Switzerland, Finland, USA: further training and international exchange
The past few months have been marked by training, further education, presentations and networking on two continents for Florian Mühlstein, ÖEHV Head of Youth Education and Development, and Timo Gless, Sports Coordinator and Integrity Officer. The knowledge gained will be incorporated into upcoming Coaches Clinics and mentoring sessions.
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“In recent years, we have always sent several coaches to the symposia held as part of the World Championship. It is important that the right people from ÖEHV’s education department, who are also assigned by me, attend these symposia. The aim is to remain up to date and ensure the transfer of knowledge into our own training programme,” explains ÖEHV Men’s Sports Director Roger Bader.
From Basel (SUI) via Tampere (FIN) and Kuortane (FIN) to Ann Arbor/Michigan (USA), Florian Mühlstein and Timo Gless deepened their knowledge, gained impressions and experience, and engaged in intensive exchange with the world’s best coaches.
In Basel, the joint project “Growing the Game” was initially the focus, with the aim of encouraging more girls and women to take up ice hockey in both countries through cooperation. Topics such as recruitment and measures to attract new players were discussed in detail. In the coming months, work will be carried out on planning and organising a joint event for players and coaches from both countries.
The subsequent Coaching Symposium, held during the U18 World Championship Top Division, at which Mario Kogler, U20 coach at SC Bern, was also among the Austrian speakers, focused on coaching in general and coaching children in particular. Among other things, it addressed how new media should be used as effectively as possible when working with children and young people.
As part of the 2023 World Championship in Tampere, international speakers shared their experience, tips and tricks first-hand at the IIHF Coaching Symposium. Benedikt Schennach and U20 and U18 Head Coach Philipp Pinter were also in attendance. In Kuortane, they gained an insight into the Olympic Centre there, looked at how work is carried out across different sports and held initial discussions on closer future cooperation in the education and further training of coaches.
On the campus of the University of Michigan, the live event hosted by our partner “The Coaches Site” brought together the who’s who of the NHL as well as numerous other international ice hockey experts. Coaches for the penalty kill, power play, offensive zone and defensive zone gave presentations and offered the audience insights into training, as well as the structure and organisation of the top clubs. In addition to the overarching topic of coaching, subjects such as leadership and working with children and young people in ice hockey were also on the agenda.
The speakers also included Matt Mcilvane, who won two championship titles in the win2day ICE Hockey League as Head Coach of Red Bull Salzburg from 2019 to 2023 and will take over as Head Coach of the San Diego Gulls next season. Marco Kasper's Head Coach at the Detroit Red Wings, Derek Lalonde, as well as Pete Deboer, Head Coach of the Dallas Stars, or Ryan Huska, Head Coach of the Calgary Flames, Glen Gulutzan, Assistant Coach of the Edmonton Oilers, Brian Wiseman, Assistant Coach of the San Jose Sharks, and numerous other coaches and experts gave presentations on selected topics.
This extensive knowledge is now being thoroughly processed and will be passed on and made accessible to domestic coaches as part of the upcoming Coaches Clinics as well as Mentorings. In addition, international exchange was strengthened and potential future collaborations were explored.
