Reboot for Ambition Unlimited

Dear Goalies and Parents,

How has everyone's summer being going?  I'm gearing up for a very busy late-July and August.  This will drive me right into the new 2016-17 season.

During this relative down time from June until now, I've been working on revamping my Ambition Unlimited program.  As some may remember, Ambition Unlimited was a "pay as you want" goalie development sessions.  The program has some limited success and helped support charitable causes like the Children's Wish and Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of Canada.

Only Limited By Your Ambition!Hopefully through my work and enthusiasm, you might sense that goalie coaching is a passion for me.  I love the game, the position (a game within a game), and helping young people develop their skills and get more enjoyment out of the game.  I've also come out very publicly about some the issues I have with challenges of goalie development locally and across Canada.  There are two major ones and I'm going to call them out:

1. Most minor hockey associations (from the local to the national level), have for years received money from goalie parents since the history of the organized youth sport, but have offered little to none of the support to their goaltenders.  Essentially, it has been a case of "taxation without representation" which has been the catalyst for revolution before.  A lot of individual teams do earmark some funds to pull in private goalie training.  Unfortunately, the burden in Canada for parents of goalies to garner development opportunities is to spend their own money to find it.
2. Private (for-profit) goaltending programs, like MINE!  Obviously, to fill in the hole left or willfully ignored by minor hockey, many for-profit goaltending programs have cropped up.  High end goalie coaching in some places in Ontario run up to $300 an hour for a coach.  There is one major benefit of this: Canada has the largest population of these programs where the directors, eat, sleep, and breath goaltending.  This in turn has lead to some amazing coaches in Canada, and I really respect them and their knowledge.  BUT this has lead to another major problem:  the same coaches/developers that could create and maintain a development program for Hockey Canada DO NOT want to "kill the golden goose".    In other words, do not expect these private programs to support a "true" national development program wholeheartedly.  Most spend more time debating the reverse VH at the Hockey Canada goaltending development camps hosting major junior goalties rather than getting serious about helping the other 95% of minor hockey goalies. 

As a result, I've been thinking and re-thinking how to use Ambition Unlimited as a way to address these issues.

Firstly, Ambition will be offering FREE weekly/bimonthly group training sessions for all IP and Novice goaltenders for all minor hockey (and ringette) associations.  These sessions are to create a foundation for all kids who want to start the position and gain the important first fundamentals.  The "risk" parents take when their kids want to try the position are compounded when, in order to gain these skills, have to PAY to get them in addition to added cost of gear and lack of attention the goalies receive in practice.  AU is looking to take that risk off the table, as a result, I hope it will lead to more kids trying the position, getting the those first important skills, and finding that passion that will let them play a long, long time.

Secondly, these group sessions will be the crucible to help develop the next generation of ADULT VOLUNTEER or JUNIOR MENTOR goalie coaches.  The sessions can be used by teams, associations, or people just interested in getting real experience for their ADULT VOLUNTEERS, some of whom may never have been goaltenders.

For the JUNIOR MENTORS, I've been very fortunate to work with some of the most well-rounded and positive group of goaltenders.  Many of these boys and girls are now reaching young adulthood and with their natural leadership qualities, have had 7-8 years of goalie experience and have had a load of coaching from myself and other great coaches in the city.  They are ready to be turned into very effective JUNIOR MENTOR goalie coaches.  I currently have six candidates to help service my local three hockey associations and one candidate for ringette.  The junior mentor goalie coaches will all have their level one Hockey Canada certification and will work the above mentioned goalie clinics.  In turn, they will be assigned to a minor hockey team in their area.  In turn, as a consideration, this minor hockey team will need to "sponsor" this junior mentor goalie coach.  By sponsor, I mean either "purchase" the sponsor bars of the mentor goalie coach or make a donation to the coach's team.  Hopefully, this will keep everyone motivated like a professional goalie coach, while at the same time, keeping the fundraised money within the association.

Both the ADULT VOLUNTEERS and JUNIOR MENTORS will have complete support from me, including a full season on-ice development plan, appropriate for their adopted goaltenders' level.  I will also help liaise with the association and the head coaches of the teams they adopt, so that they are used most effectively.

The short term objective that I have is that the first five to six years of a young goaltender's career, he or she is going to near costless support.  Eventually, I hope to have a volunteer or junior mentor with every novice and atom team in the city within the next three years.  

Ambitious?  Yes, I think so!!