Interview with Coach Jake McCoy

Jake McCoy, this year's Richfield Squirt A coach, has long experience as a player and coach. He played for the US men's hockey team in the 1964 Olympics. And he has been coaching teams in the Washburn/Richfield area for almost 49 years, since 1960.

Jake agreed to answer a few questions about his career, the upcoming season and his perspective on the game.

Q: Jake, during the pre-season warm-up and evaluations, the players came home with some colorful stories about your career. Can you describe your experiences playing hockey in the Olympics?

It was a great experience, a life-long dream. Regardless of what people say, things were different back then. Now it's all about money. Then it was all about participation. It was great being there in Innsbruck, Austria, with all the other athletes.

Q: The US team came in fifth, after the losing the first game it played, against the USSR. The Soviet Union went on to dominate Olympic hockey until Team USA won the gold in 1980. What position did you play during the Olympics?

Defense.

Q: You also were inducted into the Richfield High School Athletic Hall of Fame in 2004. How long did you coach at Richfield?

I taught physical education there for 33 years, and coached several sports. I was the assistant hockey coach and then the head coach for boys' hockey. Altogether, I was involved with Richfield hockey for 41 years.

Q: Given all that experience, what are your expectations for the season?

I don't go into the season with a goal for wins and losses or a plan to achieve specific statistics. I hope that the team gets better and that we'll be able to compete. That will be proven in January and February.

I expect that the season will be tough going. The kids on opposing teams are playing A-level hockey because it's the top level they can play. Each community is putting players on these teams for a reason. It's not intramurals. Our team is going to have to rise to the occasion mentally and physically to play at the speed and pace of Squirt A hockey.

Q: What kind of skill development do you look for in kids who are playing at the Squirt level?

I've never coached Squirt hockey. I've coached kids this age in baseball and football, but this is new.

Q: One thing that seems different this year is doing drills on the full sheet. Why is that important?

It's a real opportunity. The game is played on a full sheet of ice, and that requires speed and endurance. There are going to be a number of practices on half ice, and we have to do the best we can. And we only have an hour for practice.

When you coach baseball, you can always go to any field for drills. Same with football. Even basketball doesn't always require the gym. But ice time is in such demand that we probably won't be practicing on full ice often. That's OK. I know if I can get the players really playing for the full hour, with no breaks for teaching--of course they get water breaks and other rests--then I know they'll build up the endurance they need. Most important now is the ice time and game conditioning.

Q: What can we parents do to make sure our skaters have a good experience this year?

Parents can make hockey important. Young players have to have their priorities straight. Hockey comes after family, school and religion. But it comes right after those things.

I like players to be at practices 30 minutes early, and at games 45 minutes early. Sometimes kids get sick, and parents should call me. Sometimes there's traffic, and they should call me if they know they're going to be late. I need to plan for practices, and I really really work hard on the players being on time. We only have an hour for practice.

Q: What else would you like parents to know?

Their kids are going to get in the game. They're all going to play. But if they don't follow our systems, or do what we ask, they may sit on the bench. We'll tell them the rules, and then discipline them.

When it comes to the games themselves, there's a lot of emotion built up in that hour. At the end of the game, the players are emotional. It's not the time to read out your kid or go over what went wrong. But if they didn't play a good game, you don't need to say "good job." Ask them how they think it went. Maybe they'll tell you what could have been better. There's always another night coming up, always the next game.

There's always a next game for Jake, too. He's grandfather of a hockey player of his own. (His son played soccer, hockey and baseball for Washburn. His daughters were involved in sports as well.) In addition to coaching the Squirt team, he's helping to train the next generation of athletes in his family through his involvement in the Washburn Mite program, where his grandson is learning the game.