I am on the team - Training to Train Stage
Early in the stage: Females 12-13 years, males 13-14 years
Later in the stage: Females 14-15 years, males 15-16 years
Athletes with a disability: enter at any age, with or without parent or support person
This is an important stage, in which there are opportunities for players at both the community and competitive level. Players who have the desire and ability to move into more advanced levels of Ringette will play in tiered programs, while players who do not wish to make this commitment can continue to improve their skills and enjoy playing Ringette in community programs. For all players, this is a time of solidifying good skill performance, physical and mental preparation and learning to play the game.
Most players will go through the growth spurt during this stage and it is very important to be flexible with training programs to ensure appropriate challenges and to meet the needs of players who are growing rapidly. Selection of athletes into tiered programs is also important, so that players are placed on teams with other players who are of approximately equal size and stage of development. Discretion should be applied to placement of athletes who are early or late developers; this is particularly important in competitive programs and may require overlapping age categories in competitive levels.
General Objectives – Description of the Stage
To consolidate fundamental ringette skills in controlled and semi-controlled conditions
To develop and consolidate simple tactics
To further develop general physical fitness training and mental skills
To introduce and develop advanced ringette skills
To introduce and develop strategies (game plan)
To introduce and develop decision making skills in varied situations
To learn to cope with the challenges of competition and to strive to succeed and do their best
Later in Stage:
To introduce position-specific skills
Guiding Principles
Community Programs:
Fun (socially motivated), balance between participation and competition
Ensure life-long participation in sport
Limited tiering
Skills are reinforced in real game situations
Competition programs:
Fun (competitively motivated), maintain a balance between participation and competition
Tiering begins
Coaches empower athletes and include them in the decision making process
Throughout this stage, athletes gradually become more autonomous on the ice
Technical Skill Benchmarks
Consolidation of skills
Skating:
Early in the stage: starting, stopping, forward and backward (stride, acceleration, crossovers, sharp turns, double sculling,2 and 1 foot slalom), transition skills
Later in the stage: as above plus develop ability to do quick changes in direction, two and one foot Mohawk pivot
Ring: consolidation of ring skills, acquisition of position specific skills, carrying and protecting the ring, passing, receiving, checking, shooting, deking within a varied environment
Goalkeeping:
Early in the stage: consolidation of skills; goalkeepers specialize but can still alternate; general goalkeeping drills, mobility (lateral and forward/backward), stick work, skating and ring skills, positioning, ring distribution, communication and interaction, style
Later in the stage: goalkeepers specialize, specific goalkeeping drills and training
Tactical Skill Benchmarks
Offensive
Consolidation of offensive game skills
Community:
Community:
Skills are built so players are able to perform skills with sequential and flowing movements
Understanding concepts and implementing occasionally
Competition
Skills are refined so players are able to perform with quick, concise movements
Understand concepts and implement on a reliable, consistent basis
Understand offensive concepts of open ice, learning to read and react, incorporating defense in the offensive zone during play, wrist shots, shot clock awareness and usage, reversing the play, breakouts, communication, support, creating options, maintaining possession
Individual skills and team tactics
Defensive
Consolidation of defensive game skills with primary focus on fun and execution of basic ring, skating and game skills
Community
Skills are developed so players are able to perform skills with sequential and flowing movements
Understanding concepts and implementing occasionally
Competition
Skills are consolidated so players are able to perform skills with quick, concise movements
Understand individual defensive skills and tactics concepts and implement on a reliable and consistent basis
Understand team tactics concepts and implement on a reliable and consistent basis
Psychological Skill Development
Acquisition of:
- coping strategies, relaxation strategies
- skills that prepare the player to deal with success and failure
- skills for sharing leadership opportunities
Consolidation of skills such as:
- Focus management/ attentional control – concentration
- Anxiety and stress management / Emotional Control –visualization (mental rehearsal of game situations)
- Decision training – decision making in some competitive situations
- Goal setting – individual and team, long and short term, process and outcome
- Self-Awareness – positive thinking, attitude and adjustment
- Team Dynamics – teamwork, fair play, sportsmanship, ethics
- Game Preparation and Routine – game strategies
- Team building and social development activities
- arousal strategies
- becoming more independent, understanding personal strengths and weaknesses
- developing effective communication strategies, understanding team roles and identifying where they fit in
Consolidation of skills such as:
- Decision Training - decision making in some competitive situations
- Goal setting – individual and team, long and short term, process and outcome (C)
- Focus management / attentional control - concentration, coping strategies
- Anxiety and stress management / emotional control – visualization (mental rehearsal of game situations), relaxation
- Game preparation and routine – specific game strategies
- Self-awareness – positive thinking, attitude and adjustment, preparing to deal with success and failure
- Team dynamics – teamwork, fair play, sportsmanship, ethics, shared leadership opportunities
What does a Train to Train Ringette program look like?
- Ringette-specific technical, tactical and fitness training 6-9 times per week, including complementary sports
- Continue to develop general fitness and conditioning
- Be aware of sensitive periods for development of strength, speed and endurance:
- Strength: sensitive period for strength development in females after the onset of menarche
- Speed: sensitive period for speed development in females at approximately 11-13 years and in males at approximately 13-16 years
- Endurance: sensitive period for endurance (stamina) development in males with the onset of peak height velocity
- Pay special attention to maintaining flexibility during periods of rapid growth
- Competition format:
Female vs. female only teams, male vs. male only teams
Organized League games based on age level and/or ability (standings are recorded).
Weekly games with some tournaments.
Tournaments, Provincial and League Championship format should be modified round robin or other format to allow maximum number of games for each team within a weekend. - Emphasis on learning and staying healthy
- Encourage daily participation in sport and physical education, minimum 60 minutes per day
- Team social activities focused on fun and teambuilding
- Players may be encouraged to become coaches in training or referees
Community
- Season is 20-32 weeks; single peak periodization
- Players play a variety of positions and receive equal playing time
- Pre-season training: 3-6 weeks for evaluations, team formation and team practices
- Preparation period 10-12 weeks, Competition period 8-12 weeks, Transition period 3-4 weeks
- Training to competition ratio = 60:40; 2 trainings to 1 competition weekly
- 2-3 sessions of 60-90 minutes each weekly
- 21-22 days of competition
- Events – exhibition games, league games, tournaments, playoff games, provincials (by classification)
- During off-season:
- Encourage players to participate in a variety of school and summer sports.
- Players are encouraged to attend ringette camps through the summer.
- Encourage maintenance of physical fitness qualities (endurance, strength)
- Participate in pre-season camp for warm-up
Competition
- Season is 24-25 weeks
- Players play 1-2 positions, with “fair and reasonable playing time; identify 2 goalkeepers per team.
- Single or double peak periodization; peak for provincial and national championships
- Pre-season = 2-4 weeks for pre-season training, evaluations, team formation and team practices
- Preparation period 7-15 weeks, Competition period 8-14 weeks, Transition period 1-2 weeks
- Training to competition ratio = 60:40; 3 trainings to 2 competitions weekly
- 3-4 sessions of 60-90 minutes each weekly (1-2 trainings with the team, 2-3 training on own)
- 22 days of competition
- Events – exhibition games, league games, tournaments, playoff games, provincials (by classification)
- Toward the end of this stage players may also participate in provincial qualifiers for Easterns/Westerns/CRC (A and AA); Eastern/Western (Regional) Championship for A category; CRC (National) Championship for AA category
- During off-season:
- Players are encouraged to participate in an activity that will aid in their development and preparation for the beginning of the fall season (i.e. Running for cardio as well as dry land shooting practice or attending a summer session of power skating, light weight training** under supervision; early in the stage using own body weight, later in the stage may use light weights).
- Encourage involvement in a variety of school and summer sports or activities throughout the year
- May play rep or high calibre sports, but without a specialization in one specific sport.
- Players are expected to maintain their physical training program.
- For top competitive athletes, the services of an integrated support team may be included to enhance training and recovery
Game Modifications
7 minute warm-up, progressing to a 10 minute warm-up by the end of the stage
Shot clock
6 players per side on a full ice surface
early in stage: 60% of international game format
later in stage: 75% of international game format
Monitoring
All players:
- Monitor standing and sitting height, arm span and weight every 3 months and adjust training as a function of growth and development. This is particularly important during the early part of this stage when the majority of players will be experiencing rapid growth.
- Continue physical abilities testing; it is particularly important to maintain active flexibility during this stage
- Monitor rapidly growing players for symptoms of Osgood Schlatter’s
Competitive level players
- As intensity and volume of training increase, general health must be monitored regularly
- Ongoing screening for hip and knee alignment, and imbalances in strength and flexibility will help reduce the risk of injury
- Monitor iron levels in female athletes annually
- Begin to educate athletes about doping control at the end of this stage
What Can Parents Do?
Early in the stage:
- Continue to ensure that there is a balance of sport with school and other activities and that players are properly nourished and rested
- Provide a “positive push” , but no pressure on the player
- Ensure ongoing communication between parents, coach and player; trust the coach, talk to the player, and intervene only when necessary
- Parental involvement increases and parents develop a growing interest in the sport. Some parents may attend coaching or officiating courses. They may be asked to volunteer at activities or help with fund-raising. Depending on the level of involvement, parents may sacrifice considerable leisure time to volunteer
- Understand the need to transport players to activities, to pay for these activities and to purchase the necessary equipment; this commitment is greater for competitive athletes
Later in the stage:
- Parents tend to move into the background and play a less direct role, but they still provide emotional and tangible support
- As the player becomes more responsible for decision-making, parents continue to provide support but allow increased independence
- Continue to provide a “positive push” and be available when the player needs guidance
- Parents remain active as volunteers
- Ensure that the player’s schedule is organized and that there is balance between sports, school, social life and family activities.
- Ensure that siblings have their own niche, which may be in ringette, or in another sport/area of interest
- Understand that with increased level of player participation, there will be increased time and financial commitments (e.g. driving to practices and games, tournament and out-of-town travel costs)
Coaching (Type of Coach)
Community
Community Sport Initiation (CSI) coach + MED online evaluation
Competition
Competition Introduction (CI) certified coach (includes online MED evaluation)
Competition Introduction Gradation (CIG) Certified
As this stage progresses, players continue to improve their abilities and usage of mental skills through:Acquisition of skills such as:
