Make Everyone Around You Better

Today, Paul Lubanski Offers A Powerful Parenting And Coaching Directive:  

Encourage Your Players/Youngsters To Strive To Become The Type Of Person That "Makes Everyone Around Him/Her Better Players And Teammates..."

By Paul Lubanski

Another new epiphany for me.

Don't laugh.

As you may know if you are a regular reader of my blog posts here on the Chicago Area Youth Hockey website, from time-to-time I claim to awake in the middle-of-the-night with a profound idea related to hockey (and youth sports in-general) that I am certain is non-debatable and must be shared.

Today is one of those written efforts.

So here goes...

Actually, regardless of the world-wide youth sport we may be discussing, there is ONE UNIVERSAL goal that ALL participants must be made to both internalize and strive to achieve and it is thus:


Within ANY team sport, the primary two-pronged goal for ALL partcipants once they join or are selected for a team MUST BE to make those around you (your teammates) better people and players.

In other words, striving to be the sort of competitor that does everything in his/her power to make his/her teammates both look like and actually be better players and again--people. (NO-THIS DOES NOT NECESSARILY TRANSLATE OR EQUATE TO BEING/BECOMING THE LEADING GOAL SCORER NOR OVERALL POINT PRODUCER ON YOUR CLUB).

Per ice hockey, this would/could include everything from blocking shots to making an unselfish dish to taking a big hit to make a play that clears the zone. Or "stepping-in" when a teammate is being roughed-up and of course, acting as positive force via consistent unbiased encouragement. Also, being a motivating catalyst by representing him/herself as the hardest worker and best-prepared player off the surface--and this means in the classroom as well.

What is very is cool is that ownership and dislay of the above-referenced traits NATURALLY places you in a lofty "leadership" position regardless of whether you are wearing a letter as so designated by the coaches.

However, more importantly, in fact FAR more importantly, you are competing as what I refer to as a team-centric "champion." Exerting the type of exemplary effort outlined above makes you one whether in reality--you and the team win one or not.

And again, who doesn't want to play with a player that by his/her mere presence in the room and on the surface makes EVERYONE around them a better person and player?

The question is obviously rhetorical in nature.

Of course, WE ALL DO.

So make yourself into that sort of contributor.

Trust me, at some juncture down-the-road an intelligent youth hockey scout in the Midwest or Canada will take notice.

The trick is actually locating one! ("intelligent scout" is an anemic oxymoron in the Midwest area and Ontario,Canada in my book...)

Anyway, that is all fodder for next week's column--please stay tuned for that one.

For now, it is time for all of you work on becoming  that team-centric, ebullient leader that the gist of this column speaks of.

I KNOW you can do it simply because we all have it in us. Trick is in putting in the hard work to make it rise to the surface. But what awesome things in life just appear before us and allow us to reap their respective benefits WITHOUT sacrifice?

Virtually nothing.

I rest my case.

Best of luck.

Paul Lubanski


CONTACT Paul via:   holdfasttodreams@rocketmail.com


Next Week: Youth Ice Hockey Scouting In The MidwestAnd Ontario--What A "Real" Scout Should Be Capable Of And Focusing On...





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