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4 keys to organizing your team for a tournament
No matter your level of experience or desired level of competition, there’s a tournament out there that’s tailor-made for you and your team.
“Tournaments are an experience. It’s not just about the hockey, it’s a whole weekend of fun,” said Katie Holmgren, manager of adult hockey for USA Hockey. “Yes, it’s great to be competitive, but the most common thing we hear after our tournaments is how much fun people have throughout the weekend.”
If a tourney’s close to home, that means spending more time together than, say, gathering for the Wednesday night adult league matchup at your local rink. And if you’re hitting the road, well, the possibilities are endless.
“I probably don’t need to list how many things a team can get into, but it’s always fun,” said Holmgren, who’s overseen a number USA Hockey events for more than seven years. “In all seriousness, the hangout time in between games is priceless.”
In addition to overseeing USA Hockey events, Holmgren coaches boys and girls teams. She also plays and helps organize a local women’s team. This gives her a unique perspective as a staff member who plans tournaments and an organizer responsible for making sure her own teammates have paid, travel is all set, and in some cases, everyone’s eating properly.
“It’s worth it, and I say that not from an ‘it’s my job’ perspective, but more of my personal feelings,” Holmgren said. “I’m the one that typically pays for the team house, organizes team meals, and collects money – which can be a pain.
“No one wants to hunt their friends down for cash, but I promise it’s worth it,” she continued. “Once everyone’s together, it’s nothing but laughs.”
That being said, it’s important that everyone is on the same page from the beginning. So, if you’re putting together a tournament team, state your intentions early.
“On one side, it’s ‘Hey, we heard about this tourney in Nashville, let’s go have a good time. Who’s in?’” Holmgren said. “Then, on the other side, it can be all about playing hard, and focusing on the wins.”
Neither outlook is right or wrong, and that’s why there are so many different types of tournaments. Before signing up, just make sure everyone on your team knows what success means.
“Competition is important, and everyone wants to win, but team chemistry is the best part of a tournament,” she said. “Invite your most fun friends and teammates – and don’t concentrate too much on the wins. A year or two from now, no one will remember those anyway.”
Prepare for success
If you’ve found yourself in charge of getting a team together, we’re here to help. Here are a few tips Holmgren offers to make tournament play as fun as possible – even when you’re the one chasing down your teammates for their share of the entry fee.
- Invite a large group of friends and teammates, and tell them that whomever pays first is in. That goes a long way to identify who’s committed to participating, and who’s on the fence.
Plus, once your “regular” tournament group becomes established, you’ll find they’re paying earlier for future events, too.
- Be organized. Know who’s on your team and get all of their information together early. That way, you’ll be able to relax when the actual tournament weekend rolls around.
“Trust me,” Holmgren said. “As a tournament director, we don’t want to chase you around for info any more than you want us to be hounding you for it.”
- Have fun. Hockey is fun – and it’s important to remember that, especially as an adult, you started playing hockey because you enjoy it. After all, is it really that terrible if you lose, as long as the games are competitive and fun?
- Ask for help. Do not be afraid to ask for help.
“If you’re confused on a process or rule, call us,” Holmgren said. “Need suggestions on running your own tourney? Call us.
“We get a lot of calls about tournaments, and we’re more than willing to help guide you, too,” she said. “We’re here because we care about adult hockey players enjoying this game just as much as kids do.”
If you find yourself stuck when it comes to a question about your team and tournament play, call 719-576-8724 or visit http://adulthockey.usahockey.com.
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If you think you’re in pretty good shape – or even if you know you’re not – it’s possible to step into, say, a touch football game or a casual softball game without completely embarrassing yourself or winding up on the couch for a week with myriad pulled muscles.
But if you want an honest assessment of your current fitness level, try jumping into a hockey game. You will get a splash of cold water – or better yet, ice shavings – on your face.
While it’s true that many adult hockey league players are perhaps primarily motivated by the camaraderie and enjoyment of the sport, the fitness benefit cannot be overlooked, says Kevin Universal, a member of USA Hockey’s Adult Hockey Council and the president of the Carolina Amateur Hockey Association.
Once you start, you don’t want to stop. But once you stop, you’ll feel it once you start again.
The beauty of hockey
A shift in hockey combines the controlled dash of a 400-meter race with the urgency of an even shorter race.
“There are perishable skills – the combination of having the short, sprinter-type lung capacity, then getting back for a quick rest and sprint up the ice over and over,” Universal said. “That’s challenging for a lot of people."
That’s why it’s important to keep playing, even if it’s just once a week. If you fall out of that routine, you will feel it.
“I think we have at least a handful of guys on my team who travel a lot and don’t have time to work out except for hockey,” Universal said. “That’s their one or two days of exercise a week, and it’s so beneficial. Aside from just hanging out and having fun, joking around with the guys, they’ll use that as a primary means of exercise.”
Other workouts don’t measure up
Unless you like to race the person next to you on the treadmill or try to beat yesterday’s distance on the bike or elliptical, there isn’t much true competition in gym exercises. That doesn’t mean you aren’t working, but you aren’t working the same way you are when you truly compete.
“Being a part of the game and having something on the line, it makes you dig a little deeper and makes you get into it more and get more benefit,” Universal said. “When you’re not doing that and just out recreationally exercising and trying to burn calories, you don’t get the benefit. I have friends that run or lift weights, but if they aren’t getting that type of hockey workout consistently, they feel it after games and you see it in their play.”
Universal notes a recent example to emphasize his point: a guy who had played on one of his teams a decade ago before moving away has just returned and started back in hockey a few weeks ago.
“He had regularly exercised at the gym, but he was so gassed the first four or five games,” Universal added. “He’s finally getting his legs back. It’s funny. He regularly works out, lifts weights competitively. It’s not the same when you have to go out and sprint.”
Never too late to start
That said, don’t let the conditioning learning curve associated with hockey be a deterrent. If you used to play and are trying to get back into it, it’s never too late. Same goes for adults who have never played before.
Universal falls into that latter category. He says he grew up playing street hockey, but he never played in an organized league on the ice until he was 34. He picked it up after his kids took up the sport and he “got the itch” when some other newbies convinced him to try a beginners camp.
“I regularly run into people as adults and I encourage them to pick up the game,” Universal said. “You don’t have to have grown up with it. You just have to have the desire, and you can have some fun out there and get fit.”
Now 48, Universal can’t imagine life without the sport in so many ways – with fitness being primary among them.
“I feel the difference. I feel the lung capacity and I’m able to work harder in other areas,” Universal said. “This past weekend I did a hike with a 1,700-foot elevation drop over 1.3 miles. That’s like doing 170 flights of stairs. My legs aren’t sore, and I attribute that so much to skating. I’ve tried lacrosse, football, track, swimming, baseball, and this is definitely by far the most beneficial workout.”
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