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30 // MONTH HERE 2019 USAHOCKEYMAGAZINE.COM 30 // SEPTEMBER 2019 A Special ADM Round Up As I look around, the easy things to point to in terms of the 'aha moment' is are we closing the gap on Canada in terms of players in the NHL? Are we closing the gap on hockey lead- ing countries? In terms of the draft numbers? Those are pretty objective numbers. Are our player retention rates up since we've implemented the ADM? And the answer is yes on that. So those were some pretty objective numbers that we'd like to look towards and say we're doing the right thing. Like many of the ADM regional managers, you have skin in the game, so to speak, in that you have kids who play hockey. What's it been like to see them come through a program that follows the ADM? I told Kevin McLaughlin that if I'm going to coach my kids, I have to do every single thing that we recommend to all these hockey people all over the country. I can't say one thing and do something else. So to coach in my backyard and coach my boys and my daughter and to try to implement what we recommend to Nth degree of off-ice, the body contact, the practice-to-game ratios, making it fun at a young age and letting kids matriculate up in the Midgets and to see at work and to see the culture that you can build and see how kids improve, even at a high perfor- mance level, was a little bit of an 'aha moment' of actually being in the trenches and doing it myself. KEN RAUSCH DIRECTOR OF YOUTH HOCKEY & ADM MANAGER FOR ALASKA What were some of your expecta- tions for the ADM and what it could do and what could be accomplished? My biggest expectation of the American Development Model was to create a blueprint of what proper development looks like for kids, more than anything. That was probably my biggest expectation, trying to get more people to do things based on science and what's right for kids instead of doing things on what we did in the past and what we think is best for kids. You have the unique perspective of having worked in the national office in addition to what you've done up in Alaska. How do you think the ADM has been received nationwide? There are still pockets of the country that don't want to be told what to do or people think we sit in an ivory tower out in Colorado Springs and are preaching to them. But I walk into rinks all around the country now and see that 8 & Under hockey is in really good shape. I would say about 95 percent of the country you walk in and you see what we would consid- er probably best practices, what an 8U practice should look like. Now we're getting to the point where 50 to 60 percent of the 10 and 12 year old practices are doing the right thing. Where it kind of goes off the rails a little bit is at 14 years old because that's when we introduce national championships. But people forget that 14 year olds are still a long way away from playing big boy hockey. Winning is still too important to too many people. Was there an 'ah-ha moment' when you knew the ADM was going to catch on? There's been a bunch. We haven't made a ton of major rule changes, but the three things that you look at for sure is mov- ing national championships from 12U to 14U for the first time, moving body checking from 12U category to the 14U category, and actually making 8U hockey being played in cross-ice or half-ice format, which is now the standard of 8U hockey. Now, those are the three changes that have caught on. What does the future hold for the ADM? We're just trying to get better. We've done a ton of research and have met with other federations and childhood development experts. We're just trying to stay on the cutting edge and make sure that we don't get passed by. Like we said, the most danger- ous is 'we've always done it this way.' We don't want to rest on our laurels that we've done what we consider a pretty good job over the last 10 years. We're still trying to stay ahead and figure out what's best and what's next. RICH HANSON ADM REGIONAL MANAGER (NEW YORK, ATLANTIC DISTRICTS) What would you say is the most rewarding part of your job? There are times when you walk into a rink and they're like, 'oh yeah, that's great, that's great,' but you can tell that they don't really trust what you're saying. But then they implement the model and actually see it working and then they either call you or shoot you an email or when you visit the next time and they're excited to talk about it. That's really rewarding me. On the other side of the coin, what would you say is the most challenging part of your job? We live in a culture that they want to see success right down. No one's willing to wait and trust the process. You live in a culture where it's win at all costs. That's tough. A l s o , t h e r e 's a l o t o f t u r n o v e r w i t h t h e c o a c h e s a n d hockey directors. You don't rea lly have too ma ny coaches stick ing around for 10 or 15 years. They 're there for t wo or three yea rs so you sta r t to ma ke some prog ress w ith them a nd then they 're out a nd someone new comes in a nd now you've got to teach it again or tr y to implement what you've a lready done. With so many nights spent on the road, what ke e p s yo u exc i te d a n d e n e rg i ze d a b o u t w h at you're doing? We all grew up with the game and have a passion for hockey. So to be able to get on the ice and work with kids and see some smiles and know they're having fun. And you know when you're making a change and it's something you believe in, that's what motivates you to get back out there. I had a job before this where I was selling something I didn't believe in and it was a struggle every day and I hated it. But if you truly believe in something and you're making a difference, it's easy to get out there and do it every day. BONUS DIGITAL CONTENT