More specifically, he’s looking to trumpet the importance of an upcoming Intro to Coaching clinic that will be offered — and will be mandatory for those looking to help out on the ice or behind the bench of Timbit or novice players this season — in mid-August.
The certification has always been required, officially, but neither the local association or Hockey Newfoundland and Labrador were ever all that meticulous when it came to enforcing the rule. That, apparently, is about to change.
“It’s something that I think will start being enforced by HNL, so because of that we want to make sure that everybody who can get out does get out,” said Burden. “I know it’s summer and it might be difficult for some people, but we wanted to get it done before the season started.”
One big reason for that is the Chevy Safe and Fun Hockey Festival that will be hosted by the local association Aug. 26-28 and will feature NHL legend Bobby Orr. Although many of the positions to help coach alongside Orr have been snatched up, there are still some spaces left and more spots may become available between now and late August.
“I want to see as many people certified as possible in the event people can’t make it (to the festival),” Burden said. “If I have to start filling holes, I want to fill them with people who can coach those divisions.”
The clinic is an extremely basic approach to coaching young kids and won’t even feature an on-ice session. The entire course will be covered in a four-hour classroom session that, according to Burden, will feature group brainstorming sessions on various ways to coach, the results of which will be given to facilitator Robert Major of Deer Lake, who will offer criticisms and suggest alternatives if need be. Major is a highly accredited coach within Hockey Canada and HNL.
“It might have to do with your practice plan, or it might be as simple as a pre-game speech or how you review a game with a team,” said Burden. “It will be very much the basics and at the end of it you’ll have your certificate. For those people, especially with kids in Timbit, you’re good then for the next four years or so.”
If I have to start filling holes, I want to fill them with people who can coach those divisions. - Scott Burden, CBMHA president
Burden hopes the rudimentary nature of the course, along with the classroom setting, will encourage those parents who were never big into hockey in the past, but would like to be involved, to do so.
“We don’t want to turn those people away or make them feel like they can’t be involved,” he said. “If they have their levels and want to be involved, we want them involved.
“It’s not very onerous for someone to do it ... you have these things sometimes that take two nights and then you have a full day on the ice, I mean, in the middle of summer? You’re not going to get people to do it,” he added. “But with this, I’d really like as many parents as can afford to come out, whether the association covers the cost, so as many parents with kids in the association that want to be accredited do so. I want them out in big numbers because we need a lot of help.”
The clinic will go ahead Aug. 16 from 6-10 p.m. at Corner Brook Regional High School and Burden is optimistic he’ll see a suitable number of people there eager to learn or simply refresh their knowledge. After all, without it, they won’t be able to help out on the ice or behind the bench.
“I’d love to see anywhere between 25-40 ... I suspect 25 people would be good,” he said. “It’s important now more than ever because HNL is going to start cracking down on associations with people behind the benches that don’t have their levels.
“In the middle of the year many times the coaches of teams, due to work commitments, can’t show up and you’re calling on parents to come over behind the bench,” he added. “Now we’re going to be limited in who we can ask. They’re going to need these levels.”
