Issue link: https://read.uberflip.com/i/1161317
31 SEPTEMBER 2019 USAHOCKEYMAGAZINE.COM IT WAS A RAINY SEPTEMBER MORNING in 1979 when Lou Vairo sat down inside the empty USA Hockey offices and began to change the way hockey coaches looked at training kids. With only a stack of blank paper, a couple of pens, a ruler and a handful of thoughts and ideas from some of his fellow coaching pioneers, Vairo set out to create a series of brochures outlining the basic skills of age- appropriate hockey training that can be viewed as the predecessor of the American Development Model. "I feel like this is one of my greatest contributions to hockey in this country, and one of the most important things we did to help our volunteer coaches," said Vairo, who would coach the 1984 U.S. Olympic Team along with numerous national and national junior teams. In addition, he helped found the organization's coaching education program, player development camps and the diversity task force. "People can draw their own conclusions, but in my mind these brochures are the blueprints for the ADM." The project started a year earlier when some of the top hockey minds in the country gathered in Minneapolis with the goal of revamping the organization's coaching clinics that many felt were missing the mark with volunteer coaches. Among those in attendance were Herb Brooks, Bob Johnson, Jeff Sauer, Dave Peterson and Tim Taylor, all established coaches who have left their mark on the game. As they spoke, Vairo took notes, which would later form the basis for these brochures broken up into three versions for Mites, Squirts/Peewees and Bantams/Midgets. "Being involved with such great hockey people, I learned some things, it reinforced some things I already knew, and I threw away some things that I didn't agree with," Vairo recalled 40 years later. Each brochure was illustrated by Los Angeles-based artist Jack White, and featured a wealth of information for on- and off-ice training, areas of emphasis for both individual skill progression and concepts of team play, all wrapped up in age-appropriate packages. They were printed by the thousands and distributed at various coaching clinics and mailed to associations around the country. Fast forward more than 30 years and many of these basic principles can still be found in the information that forms the cornerstone of the ADM. For Ken Martel, one of the architects of the ADM, the more things have changed, the more they stay the same when it comes to training young hockey players. "If you look back historically at most of the things the organization has done, the information's always been there. Some of the concepts and ideas they created were bang on," Martel said. "Over the years we've learned a lot about how kids learn and the best environment to put them in so they can be better. So what we've done is repackaged a lot of what's gone on before and updated it with new information. And we've made it more accessible by providing more tools to communicate these ideas." It's all part of the evolution of the game that earmarks how far coaching education has come while still paying homage to those who came before. "The organization has always had good materials and great people working really hard. We're continually trying to improve and be better," Martel said. "It's all part of the evolution of our organization and our game." DEVELOPMENT DEVELOPMENT THE ROOTS OF Early Ancestor Of The ADM Still Strikes A Chord In The Digital Age PHOTO BY Harry Thompson By HARRY THOMPSON The brochures that Lou Vairo created nearly 40 years ago, with the help of some of the brightest hockey minds in the country, feature some of the same basic skills and age-appropriate training techniques that form the basis of the current American Development Model. CLICK HERE to download Lou Vairo original brochures!