Rick Dorval, head coach of the Junior A Gloucester Rangers, said that when cutting kids, honesty is the best policy.
“When you release a younger kid, especially when they make it late into the camp and you’re down to cutting the last 2 or 3, parents like to know why,” said Dorval. “You just have to be honest with the father or mother and explain the situation. Let them know how to make them better in the future.”
“The way I approach releasing kids is I like to talk to them one-on-one,” Dorval said. “Tell them some feedback to help them improve, so they can make the hockey club next year. I always like to leave the kids on a positive note.”
Dorval was an assistant coach with the major bantam AAA Ottawa 67’s. He has had a parents react badly to their children being cut in the past.
“I’ve had it happen, he calls you every name in the book,” Dorval said. “You’re going to deal with people like that. At the end of the day you have to keep your calm. You want to do what’s best for the kid.”
Curb the attitude mom and dad, it can get your child get cut, or worse, they could inherit it.
Merkley said that parents that have poor attitudes can hinder their child’s chance of making a team.
“Why would a coach or volunteer want to deal with that for 9 months?” He said.
Gallo said that he has never cut a child because of a parent’s poor attitude, but he might consider it in the future. He said that coaches do not receive the same respect they once did.
“I think we do need to start cutting kids when the parents are misbehaving,” Gallo said. “There used to be a line that wasn’t crossed. The coaches were given the benefit of the doubt. I think we’ve strayed away from that.”
Merkley said that agents and scouts that show up to games will often ask the coaches if a child’s parents could pose potential headaches. He said that unless a child is extremely talented, agents and scouts will sometimes pass on a child that has a parent with bad attitudes.
He said that it’s not just mom and dad’s attitudes that need to reviewed, a child’s poor attitude can get them cut in a hurry. He said that if a player is complaining in training camp, they’re only hurting their chances of making the team.
Parents: Don’t get discouraged, ask for your child to be affiliated
If a child has not made the initial cut, it does not necessarily mean they can’t play at that level of competition a few months down the road.
“It’s not a family failure,” Gallo said. “If your son or daughter is not performing it’s normal. There’s a learning curve.”
Merkley allows any players he cuts to continue attending practices with his team.
“I have an open policy to let the kids I cut come to all practices,” Merkley said. “You never know when you’re going to lose someone to injury.”
He said that some of the parents that are initially angry are happy to see their child’s coach make an effort to create an opportunity for them to rejoin the team.
Once during goaltending cuts, Merkley received angry emails from an upset parent. Merkley decided to affiliate the player, and allowed him to practice with the team throughout the entire season.
“By the end of the year his father thanked me,” said Merkley.
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