Nearly every day I take calls from players and parents who are questioning not only their current situations, but their futures, and the direction of their hockey careers.
In many of these conversations, players and parents complain about where they are, how their position is with their current team, and how they can move up to higher levels. In most instances these same people are looking to skip steps in their path in order to speed up their development process.
But you always have to go through something in order to get through something. Read that again. If it doesnt make sense to you, read it until it does make sense.
There is no singlular path to a successful hockey career. And everyone’s definition of what a succsessful hockey career is, is different. Thats because every career is different. It should be different, and the system is designed for everyone to have a different experience.
Development, and growth take time. You didn’t go from crawling to running in the span of six months as a child. You did not go from walking to skating in the span of a week.
Pain is the gatekeeper of your destiny. Only through experiencing pain, resistance, and trials by fire will each player grow. You have to go through a lot in order to get alot.
Pain is there to ask you one question. Are you prepared to go through what ever it takes to get to where you want to go? That pain may be physical, it may be mental, and it will likely be both. No one grows from having everything come easily.
Players and parents need to accept that they will have to endure more than ever before to achieve success. For those looking to play NCAA hockey, the road is about to become much more difficult with rule changes regarding eligibility.
Players and parents need to stop thinking they can skip steps, or accelerate the timelines that are in front of them. The wheel is not about to get reinvented by you or anyone else. The wheel is only going to keep tunring, and its how you adapt to those turns that will determine where your final level will be.
There is nothing wrong with taking the more difficult path. In fact, the most difficult paths usually lead players to become the best leaders they can be. It is through overcoming these difficulties that players reach new levels of success on the ice with production, and hopefully off the ice through elevation in level of play.
Stop looking toward the future, and start mastering the present. When you master your current situation, and get through it, you will get to the next destination. But if you keep focussin on the past, and waiting for the future, you are doing nothing but standing still.
When you’re ready to make a plan, to get through your current situation, I look forward to hearing from you.
Joseph Kolodziej – Adviser
