In the words of Dean DeSilva

In the words of Dean Desilva
Kitchener Minor Hockey Association
A CoachThem Association

Every Association has something special to offer, and the Kitchener Minor Hockey Association is no different. Created in the Fall of 1933, the KMHA was initially organised by local police in an effort to get the youth off the streets and involved with the community.

Dean DeSilva, the Director of Development, is responsible for every coach in the Association and is a resource and mentor to all of them. He has 20 years' worth of experience, ranging from Assistant Coach to Head Coach and Director. He was named GOJHL Coach of the Year in 2009/10, and was an Assistant Coach for Team Canada at the 2016 Youth Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway to mention just a few of his achievements.

"Our Association is very different from other Associations because we have everything under one umbrella. Each year, we have roughly 140 teams. We have all levels of rep and house leagues for both boys and girls, plus special-needs teams for three age categories and skill levels.

"Our Association also runs the largest 4-on-4 summer league in Canada; because of this, skill levels have increased. Because of these amazing results, we are considering expanding."

As Director, he helps the house league coaches to plan and create practice plans ahead of time. Preparation is the key to creating a challenging, skilled development practice. On ice, he teaches how to run an effective practice. "For the Rep teams, we don't take the coaching away from the coaches. However, we asked to follow some guidelines. At the younger ages, for example, we ask that their practices be 85% skill development and 15% tactical. Peewee is 75%-25%, Bantam 60%-40% and Midget is a 50%-50% split."

"During the year, we get the coaches together and encourage the AAA coaches to work with the AA coaches. With two practices a week, in the first one, our AA teams will send 3 or 4 players up to the AAA practice. This helps with skill development and to reward players for their hard work, dedication, and leadership. In the AAA's second practice, the AAA year younger team sends 3 or 4 players. Having different looks is always great for development."

PD Day Skills Days"We have about four days during the school year when both school boards are closed. So we book the ice all day, from 9 am to 4 pm. We run various skill sessions for the different ages, and it's open to everyone except AAA. We feel that the AAA players get enough, and the idea is to use this time to develop our players looking to make the jump up a level. By focusing on passing, puck control, and shooting, we hope this will allow them to do this. As for the local coaches, we have them paired up with an instructor who's coached Hockey Canada, University or Junior. Being paired up and hearing how they explain, teach, and progress the drill allows the coach to bring that knowledge back to their team. We try to not only develop the kids but the coaches as well."

CoachThem "When we do our skill development or coach meetings we always have a segment on CoachThem. By sharing our plans before the meeting, we know our coaches are prepared. With our big coach's meeting coming up in August, we are encouraging everyone to add their drills to the platform. Not only do we use it for planning our practices but also as a teaching tool. We say to our coaches, here is a practice, what do you see as an issue in this practice? We want our coaches to evolve and not just follow orders."

"As the director, my job is to develop our coaches so they can pass on this knowledge to our players, and with CoachThem we now have the tool to do this."

CoachThisWay.