HASBROUCK HEIGHTS, NJ/HOPKINTON, Mass – In an era of electronic games and noses glued to smart phone screens, there is a crucial need to take advantage of physical fitness and exercise programs for everyone. This is especially true for children and youth everywhere. How to integrate physical activity and nutrition into hockey programs has become the mission of Chris Riley and Mike Kozub.
“I look around and see how we have failed our kids,” Riley said recently. “We have turned our backs on them and focused on our lives and left them to fend for themselves.”
Riley sees the need for taking the physical activity message to today’s youth. He has begun working with flexxCOACH on a project that has taken advantage of the powerful perspective from professional athletic coaches who are currently youth hockey parents.
Riley grew up playing a wide range of sports but hockey was and is his passion.
“The speed and elegance of the sport have always kept me involved in hockey,” said Riley.
“But I am really interested in this effort Mike Kozub has going with “Light the Lamp,” on Flexx Coach”, Riley continued. “It’s an eNewsletter exploring the opportunities and challenges facing amateur hockey today. Mike has really addressed the content of the eNewsletter and has developed something which is worthwhile for your readers, and appreciate the opportunity to get the word out about it.”
Last summer Mike Kozub and his team at Flexx Coach sent a survey to over 10,000 youth hockey coaches in North America asking what questions they had for guys who ‘coach hockey at the most elite level for a living’ yet still struggle with helping their own children develop skills and a love of the game. What came back was massive and we struggled to boil the questions down across common, chronic themes. In the end, Mike reduced over a thousand questions down to 150 spanning about a dozen themes. You can see the questions listed here.
“Mike offered me the chance to host the video series and I sat down with Mike Sullivan (NY Rangers) and Keith Allain (Yale & USAHockey National Junior Team) on ‘Sully’s’ back porch to discuss the questions and issues that seemed to be burning most in coaches minds,” Riley recounted recently. “The insight and wisdom that flowed throughout this conversation were incredibly powerful for coaches, parents and even players.”
Kozub has developed and created “Light the Lamp” eNewsletter (sign up here) which distributes one question/answer clip each week along with surveys and additional content from guest bloggers. The eNewsletter is seen as a means to fundamentally addresses a void in the amateur hockey community that parents, coaches and even players (middle school and older) have consistently expressed. That void is best defined as the need for authoritative information on the philosophy and “best-practices” involved in teaching the game. FlexxCoach just delivered its 5th issue which you can see here and they archive the clips at www.lightthelamp.flexxcoach.com .
The insights and wisdom in the video clips are powerful. Just a month into the program, they have already been approached by Coaches in Chief from USAHockey who want to incorporate the videos in their coaching clinics. NHL teams are looking to incorporate this content on their websites.
“Mike is extremely passionate about getting the word out and hope that visitors to the site will find this content as compelling as we do,” Riley said. “And we hope your readers will want to share it with your readers as often as you like!”
Kozub is actively looking for guest bloggers to join the discussions and they plan to offer 1-3 additional columns in each week’s “Light the Lamp” issue.
If interested in submitting content, you can send your piece to mkozub@flexxcoach.com .
Contact: Lou.Lafrado@prohockeynews.com
N.B. To explore the eNewsletter and the Light the Lamp videos click here .
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