Edmonds to speak at International Coaches Conference

North Bay's Randy Edmonds will be sharing his knowledge of hockey in Europe at the International Coaches Conference taking place in August in Vancouver.

His topic will be Youth Hockey Development in Europe.

"There seems to be alot of interest in what is going on in Europe at the youth ages where it all begins," said Edmonds who coached more than a decade in Europe, with most of his time spent in Sweden. He also runs Eurocamp Hockey School and the HPH Hockey Academy.

"Today Hockey Canada is dealing with such issues as body checking or no checking , goalie issues at top level, international success and failures and more."

Other high profile speakers will include Mike Keenan, Ken Hitchcock, and Canadian World Junior head coach Don Hay.

Here is a sample of what Edmonds will be discussing:

My topic - Youth Hockey Development in Europe

Brynas in Sweden has had most players in world drafted in NHL the past 5 seasons they have a program that works. HV71 youth program has six goalie coaches in its program all paid by the association and kids get extra goalie sessions weekly. These goalie coaches are instructed to follow a program for different ages of there goalies.

There is a mentor coach who gives them instruction and a plan to follow. The cost to play in HV71 for one season is 1000 dollars and goalie sessions are included.

It all starts at the bottom end when you build a good foundation it allows growth that being said lots of work and sacrifice does not give results instantaneously. Some parents want to find a program that gives instant results depending on the age and gender of the player it might take years to get any results.

The mindset in Canada is that it is a race to 15 to see who is the biggest, strongest and fastest at 15.

In Europe it is a much longer process for development where players are looking at 20 -23 yrs to become a elite athlete.

Bert Templeton once told me "Do you know how many good 15-year-olds I have seen in the OHL? The problem is most of them are still here at 20."

It still comes down to hard work and and sacrifice people want to know what is going on in europe then when I tell them often it is not the answer they want to hear . They want the simple quick solution often .They do what we do just more of it at the youth levels 600-800 hrs per year of training where half is on ice instruction

Keys to Development (Europe )

1. Educated coaches and trainers (check education level of the coach you use what coaches certification does he have -just because he played does not mean he can teach)
2. Continuity in a program- and follow it or do they just make it up as they go ? Link between teams from one level to the next (associations job to monitor)
3. Be aware all kids are different and at different stages of there lives (12-year-old boy can be 9 or 15 in his body) early developers be aware they can have huge advantages at this age
4. Skills-Fitness - takes years to develop; put your time in
5. Make sure the ice and off ice are enjoyable experiences your dedication and sacrifice will go up and you get older and you need to love it to train everyday