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Travel hockey doesn't run on coaches. It runs on parents. Every home game needs four
grown-ups at the scorer's table and somebody selling 50/50 tickets, and every family takes a turn.
If this is your first year, don't worry. Nobody knows how to run the clock until they've run the
clock. Here's the rundown. — Stephanie
VOLUNTEER JOBS
Every family works about four home games a season. The rotation is taped inside the
scorer's box and handed out at the parents' meeting. If you can't make your turn, you find the
swap, not the manager. Carole Audet keeps the rotation.
| Job | What you do |
| SCOREKEEPER | Fills out the official game sheet. Before the game, copy both lineups onto it (numbers and names, from each manager). During the game, write down every goal with the time and who got the assists, and every penalty with the time, the number and the minutes. The refs tell you at the box; if you didn't hear, ask. It's fine. After the game both coaches and the ref sign it and everybody gets a copy. Neat handwriting counts. Bring two pens; one will die. |
| CLOCK | Runs the scoreboard. The clock starts when the puck is dropped and stops on every whistle. Keep your thumb on that button and your eyes on the ref, not your kid. (Hardest part of the job.) Put goals up on the board when the ref signals, and run the penalty clocks. |
| PENALTY BOX | Opens and closes the door. Tells the kid when his penalty is up, and lets him out on time, not early, not late. If the other team scores on a power play during a minor, the penalty ends right then; the ref will say so. Stay calm. A kid in the box is usually mad and you are the only grown-up he's talking to. "Shake it off, you'll be back in a minute" works wonders. |
| THE 50/50 | Walk the stands with the roll of tickets and the apron. A dollar a ticket, or an arm's length for $5. Draw in the third period and announce it at the next whistle. Half the pot goes to the winner and half to the team. Count the money with a second parent, both sign the envelope, and hand it to Margaret Wilks or Sharon Farias. Don't leave the money anywhere, ever, not even for a minute. |
| LOCKER ROOM | One parent stays near the locker room door before and after games and practices. Two adults in the room at a time, always, never one alone with the kids. Mostly this means finding lost gloves and tightening skates. |
| 5:30 COFFEE | The dads' rotation for practice mornings. Bring a big thermos of coffee and a box of something. Shaun's opinion: whoever brought the powdered donuts last year is welcome back. |
WHAT TO BRING TO THE RINK
For you:
● A big thermos (coffee, cocoa, soup, we've seen it all)
● A blanket for your lap
● A folding chair. Rink 2 has two rows of bleachers and they fill up.
● A stadium cushion, because those bleachers are aluminum
● Hat, gloves, boots with real soles
● Hand warmers
● Quarters for the vending machine
● A book for the little brothers and sisters
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For the bag:
● Extra laces
● A roll of white tape and a roll of black
● A water bottle with a name on it
● Skate guards
● A towel for drying blades
● A spare mouthguard
● Jersey and socks. Home is white, away is blue. The number of kids who show up for an away game in white is amazing.
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SIDELINE MANNERS
We are known as a classy team to watch, and we want to keep it that way.
- Cheer for everybody. Every kid on the team, every line, every shift. A good play by the
other team deserves a clap too.
- Don't coach from the stands. Your kid can hear you and Coach Joe at the same time, and
that's one voice too many. If you're yelling "SHOOT!" you're not helping.
- Leave the refs alone. A lot of youth hockey refs are 15, 16, 17 years old, learning the
job, and they get paid less than the vending machine takes in. No refs, no game.
- No banging on the glass during play. Startles goalies. Annoys everybody.
- The 24-hour rule. Questions about ice time, lines or positions wait 24 hours, and then
go to the coach privately, by phone or after practice. Never in the parking lot, never in front of
the kids, never right after a loss.
- The ride home. Your kid already knows about the giveaway in the second period. Try
"I love watching you play" and "What do you want for dinner?" Let them bring up the game if they
want to.
- Be on time. Late kids miss warmups, and warmups are where they get their legs.
SHAUN'S TWO CENTS
I've coached from the bench for four years now and here's the truth: the kids can hear EVERYTHING
from the stands. The good stuff and the bad stuff. I've had a kid skate to the bench crying
because his own dad was yelling at him in front of the whole rink, and I've had a kid skate off
grinning because somebody's grandma yelled "NICE PASS, SWEETHEART." Be the grandma.
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TRAVEL AND HOTELS
Carpools are set up by the families themselves; Stephanie has the phone list. At tournament
hotels, kids are in their rooms by 10, there's no hockey in the hallways (we will lose our
deposit, we know this from experience), and a parent is at the pool whenever a kid is in it.
Damage comes out of the family's pocket, not the team's.
SKATE SHARPENING
Every couple of weeks during the season, more if your kid is on the ice a lot or walks across
the parking lot in skates (don't). Gerald Fernandez sharpens for the team on Tuesday mornings in
the lobby for $4 a pair, and the money goes in the team fund.
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