355 Parents: 10 tips for Tournaments

Spring tournaments or tournaments in general can feel like a big moment, but really, they're just an opportunity to enjoy the experience with your goalie without the pressure of results. I know everybody wants to win and we build these up, but that rarely is the point at least. I don't think it should be. It should be just about going out there and having fun because look, this isn't your league, this isn't heading into a Provincial Championship or a National Championship, it's just a chance to get together and compete against some other teams. I know there are some travel teams that really build this stuff up but go out there and have some fun because for most of us, that's all it is about.

So here are my tips. Number one, keep your sleep consistent. Just maintain healthy sleep habits. Don't treat this tournament as something special because, you know, I want everybody just to treat every game as the same, but be prepared. And since travel changes the logistics, don't make it a big deal but make sure that every day and every game gets treated the same and kid is getting the sleep that he needs because there's a whole lot going on that weekend and a chance to sort of spin things out of control if we don't have a routine that we've been maintaining for a while, not just that weekend.

Number two, have a nutrition plan. Just think ahead a little bit. You are going to spend some time in restaurants so think about what the healthier options are that are available. There's no shame in bringing your own food from a local grocery store whether that's about saving money or staying healthier, maybe even using a healthy cooktop in a hotel, which I've done before, keeps things healthy and like I said, helps with the costs. Just balance that though.

Don't forget with letting your kid enjoying being around teammates and out with the team. We don't want to be pulling little Johnny from a team activity because we think that we can make something slightly healthier in the hotel room. Number three, build a gear checklist. There's a lot of moving around, differences from routines. So having a checklist is important.

Everybody's is gonna look different, but it is important to keep yourself organized. Something like maybe backup blades because mid tournament sharpenings aren't easy to find. You don't want to be racing all over whatever town you're for the first time looking for a place to sharpen Johnny skates. Those racks in your room for drying gear, massive help. Roof of your car in the sun is a nice fallback if you have to.

Number four, have a talk with your kid about what success looks like. Have a mental preparation conversation with your goalie about their own goals for the weekend. And, as always, separate them from the wins and the losses. You can refer to some of my previous segments for more about that. Number five, embrace the unknown.

Spring tournaments are unpredictable. You don't know which teams you're up against. I think that's part of the fun. It's a big change from your local routine. Six, stay calm between games.

Resist the urge to overcoach or critique your kid. It is a short and quick weekend. Your goalie needs support, not a play by play breakdown from you. Number seven, debrief but don't dwell. Help your goalie process the games afterwards as we've talked about many times before without getting stuck on the mistakes or the losses.

If you've listened for a while, you know the drill. Focus on the process and what they did well. Number eight, prioritize recovery. Rest between tournament days is part of performance, not a break from it, but don't forget to have fun at the same time. I'll just stand here on my soapbox and say stopping your kid from swimming at age seven because they've got a big game.

Let's just say I don't really approve of doing that. Moderation is the key. Don't forget they're there to have fun with teammates. Number nine, model the enjoyment. Your attitude will set the tone, how you carry yourself throughout the weekend.

If you are present and having fun, your goalie will too. And number 10, remember the big picture. As I've already said, spring hockey is about growth and experience, not results. And here's my bonus. I see this question come up a lot for parents who are traveling for the first time.

Maybe it's to a camp, maybe it's to a spring tournament. How do we travel with gear on a plane? I'll tell you for the most part, it's pretty easy. Call ahead to confirm with your specific airline but in my experience, airlines treat your gear as just a piece of oversized check-in luggage. Get yourself a bag that's big enough to fit the pads in with the rest of the gear.

Keep it under 50 pounds. Again, confirm that figure with the individual airlines. And your sticks will often be included even though they're not in the bag as considered that one piece of checked baggage. I suggest you use sock tape to tape at least two sticks together because it gives them extra strength and put them in some sort of protective bag but it doesn't have to be fancy. One airline gave us a plastic bag they kept just for putting skis in in the wintertime and that worked just fine.

So should be fairly easy. Make sure you call ahead though to be sure that the individual airline you're working with has that same policy. So there you go. 10 ways to set your goalie up for success this spring or at whatever next tournament you're headed to. All parent segments, as always, are presented by Stop It Goaltending U.

And I will remind you that they're published on the InGoal website with a complete transcript. I would love you to go to the post for this week's one and let me know your thoughts and tips in the comments so that others can join in on the conversation.

I love it. Great advice. The one in particular that resonates is the packing your own food a little bit. Can be both a cost saving, but also and, like, just have control over what's going into your body. Like, how we feel is so important.

I'm living this a little bit with a young college athlete in the house and some tough decisions when she's on the road or, you know, even even dorm life where it's not athlete specific at her college, and so there's a lot of heavy foods there. It's an important factor in performance, how you fuel. And taking your own snacks gives you an opportunity and your own food can give you an opportunity to better control that because last thing you wanna do is feel that McDonald's rumbling around down there in the middle of the second period. Have a Roberto Luongo moment in overtime.

That's for sure. And having the snacks that are healthy, I think, is a really tangible way of putting that one. I do I I said it already, but I'm gonna say it again. Don't forget you're balancing the social with the practical. You also don't want your child to be that one kid on the team that's held back to eat salad in the hotel room while the rest of the team is out having fun because that puts them in a difficult social situation as well.

But you can make some healthy choices restaurants.

Why were you looking at me when you you said that, Hutch?

I was actually remembering somebody else and it's not you, but I can remember some spring experiences where another particular little Johnny was not allowed to go to the restaurants, was not allowed to go in the pool with the rest of the team because this was so important And I guarantee, thinking back to age seven, mom, dad, and child will not remember that the tournament even happened, let alone what happened at the tournament.

Oh, the pool's a tough pool's a tough one. Right? I remember even playing, like, baseball at pretty high levels and at, like, 12, 13, and they were like, nothing nothing drains you. Nothing wears you out faster than swimming, and we weren't allowed to do it at those ages. But that was at least, like, Provincial Championships and stuff, and I'm still bitter about some of it.

Well, yeah. And it I mean, sure. Take your kid's age into consideration to an extent, but let's just not get over serious about these, spring tournaments. And and it's not the swimming because the kids aren't swimming. It's the running around while they're in the pool.

And you can do it with some moderation, and maybe you do it after the last game of the day and not in between games. Like, there's ways of pulling this off and staying sane.

Yeah. It's it's it's it's I get it. It's tough. It's tough sometimes. But, I mean, I don't wanna I'm I'm I'm I'm hedging here, Hutch, because this is still we're still technically on the parent playbook, so maybe I'll have to cut this out if you disagree.

But, you know, the kids that are never allowed to have a single thing with sugar in it, and then eventually they're allowed to or they go to a birthday party and they lose their minds? Or in my case, I remember first year university, I actually quit the baccalaureate program at grade 12 so that I could live a little. And all the and I should say all, but a lot of the IB baccalaureate kids that got to first year university, and all of sudden, there wasn't somebody watching with a thumb on them when crazy in first year university. And, boy, did a bunch of them not go to second year university. So Well, that could be

a whole parent playbook on sending your child off to university because we have certainly lived that both as parents and individuals. Don't know if I'd blame it on the IB program, Woody, but definitely

No. But

on your kid is a

different Yeah. I mean, if you if you at some point, your kid's gonna have the freedom to live a little. And if you deprive them of all those things, maybe they stay deprived or maybe they embellish in their first attempts. We'll see. Woody should not be giving parenting advice.

Kids have turned fine, but I am an example to know of.

I'm I'm trying to look for the the the comparison to hockey here. So I guess if you're too tough on your seven year old kid at spring tournaments, when they make it to the Memorial Cup and you're not watching over them, they're gonna go crazy.

They might. No. Maybe not. Yeah. Team team might

The team's probably keep them pretty locked down.