Podcast Segment for Parents – Episode 255

Parent segment, Hutch, you've got a good one this week, chatting with Maria Mountain, the parent segment brought to us by Stop It Goaltending U the app.

Absolutely. Anytime there's a transition in seasons, Daren, you know, we go from regular season to spring hockey, we go into training camp. Any anytime things change up and we as parents get a chance to reassess, maybe look back, was our kid happy at the end of the season? Are they looking forward to something new for the next season? How can we set them up to be happy?

We all start getting that old fear of missing out, and we look around. We see what the other parents are doing, what the other goalies are doing, and we wonder to ourselves, what do we need to be adding to the program for our kids so that they can have their best season ever? And inevitably, part of that becomes off season training and what you're doing off the ice, whether it's hitting the gym or or whatever it might be. And so I see lots of people asking what their kids should be doing in the off season. It turned out, I got a text message from Maria.

She was going to be on Vancouver Island twenty minutes from my house visiting family and we were gonna get together and have a coffee anyway. So, of course, I took advantage and threw a microphone in front of her and said, can you just answer one quick question for all the parents out there? So we got Maria's feedback on it. It really did talk about ages and different things you should be doing depending on the age of your kid. She stresses not worrying too much about what the kid feels they need to do with that old fear of missing out, but I think the advice goes for parents as well.

Listen to some experts like Maria, like some of the other people we've had, over at ingoalmag.com, and do what you can to do the best for your son or daughter.

We'll get to the interview, right after we bring everybody up to date with, Stop It Goaltending U the app.

I was gonna say it's kind of fortuitous that Maria was in town because she's done a lot of work with Stop It Goaltending, and Brian Daccord and his team over the years been a big part when they have seminars and gatherings of goaltenders as she is for any gathering of goaltenders all over the world. Maria's so often a featured guest when it comes to goalie training, and that is just one part of what they offer you at Stop It Goaltending U the app. The world's most comprehensive app for goalies, goalie parents, and goalie coaches. And of course, we have an offer from Stop It Goaltending U and InGoal Magazine. Right now, when you download and purchase a subscription to Stop It Goaltending U, the app, you get InGoal Magazine for free.

That's right. Free. No greater combination than Stop It Goaltending U, the app, and InGoal Magazine, your chance to put two of the greatest resources for goaltenders of every age and skill level, goalie parents, and goalie coaches at your fingertips. Between those two, you've got ways to get better on a daily basis. Make sure you check it out.

Check out the Stop It Goaltending U app, either at their landing page at stop@goaltending.com or on the App Store or on Google Play.

I have a rule. Free is better than cheap. Just just a something to standby. Now cheap's good. Cheap's really good. But even get a freight, that's really good whenever you throw that that word out there. So what should your child be doing, in the summer?

Let's, bring in Maria Mountain with David Hutchison on InGoal Radio, the podcast.

Here we are this week with the parent segment, and I have the goalie training pro in my office, the InGoal offices in Nanaimo, British Columbia. Maria Mountain, welcome.

Thanks, Hutch.

Great to have you here as always. We wanted to address the question that so many parents have or at least the topic so many parents bring up this time of year. What should I be doing for my son or daughter off the ice? It comes in various forms. I think everybody assumes that they need to be really grinding away in the gym if they wanna be the best goalie they can, but not every kid is the same.

Not every kid is the same age. Can you give us some generalities of what people should be looking at this time of year?

goalies that are under 14 years of age, they're really wired for skill development. So sometimes parents wanna get them quote, unquote training like the pros and working hard in the gym at that age, but they're not they're not wired to be building strength and mass and those kinds of things.

Yeah. For sure. I think if we kinda split it by age group a little bit. So, you know, I think those younger goalies, goalies that are under 14 years of age, they're really wired for skill development. So sometimes parents wanna get them quote, unquote training like the pros and working hard in the gym at that age, but they're not they're not wired to be building strength and mass and those kinds of things.

So let's take this time to work on their skill development because their nervous system is still plastic. They can still take up these motor patterns, and then they'll have those through their whole career. So playing multiple sports, you know, doing something different in the summer. If you want to work on something that's going to really help in the crease, then, you know, that's working on motor skills, puck handling, catching, power skating, really getting comfortable on their edges because those those will just it's like riding a bicycle. We never forget how to ride a bicycle because we learn when we're little kids.

So for those kids, that's I think that's what they should be working on. I don't think those little kids need to be trying to get bigger and stronger.

What do you say to the parent who says, but but but but my Johnny's teammates are all in the gym lifting right now. Like, he can't miss out on that.

Well, and and I think it's are you doing it for a social reason or are you doing it for what's best for the kid? And, you know, I I'll I'll tell people when when they say things like that, you know, I wanted to eat Captain Crunch cereal every day for breakfast when I was a kid, but my mom wouldn't let me because she knew it wasn't what was best for me. So I I think sometimes from the from the coach that has no kids, but I think it's like you're the parent. And and, you know, I think if and I'm sure there I'm not saying there aren't some good programs that are really designed for young kids and the coaches it and they're doing the right things. But I think it very easily gets to be focused on, let's make you big and strong, and that's not what kids should be focusing on.

Okay. I'm sure that's a topic we could drill deep into. And if any parents want to talk more about that, by all means, let us know and we'll get into it. For those that are over 14 or 14 and up, what are you thinking?

14 and up, I look at it like building the skill and the habit of excellence in the gym. So I think a young goalie 14 years old, they should be doing some extra training in the off season. They should be learning how to squat and deadlift and frontal plane squat and press and pull and with good technique.

14 and up, I look at it like building the skill and the habit of excellence in the gym. So I think a young goalie 14 years old, they should be doing some extra training in the off season. And it doesn't have to be, you know, what you might think of as super goalie specific, but they should be learning how to squat and deadlift and frontal plane squat and press and pull and with good technique. So I think too if you are in a position where you can get that kid in a gym with a good strength coach, not someone who's just trying to turn them into a meathead, but a good strength coach who sees, you know, where this is gonna go. That's a great time to do it so that they're learning these these skills, squatting, pressing, pulling, lunging.

Now this wasn't intended to be the question for the day, but, of course, I've got my parent hat on. Soon as I hear you say that, the first thing that comes to mind is how the heck do I know if it is a good coach? How do I find a good strength coach?

That's a that's a really good question. That's a tough question to answer. But I I think it's, you know, someone who works in pretty small groups. You know, there aren't 15 kids in there all at once hammering away. Someone who's been doing it for a long time.

There are a lot of strength coaches that pop up and then have to leave the industry because it's a pretty hard it's a pretty hard grind, and you have to be pretty good to have a long career at it.

Sounds like goalie coaching.

It is like goalie coaching. Yeah. So, yeah, I think somebody who has a reputation for helping develop young athletes. And, you know, I always prided myself on our kids not tearing their ACLs and injuring their groins and things like that because we took the time. We weren't just about hammering and trying to make them tired and exhausted.

You know? And some days parents would come and and say, oh, was that a hard workout, you know, to their kid? And the kid would say, well, no. Not really. Because we're working on the foundations and the fundamentals that are gonna help them stay healthy and and form the foundation for their development. So

I guess parents have to just do the research and talk to other people too.

Yeah. Talk to other people. And the at any any gym, they should get be able to get a tryout session. So we always before someone joined Revolution, they had to do a tryout session, and that was as much for us, the coaches, as it was for the the athlete and the parent just to make sure it really was the right fit.

So anything else about that age group of these kids who were heading towards junior college? I don't mean those players, but you've got a 15, 16, 17 year old.

Yeah. As they get a little bit older. So I think the first off season is really just developing that vocabulary of movement, that habit of doing the extra work. And then as they get a bit older, 16, 17, 18, that's that's a huge window for improvement and development. So it's it is about making them bigger, faster, stronger, but in a way that's gonna help them perform on the ice.

Yeah. As they get a little bit older. So I think the first off season is really just developing that vocabulary of movement, that habit of doing the extra work. And then as they get a bit older, 16, 17, 18, that's that's a huge window for improvement and development. So it's it is about making them bigger, faster, stronger, but in a way that's gonna help them perform on the ice.

And and this always gets slippery slope because, you know, people think when you talk about goalie specific training that now it means like doing a butterfly with weights or, you know, like people take it to to make it something crazy. It's not. But it it it's it means I'm not gonna invest my training time with this goalie trying to make them a power lifter. So they need to be strong enough, but they don't have to be back squatting 400 pounds. You know?

So we get them they will front. I won't I don't back squat any athletes We don't. For years and years. But, you know, we'll front squat them so that they can front squat. They'll learn how to do Olympic lifts because they might go to college.

Yeah. And then be like, okay, we're gonna test your clean. And then they're gonna say, well, like, my strength coach never taught me. So we teach them really for that reason. There are better ways we can, you know, get them explosive, but and they know how to front squat and deadlift and everything.

But then once they get to that, okay, this is this is strong enough. This is good. Then we find a different way to challenge that. So maybe even single leg squat, you know, frontal plane squats, things that are gonna translate a little better onto the ice because they require stabilization. And so that's that's kinda where we go with those guys.

It's probably, you know, the highest volume training that they're they're ever gonna do from when they're, you know, 16 to 23.

Awesome. We could do a two hour podcast on this. We're not going to today because I know you have a plane to catch. But thank you for taking some time, Maria. If anybody would like to know more, where are they gonna find you?

Probably the easiest place to find me is on Instagram. I'm just at goalie training, or if you're a website type of person, goalietrainingpro.com.

Perfect. There are thousands of pieces of content from Maria out there if you would like to learn. So go check it out. Thank you, Maria.

Cheers.

Fun stuff. So much energy there. But I mean, I love Maria. She's fabulous. I don't know why she has to go dragging Captain Crunch down.

Like, what did what did Captain Crunch do to deserve that?

Don't come for don't come for Daren's sugary cereals.

Like, the guy's just, like, out there trying to make a living, and he gets hammered by Maria Mountain.

I mean, I grew up

on Maria.

I grew up on Frosted Flakes, and look where I am. Not in the National Hockey League.

What was your favorite sugared cereal?

Frosted Flakes, for sure. With extra sugar? Probably.

Woody? I'm a Froot Loops guy.

Oh. Can't remember the last time.

Yes. Can't remember the last time that I had it, but as soon as I said that, I'm now craving it. It's probably been years since I had a bowl, but now that you now that I you've maybe say it out loud, I'm like, oh, I'm gonna get myself some Fruit Loops.

No. Go in when you do the shopping for Mother's Day. That's right. Little little special treat.

Maybe All the sugary cereal that she doesn't let us buy for the kids.

I love those. I don't know if they still make them the like camping packs.

Oh, mini packs were the best, weren't they?

Yeah. Yeah. They could like

We used to go to my parents' cat or grandparents' cabin and that was the that was that was the special treat because you didn't get those you didn't get that cereal at home. So remember how it would have a mix? Yes. You know, there'd be like two good ones and then there you like the raisin bran and you're always like just trying to bust open and get the Frosted Flakes before you had to had to eat the raisin bran or the special k. Those are good days.