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HomeNewsMuskoka Rock Novice Coach receives provincial award as 'Coach of the Month'

Muskoka Rock Novice Coach receives provincial award as ‘Coach of the Month’

A local coach is getting a provincial nod for his work with Muskoka’s young hockey players.

The OMHA is awarding Muskoka Rock Novice Coach Curtis Livingstone with Coach of the Month for December.

His nominator, an unnamed parent of one of his players, says Livingstone has a clear focus on making sure every player is learning, growing and most importantly developing their skills.

“He is a teacher, showing players how to personally improve their own skill level, while pointing out fundamental points of the game before introducing the game’s strategic systems,” says the parent. “He pats them on the back, tells them how far they’ve come, and offers more encouragement to get even stronger, faster and smarter.”

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The parent says their son came to the team with limited experience playing hockey and  Livingstone’s efforts to help their son develop his skills really took root.

“It became apparent during a fun and positive skills competition that my son had progressed dramatically,” says the parent. “My son feels proud of his performance and takes a sense of pride in his abilities.”

Livingstone says the biggest challenge for coaches is helping develop player skills for kids who don’t all have the same experience playing hockey.

“On our team, we have some kids that have skated and played competitive hockey since they could put on a skate and others are new to the sport this year.”

He says teaching the players to rely on and empower each other helps with that development process.

“It is very important to establish an environment where the kids encourage each other and you promote the positive development of all players,” adds Livingstone. “We strive to make sure our kids are all pulling each other in the same direction and above all, have fun on and off the ice.”

Livingstone says sportsmanship is a paramount lesson above all others when teaching kids how to play hockey.

You can read more about Livingstone’s views on coach here.

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