Respecting others is an important skill that will benefit your child through many stages of life. Whether in the classroom, the boardroom or the hockey arena, respect goes a long way as a reciprocal action intended to return the favour.

Although our title for this post is ‘The Importance of Respecting Your Team Members’, at NHTC – we also consider our coaches to be a part of your child’s team, because we believe an ethical team spirit starts at our leaders and trickles into those entrusted to us to train.

Respect = Value

Respect is part of recognizing someone’s value. Therefore, having a lack of respect for someone displays that we feel less value for that person, that somehow their worth is of lesser importance.

Valuing the sport of hockey means valuing coaches and your team members within that sport, and is an excellent training ground for learning to respect others amidst a sometimes challenging environment, lending your child life skills that will be utilized for years to come.

Respecting Knowledge and Appreciating Approach

At NHTC, we coach a variety of skill-sets and age-ranges, all of who offer a different knowledge base and deliver a difference approach. Although one-size does not fit all, differences of opinion and styles for the sport of hockey all lend themselves to the same outcome – good sportsmanship and specialized training.

We expect our coaches to deliver a high level of respect to the players and their parents, and in return we expect no less on and off the ice. It is a basic principal that we have seen come unraveled across the nation at times, one that can lead to very disruptive outcomes; so we put a high emphasis on respect at every level of training.

Be Deliberate in Developing Respect

Respect is something we collectively need to be conscious of, because we will not always feel a compatible connection with everyone and personality clashes can occur. Regardless of our differences, being deliberate in developing respect is an excellent personal challenge, one that we can help our kids grow in as we aim to do the same.

In the epic words from the movie Coach Carter: “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine as children do. It’s not just in some of us; it is in everyone. And as we let our own lights shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” …and we couldn’t agree more!