CoachThem Corner Mike Schutte's: Telling it like it is

In the words of Mike Schutte,
Burlington Eagles City Rep Hockey Association
CoachThem Association


With over 30 years of experience, ranging from Assistant Coach, Head Coach, Scout, Director, GM, and former Director of Operations for Team Ontario, Under 17 Team, and currently serving as Coaching Consultant and Player Coordinator for the Burlington Eagles (with 34 Teams, AAA, AA, A), Mike Schutte has a lot to share! We at CoachThem were lucky enough to get his insight on coaching, mentoring, and player development.
 

"It is a common approach when it comes to youth hockey in Canada to put a lot of pressure and focus on playing games, winning tournaments and playoffs, instead of taking the time to develop the players. 

In our Association, we consider ourselves a player focused, player centred program. We put the long-term development of our players ahead of winning and/or losing.  We believe in developing our players for the long run, which gives them the best shot at playing hockey beyond the minor leagues.  Our focus on the player and his/her skills is really about teaching life lessons, both on and off the ice. Being a player-centered program is what drew me to CoachThem. I was intrigued by what they were offering.

When I was initially hired by Burlington Eagles, the job title was Coach Mentor. To be honest, I didn't like the term 'Coach Mentor' because I wanted to establish the mindset of coaches helping coaches and using a more collaborative approach, so I came up with the title Coaches Consultant and Player Development Coordinator. This title resonated with what I see my purpose to be: to develop our coaches so that our coaches can develop our players. Simple. 

I don't micromanage. What I prefer is to encourage our coaches to express themselves and show the kids that there are different ways to learn and you have to be able to learn from different types of people. No two coaches are the same. This is true both in hockey and in life. Being able to adapt is a life skill that will reap its own ongoing rewards."
 

 

 

"You know the old saying, if you give a man a fish, he can live for a day, but if you teach the man to fish, he can live forever?  Well, that's the approach I've taken from day one. I can go on the ice during practice and share my knowledge with the players, but that will be short-lived. Practice, techniques and skills need to be repeated over and over again by each player. So I asked myself, 'how can I have more of an impact and more of an effect overall?' I knew that whatever we chose to do would affect 34 head coaches and 90 assistant coaches. We needed to streamline the program all around the players and their development, and at the same time, we needed to take the emphasis away from systems and trying to win every game.

In the past, I've given all our coaches links to drills, or I've shared YouTube videos and ideas on how to structure their practice plan. Now, CoachThem gives me a new avenue to pursue to share Drills and Plans. 

I think it is valuable for our coaches to think about looking at things a little differently from what they are used to thinking, doing and practising. Most coaches coach the way they were coached. I'm just trying to upgrade their thought process so that they are a little more open-minded, receptive to change, effective and in tune with today's rapidly changing game and most importantly that they make the best use of our ice-time. CoachThem provides us with an avenue and an opportunity to better accomplish this. 

I'm confident that sharing practice Plans and Drills with coaches will be simplified with CoachThem. Allowing our coaches to share their favourite Drills with the Association will spread the wealth of knowledge across the team. CoachThem will give us the platform to benefit our coaches and ultimately our players, and that is a very good thing."
 

Thank you Mike Schutte for sharing your commitment to long-term player development and a coach-first approach! Our sports coaching software and practice planning app empower coaches to create structured, skill-focused training plans across hockey, soccer, and lacrosse. By prioritizing athlete development over short-term wins, we help teams build a strong foundation for success—both on and off the ice.

Coach This Way.

 

 

Written by the CoachThem Team

 

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