Coaching High School Sports

Coaching at the High School level is so much fun, and is very challenging at the same time.  High school is such an interesting time, and your players reflect all the different phases that they are going thru.  The difficulty of coaching in High School is that the players are at so many different levels, both in ability and dedication.  I believe that coaching in High School is 10% hockey, and 90% everything else.  Sometimes you feel like more of a guidance councilor or psychiatrist, trying to help these young players get thru the challenges of life.

When they tell me that they want to play hockey after high school, I always ask them what they think it will be like.  As usual, they see more the glamour or the feeling of success at that next level. I try and make them understand that playing high level hockey isn't always about the joys of making it, rather it's about the hard work that you won't always get credit for, the effort that goes unseen.  

It is still so much fun, I always love working hard.  It comes down being willing to do the work, sometimes handle rejection, to dedicate yourself to school, personal life, hockey, and being able to balance all of those things for success.  If you think you can do that, I really think you have a chance.  If it's for the right reasons, it'll work out...

-Coach Benny

Benefits of Private Training

One of the things that I respect the most about hockey, is that there is nothing "natural" about it.  There is no running, jumping, etc.-- all the things we learn as we begin to move when we are small children.  A hockey player has to learn how to skate, stick-handle, put those things both together, and then navigate the ice with contact being introduced as well.  You never hear stories about people who have just started playing moving on to a professional career.  My point: hockey takes hard work.  Each person moves and learns their own way. This is why I believe private lessons and education can be so good for hockey players.

All teachers and coaches think differently, and I respect that.  My belief is that you don't have to completely wipe the slate clean when working with players.  Rather, I believe the best coaches learn how to make each player the best version of themselves. Unique, self-reliant, and determined to better themselves on their own should be the goals of good hockey trainers.

At Colorado Hockey Training, we use power skating, agility drills for both skating and stick handling, film, and off ice strengthening exercises to help players be the best that they can be.  I love the game of hockey, and I love teaching it even more.

-Coach Benny

My Hockey Mentor

Guidance is huge in the world of sports, and in everything else as well.  I am fortunate to have someone who has guided me thru hockey ever since I was young.  It's funny, the lessons may have changed a bit.  But, in the end, it all comes down to the same little things.  You have to build a foundation, one that will stand up to all the challenges that come your way.

Charlie Klingfus is my hockey mentor.  When I was a kid, he was perched over my shoulder constantly challenging me to look at the whole ice.  He would slow me down, (which was tough to do), actually discuss what was going on, and help me to see that there is so much more than just what's around the puck.  Work ethic, accountability, problem solving, and above all respect for your teammates and your coaches.  

A few weeks back, I was really challenged with my team.  On my way to the game, I called Charlie.  In between laughing about silly stuff we've been a part of, he always gives me these perfect nuggets to learn from.  I listen, really listen.... Application isn't always easy, but you have to trust your gut.  It's ok to do things your way.  In the end, you have to be able to live with yourself and your decisions.  But, if I've learned anything, I've learned that you cannot be so narrow minded, or short sighted to think that you can never learn.....

His favorite line to me is, "...you don't just coach your kids, you are coaching your kid's kids....."

You're a great man Charlie, a gem.  Thank you:)