We
are pleased to announce Jamie Graham as the 1st Head Coach for our new U15AA
team for the 24-25 season. Jamie has 12 years of experience coaching
women's hockey, with the past three years coaching women's U18AA. Prior
to that, he coached men's minor and junior hockey for five years following the
end of his playing career at Senior AA hockey. During his five-year tenure in
men's hockey, he coached Junior C and recorded an appearance as an Ontario
Finalist in minor hockey. He coached women's soccer for eight years before his
studies at university, where he was recruited to help develop a soccer skills
program with Soccer Canada. As a teacher, he coaches a variety of sports
including women's and men's high school hockey.
In
addition, outside of school, Jamie has run his own off-ice training program for
the last seven years called Dryland Training. He works on-ice and off-ice to
develop complete athletes. You can see videos on Facebook
(Https://facebook.com/drylandtraining/video) and reels on Instagram (@drylandtrainingdurham • Instagram photos and videos). “Athletes need many ways to develop their skills and
strength in their body and mind to have the ability to compete,” Coach Graham
noted explaining his philosophy.
“As
a Coach, I use many different philosophies to get the job done. Overall, I try
to develop all players to the best that they can be. I do this by developing
plans for each individual player, showing the progress as the year moves along.
Also, I try to develop thinking players that can adapt to different
situations.”
As
a Coach, he believes in the saying “you are only as strong as the weakest
link!” Explaining that this idea holds true for all teams. He believes that all
a player's need is a chance to develop their skills and experience the game of
hockey, and that these skills are developed in “Practicing for a Purpose” and
game situations. In his development program, players all receive feedback on
their performance in real time.
“Everyone
needs feedback to develop as a player. Also, providing them with strategies or
suggestions allows them to develop their skills and options for playing the
game. This also opens communication between coaching staff and players.”
“By
demonstrating respect to them, they can demonstrate respect on the ice, as well
as, in the dressing or dealing with tough situations. When players respect
themselves, they are more driven to succeed. This allows the player to practice
harder and play harder.”
Coach
Graham advocates collaborative coaching. Developing a practice plan, the
coaching staff all have a role in the process. “The practice plan shows the drills, explains the drills and
provides the coaches with wording to help with players’ development. The use of
common and consistent key words when running the drills that help the players
recognize frequent uses terms and ideas.”
“We
practice for a purpose. This means the skills that are needed to develop the
systems are reinforced. Once the girls understand the drills, we run drills at
the game speed. This way the girls understand the importance of working hard
and will see the benefits of game play later in the season.”
“I
look at the various systems that I want to teach the team; then focus on the
team skills that are needed for the systems. Next, I look at the key skills
that the players need to perform those team skills. This provides me with a
game plan by starting at the bottom with individual skills, moving to team
skills, and team systems throughout the practice.” Coach
Graham believes practice is more important than games and advocates a “practice
like you intend to play” principle, which leads to success. He adds, “medals
are not won over night, it takes practice to be a winner.”
“I
also believe in being open and honest with the players; but not brutal. Through
discussions, we talk about expectations before practice and games, so that they
understand what the coaching staff expects. With these expectations, I emphasis
personal responsibility and proper preparation for both games and practices.” Developing
their confidence in themselves, and proper routines help increase their success
in practices and games according to coach Graham.
“Patience
is a virtue that I live by,” explains coach Graham. “Every player develops at
different rates. Showing patience is key to a player’s successes or failures.
Understanding that even elite players have off-days.” “When
having these off-days, helping the player through the problems and keeping the
player focused on their goals, helps to keep them in the game. I enjoy seeing
the players develop to a level that is higher than they were at the start of
the season.”
Jamie
is a middle-school teacher and has successfully helped develop a number of
female student-athletes to Junior, and Canadian and American university
programs. He is also the proud father two daughters, Kassidy and Kalli and
his fur-baby, Troika. With Kassidy studying education in Canada, and Kalli
attending Trine University in the United States on scholarship and playing NCAA
ice hockey, he, along with extremely understanding and patient wife, Krista,
manage their dynamic and busy household.
If you have any questions or are interested in playing U15AA please send an
email to [email protected].