not end at the age of 14. In the future there are always many possibilities to participate in the hockey. Of course I am happy to see my players. When I grow up, I will get a scholarship to enter the university and even become a professional ice hockey mobilizer. But if they don’t take the road, it doesn’t matter. I hope they will still be at the age of 60 because they love this sport. Friends play together."

Edward said that as a hockey coach, he not only teaches everyone ice hockey, he pays more attention to the development of all aspects of the player, including the slide in the ice hockey, the ball, the shot, the tactics, and the character of the player. For example, each athlete is required to carry his own equipment package, teach the athlete how to fight hard while respecting the opponent on the field, and analyze the game with the small players to face their own advantages and mistakes. These qualities are not just what is needed on the court, but what everyone needs to grow.

Edward also said, "I often ask these children: "What do you want to grow up with?" They will answer: doctors, engineers, lawyers... but I said, why can't these be done with ice hockey?"

Edward bluntly said that learning should not become the opposite of ice hockey. He used to play while he was at school. He felt that the ice hockey had a lot of help for his school: "In college, I go to the ice rink six times a week for three hours, which requires me to do something. To be efficient, I can't waste time sleeping in the library or surfing the Internet. I have come up with a lot of skills to manage time. The timetable for student athletes is even tighter, and I have to deal with injuries and shoulders. The school also has a heavy burden. We will take into account these and recognize our sports performance. The school will choose the former between the athletes with 80 points and the ordinary students with 85 points."

He also cited many examples in real life, pointing out that when going to school or employment, sports will become a plus item: "Many of my friends are fragrant because they practice sports when they apply for college or work, because schools and employers like to have time. People who manage their abilities and team concepts. Whether you are a chef or an engineer, it is useless to know how to work in a team. Where is the job that is a closed-door car for a lifetime? Be sure to have the ability to communicate with others. This is what sports teach me. ."

For those parents who want to develop their children into professional players, or those who have this dream, Edward also hopes that they don't force themselves too much, but learn to enjoy: "If you want to be a professional athlete, you must know that you must It takes thousands of hours to make an effort. If you like it, then these are not tasks, you can have fun. If you are a task, you can't do it. Passion and love can make you more than those who don't love ice. Children are more successful, which is the basis for developing sports interest. If you want to do what you want, you will naturally stick to it and then you will have more and more opportunities to develop into a professional player."

Whether it is aspirations or an athletic achievement, Edward recommends that small players master a "balance", and that both sports and academics will be overburdened and will be exhausted. He said: "The academic burden is heavy and rest. Exercise is a break for me. I usually study for hours and exercise for a few hours. When I was at law school, I didn't forget to go to the gym, golf and ice hockey. But the ice hockey can't. Practice without restrictions, and it will be very tired to practice for 16 or 20 hours a week."

I remember that day, after the training, we were still chatting with the two children on the team on the ice rink. Another child came from the locker room and gave the sugar in his hand to two children to make sure everyone took it. To 2 A child took the sugar and said, "Look, this is our team." The two children have a special envy: "If you can, want to play together, how long you can play."


For the children who have played together for a long time, this team that can be honored and sympathized may have their lifelong friends.

Turn the ice rink into a place where children love to come

On the day of the interview, Edward was carrying a skill training course with the young players. He looked at the students who were practicing shooting on the field and told us that the conditions for Chinese children to learn ice hockey are better than when they were young in Canada: "China has Many professional coaches, but in Canada, teenagers don't have many professional coaches to look for. Most of them are volunteers or parents who play ice hockey. They are coaches. Many of them have no experience in competition. If I want to practice skills when I was young, I have to wait until summer. Ice hockey school. In China, there are training sessions every week, which is the advantage of Chinese children."

But after coming to China, Edward soon discovered that in a good ice hockey teaching environment, the competition faced by Chinese children is also extremely fierce.

The Chinese and Canadian ice hockey culture is the biggest difference in this sport: "Maybe because of China's large population, fierce competition is also brought to the hockey. Parents are very strict with children, but not in Canada, we will not yell at children. Parents will also bring their children to the ice hockey private lessons, but after all, ice hockey is a team exercise and requires group practice. It is different from piano or mathematics. The skills learned in private lessons are worthless if they cannot be integrated into the team. ."

Can understand the mood that everyone wants to improve quickly and achieve certain effects, but learning, improvement and fun can coexist, which is also the secret of success. Edward said: "There has been a lot of research showing that children learn better when they enjoy what they do. I hope they enjoy playing while they are enjoying it." Turning the ice rink into a place that children like to come, this is learning The best way to ice hockey. Don't forget, in the phrase You come to the rink work hard, improve and have fun, there is another important word is Have Fun.

A good hockey environment requires adults to create

At present, Beijing youth ice hockey faces the status quo of "more teams and fewer players." Many children have to carry the tasks of several teams at the same time, often causing physical and mental fatigue. A small player told us that he would participate in the competition of three or four teams including the regional team, the school team and the club.

In this case, Edward gives the opinion. The question is not how the small players choose, but the adults to create a good environment for them: "The leagues should sit together to discuss the matter and intersperse the schedule. As far as I know Beijing is carrying out the competition at a level, which is a good thing for the development of the players. If you want the players to develop, it is necessary to grade the league according to the technical level. It is better to have only 4 or 5 teams per level and do not want to see 15 teams. All concentrated on one level of the situation."

A recent move by the Beijing Youth League is to stop publishing scores and end the game when the points difference reaches 10 goals. In this regard, the parents did not express their supportive attitude. This was somewhat unexpected. The two parents said to us: "This is not bad but it is not good. In fact, the children do not value the winners, even if they lose, they It will also be positively summarized. One or two mistakes can't represent the whole game. Children can just play well." "The practice of ending the game ahead of time is a bit disrespectful to the losing side. We hope that both sides will be full, don't stop." After all The spirit of hard work that does not give up when losing is also important.

Edward also expressed similar views. He also told us about the Canadian youth team's lead in the big score: "If you win, of course you have to be recognized. In Canada, when the difference is too big, the leading party will not continue to score, but I will control the ball and pay attention to not losing the ball, paying attention to the content of the game other than the goal. You don't want the opponent to lose too much, so you won't celebrate after the goal. This is called a style victory. Then, if the ball is in the league. The team level is similar, and this will not happen."

Their evaluation of the coach

When we asked the little players to evaluate the coach, they only used one word: Nice. The coach will take them to eat pizza, the coach is very powerful, they can not get the ball under the coach, the coach will not leave the opportunity to the best player in the game, everyone has plenty of playing time...

The parents are full of praise for Edward. In their eyes, Edward is a very dedicated and versatile person: "He is easygoing. Besides being a coach, he is willing to take the children out to play. Eleven take them to the gun. He is very much involved in the children. There are two degrees, very cultural, and the teacher is more than enough."

Some parents also told us: "Edward teaches children to behave while teaching ice hockey."