Competitiveness and Work Ethic

"If you talk to any coach, two values that are extremely vital to a team's success are having a competitiveness and work ethic that are better than the competition." - Topher Scott

Three ways to help develop a culture of competitiveness and work ethic are listed below:

1. Having High Standards

• Consistently Hold Players Accountable: if you give players and inch they will take a mile! Make sure you are clear with what wortk ethic standards you want them to achieve in each practice. 
• Be Prepared At Practice: Being prepared for practice will allow you to add in competitive drills, games and fun. Also, when players see you are prepared, they know they will need to come to work. 

2. Keep Score In Practice:

Find a way to always keep score in practice! Kids will naturally want to compete harder to win when you keep track of score. Topher discusses some great tips in the video above (keep score between teams, or forwards vs defenceman, etc). Two other ways to add in scores to practice are: 

• Add Small Area Games (view 90+ games)
• Add Battle Drills (view (view 25+ battles)

3. Be A Model Of Hard Work

Model the way of hard work. A lot of teams take on the personality of their head coach. If players see that you are prepared and invested in their development, it will rub off on them.

• Be Prepared For Practice: Always come to practice with a prepared practice plan. There is no excuse to show up with no plan. 
• Be Prepared In Communication: Be prepared in what you want to communicate to your team. Consistently hold them accountable and be prepared with certain coaching lessons that you want to give them.