One of the things I believe strongly in as a coach is that players need to have a voice in defining their team identity.

Why?
Because it teaches accountability.
Because it teaches discipline.
Because it teaches ownership.

This year, we put that into practice with my Varsity Team.

Our Junior and Senior leadership groups were given the responsibility of voting on our Team Identity for the upcoming season. They weren't simply choosing three words or phrases. They were deciding what they believe our team should stand for, how we should play, and what standards we should hold ourselves and each other accountable to.

The final identity will be built around these words.......But the words are only the beginning.

The real value is in the process.

Leadership is having a voice, listening to others, making decisions, and then taking responsibility for those decisions. It's understanding that once you have a say in something, you also have a responsibility to follow through.

Once the team establishes its identity, the responsibility shifts from the coaches to the players.

It's no longer just what Coach wants.
It's who they decided they want to be.
That's an important distinction.

As coaches, our job is about more than developing better hockey players. It's about helping young men learn how to make decisions, accept responsibility, hold themselves accountable, and understand that their actions contribute to something bigger than themselves.

A team identity only has value when the players take ownership of it.

Now comes the hard part: living it every day.