How Bethel University Men’s Hockey Uses CoachThem Every Day

At CoachThem, we love hearing how coaches and programs use the platform in their own unique ways, not just to plan practices, but to build stronger systems, improve communication, and create consistency throughout their organization.

Bethel University Men’s Hockey has been using CoachThem for seven years, making it a central part of how their coaching staff prepares, collaborates, and operates throughout the season.

We asked Chris McKelvie to share a look inside how the Bethel University Men’s Hockey program uses CoachThem, from pre-season preparation and daily practice planning to managing special teams and maintaining a seven-year archive of their work.

Here’s what he shared:

 

Bethel University Men's Hockey

 

At Bethel University, CoachThem has become a core part of how our staff prepares and teaches and it starts well before the season even begins.

 

Pre-Season.

 

Ahead of each season, we use CoachThem to build out our team playbook and pre-season presentations. We draw our systems directly in CoachThem diagrams, then insert them into our presentations and videos. It gives us a clean, consistent way to communicate our identity and expectations to players from day one.

 

Daily practice planning.

 

Once the season is underway, CoachThem drives our day-to-day. We plan every practice in the platform, then print and download the plans to post on the marker board and share on the locker room TV — so our players arrive knowing exactly what to expect before we even step on the ice.

 

A seven-year archive.

 

We catalogue every single practice in CoachThem. That means we can quickly go back and look at what we ran at any point in a given season and we've been doing it for seven years now. That history is something we lean on constantly when planning and reflecting throughout the year.

 

Special teams management.

 

We also use CoachThem to manage our special team sets, mapping out which personnel go where across different situations. It keeps everything organized and easy to reference, whether we're in a staff meeting or on the bench.

 

Easy to use, easy to share.

 

One of the things our staff appreciates most is how easy CoachThem is to use. We can quickly share practices and drills across our coaching staff, keeping everyone on the same page without a lot of extra back-and-forth. We also love browsing and pulling drills from other coaches in the CoachThem community — it's a great way to bring fresh ideas into our program without having to build everything from scratch.

CoachThem has become part of how we operate every day. It's not just a planning tool — it's how we stay organized, stay connected as a staff, and build consistency across our entire program.

 

Conclusion

 

What stands out about Bethel University Men’s Hockey’s approach is how CoachThem has become integrated into every stage of their coaching process.

From building their playbook before the season begins to planning daily practices, organizing special teams, sharing ideas across the coaching staff, and maintaining years of coaching history, the platform gives their staff one place to keep their work organized and accessible.

A big thank you to Chris McKelvie and the Bethel University Men’s Hockey program for sharing how CoachThem has become part of their day-to-day operations. We’re proud to support coaches and programs like Bethel as they continue to find better ways to plan, communicate, and prepare their teams.

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Written by the CoachThem Team