I was with my 17 yr old son in BC for the Global Hockey Scouting Show Case last week. Over 250 top players from North American attended the event. They were teamed up and played 4 games in 4 days for scouting personnel. I was impressed that they played as a team so well without any practicing. My son told me that it’s because they were good players and they all had passion towards playing and winning.
As a team coach, I knew the importance of passion and skills. But, what about leadership? Was that not necessary for a team of good players?
The need showed up later. There were 22 defense men called off the trip the last minute and a lot of teams were short of defense men. One of the game, my son didn’t get a chance to rest at all since they were down to 2 defense men. He started to worry that he couldn’t perform well for scouting since he’s exhausted without another line.
The last day, two forward players played defense and instead of 5 on 5, they played 4 on 4 with 2 lines. Everyone was happier about the arrangement and performed much better. That happened when leadership stepped in.
After all, leaders are the one with visions and innovation. They have to be able to sense the non-working situation and provide creative support in timely manner.