Parents and players I am pleased to have been chosen as the
Coach for the St. Thomas Panthers Midget Second Team. I am looking forward to working with the
girls and the parents to have a fun, competitive year.
I have worked as a Head or Assistant Hockey Coach the last
8 years from LL to AA and have enjoyed all of the time on and off the ice with
those teams. I was fortunate enough to
work with some excellent coaches and I learned a great deal from them.
I wanted to communicate with you the plans for the tryout
and next year.
My-self and the non-parent evaluators will create a competitive environment for the girls to tryout in and this will continue throughout the season. Please have the girls come to the sessions with a positive attitude and a willingness to work hard. The goal is to place the girls at the proper level based on their abilities and set them up for a great year.
We have the numbers for three Midget teams, if anyone is more interested in the third team only please let me know. If anyone has thoughts of coaching the third team please contact me. Upon approval from the Board I would work with them on selecting the 2nd & 3rd teams.
My tryout message to the girls is that when your team has the puck keep it and when your team doesn’t have it work as hard as possible to get it back. Individual play, long shifts, and shooting the puck away will not get anyone on this team.
The first try out at Timken is Wednesday May 10th 9:30 & will be set up as follows:
8-10 minute warm up of skating drills with and with-out the puck.
15 minutes of competitive drills
Inter-squad Scrimmage
Details on the second tryout and ex games will follow.
As the Midget A team has already had two open skates we will make our selections for the remaining tryouts after Wednesday. Players are required to attend a minimum of 2 skates to be considered for the team.
Please note we are planning on filming some of the tryout so we can review after the sessions.
In terms of next year the plan is to enter the Oakville and St. Thomas Tournaments as a B team. Depending on the results will choose the correct level of play.
We anticipate an average of 2.5 to 3.5 hours on the ice per week which includes games as well as practices. As a team we will decide on extra shooting or dryland training. We will do everything we can to have a consistent schedule so the girls can plan their busy lives around school, work and other sports/activities. Our team will work with Coach Sean and the Midget A team to provide them great options for call-ups as they require them.
We will also have at least one other tournament that will involve travel, most likely a train trip to Chicago in January to a great event. It is my hope that we will qualify for Provincials and Lower Lakes at the end of the year.
If you have any questions please contact me at [email protected] or by cell at 416-414-1429.
The compete level of the players is very important to me as a coach.
Thank-you,
Coach Waitor