SAINTS (Club Press) - The Saints have hosted many visiting and traveling hockey players and families in its short history, with current players from all corners of the globe the Saints, as is hockey in Australia, is a multi-national affair. Currently we have the pleasure of hosting the hockey skills of the Nutter family from Canada. Never before has someone come to this club and in such a short time done so much, with little hope for long-term gain as they are only here for one year. Bill assists in coaching the Pee Wee's, Bantams, Women's and one of our senior teams, also assisting in our development program and playing for the seniors. We decided to ask Bill, and kindly the answer was yes, a few questions to get his take on hockey in Australia, how he is enjoying his stay here and anything else he cares to wax lyrical about!
Bill behind the bench with the womens team.
Saints: Bill, what brings you to Australia in 2010, a Winter Olympic year back in your home country?
Bill: My wife is doing a year-long teaching exchange here in NSW. We knew it was a possibility that we would be missing the Olympics in our home country.
S: Had you not been here would you have attended the Olympics in Vancouver?
B: Yes definitely. We have a good friend and a husband of a lady my wife teaches with back home that is one of the Technical Coaches for Speed-skating Canada. I would have definitely been calling a few favours for event tickets.
S: Other than the hockey any other favorite winter sports?
B: As we live less than an hour from the Rocky Mountains we also like to downhill ski when we can.
S: Please tell us a bit about your hockey background?
B: Well like every other Canadian boy I grew up with hockey as a staple in my diet of activities from a very early age (4 years old). By the time I was 12 I had traveled through the ranks of our local community minor hockey association. When I was 13 I began playing regional representative hockey and capped my amateur career at an early age of 16 with a season of Provincial Junior A followed by being called up as a late season add on with the Toronto Marlboroughs of the Ontario Junior Hockey League (OHL). We lasted only 4 games into the playoffs that year. Losing out to the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds and some 15 year old named Greztky. I think I just dated myself.
S: How have you and your family settled in? Is there a major cultural divide to be crossed?
B: Actually we have found the move to be relatively easy in most respects. Australians and Canadians share many similarities in their lives. We both are members of the Commonwealth and for the most part are roots are traced back to England. We "enjoy" the same form of Parliamentary government and all its shortcomings. We are living on 18 acres in The Oaks which is west of the Picton, Camden area. Back in Canada we live in a small town just west of Calgary which is nestled into the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. The topography is very much the same although we appreciate not having to deal with a week of -35 Celsius in the winter here.
S: Have you been made to feel welcome both here at the Saints and in the Sydney hockey community in general?
B: Yes very much. When we knew we were coming for sure I had done some research on the web and had already decided from the information provided that we would select the Liverpool Saints for our hockey option here. It has proved a smart move as we have met some terrific people in the organization and my daughter Emma has fit in very well. There are friendships we are building which will last far beyond the time we spend here this year.
S: Obviously your daughter is a very talented young player currently playing for our Pee Wee team and also playing up with the Bantam and Women's teams. Putting aside the quality of play how does availability of teams she can play for compare to back home?
B: Actually my daughter has more options here than back home and we are very impressed with the amount of ice time available for training on a weekly basis. Back in Canada each community hockey organization will have a number of teams (both girls and boys) in each age division from as young as tyke (5&6 yrs old) right up to Midget (15 and 16 yrs). Within the organization there will be categories of representative (travel) teams and House league teams. The travel teams are selected via player evaluation in which several sessions on ice testing and simulated game play will result in player ranking with goalies being ranked separately from skaters. In our hometown of Cochrane Alberta (population 15,000) we have over 1,350 registered hockey players. At the Pee Wee level in Girls hockey we had 2 teams. In boys we had 9 including an AA regional representative team which drew not only from our town but the surrounding 200 km area as well. My daughter made a Bantam Girls AAA team (same draw area) in which there were 140 girls trying out for 15 spots. Unlike the club system here, a player back home can only play for one team and must play for either the teams that are available to them in their community or regionally. This limits the amount of levels and teams that one can play for in one season and the regulations make it very difficult to move out of your home geography to play unless attending a sanctioned sports academy full time.
S: How does the hockey compare across the grades?
B: To put this answer in perspective I think it would be a good idea to draw some parallels to other sports. Cochrane just started a Rugby Union Club this spring and has been able to field teams in the U10, U12, U14 and U16 age categories as well as a female U16 team. Not bad for their first year and hopefully this is the start of things to come. Now competing for these kids' time and dollars are soccer (800 players), spring and 3 on 3 hockey (400 players), spring gridiron, baseball and lacrosse. I believe the talent levels will vary greatly within these initial rugby teams as there may be a few with prior experience but as it is not a popular sport in our region most of the teams are thin and populated with those just learning the game. This is the same with hockey here. You have 2 or 3 players at each grade with skills and they tend to dominate the games, handle the puck most of the time and do most of the scoring which is natural. This is also where it differs from back in Canada in terms of quality especially at the representative and travel levels where entire teams are made up of similarly skilled players and seldom is there a group that is head and shoulders above the rest. The game then changes to one of team play and systems for attacking and defending that are adjusted "in game" to take advantage of real time opportunities. We did not know what to expect in terms of quality of hockey but I must say that we are impressed with what seems to be a system that is able to produce some good players against the traditional sport draws.
S: How about the level of officiating?
B: Hmm sounds like a loaded question to me (he smiles). In every community and at every level in community of club sport the challenge is always how to recruit and develop the officials and minor officials. For the most part I believe the system here works. There have been a couple of instances where there have been officials clearly in over their head (a Bantam age player officiating a women's game) but if they are not allowed to be tested then they do not develop. I do like the initiative of making it mandatory for Bantam players to complete the linesman course in order to be eligible for the finals in the competition. I guess the one challenge I see here for officials is the lack of respect players, coaches and even fans have for them. People seem to get away with words and actions that would constitute a 10 minute or game misconduct back home. In the last 5 years Hockey Canada has instituted new codes of conduct for players, coaches and fans alike that make it a very serious matter to abuse an official, giving that official the power to have them physically removed and banned from premises until a hearing can be arranged. I for one love to interact with the refs but it needs to be in a respectful constructive manner. We have to remember what we would prefer if we were wearing the stripes.
S: Abuse of Officials is a hot topic at the moment with IHNSW recently introducing some new guidelines and boundaries to help protect officials. Do you maybe see a parallel to the situation in Canada with us say being 5 or 10 years behind? Other than harsher penalties was there a particular measure or tactic that Hockey Canada took to fix these issues?
B: Yes we had reached a flashpoint about 5 years ago when there was a definitive increase in official abuse both verbally and in extreme cases physically. Hockey Canada and their Provincial partner organizations developed a public awareness program complete with media support and workshops/seminars for officials, coaches and minor officials in order to create leadership for education within the hockey community.
S: Another hot topic, and I guess always will be, is parents and their behavior, not just the rage incidents but also the over enthusiastic ones trying to push their kids and their kids agenda. Being able to speak as a parent and a coach having now witnessed it first hand on both sides of the world do you have observations you would care to share with us, diplomatically of course!
B: As a parent myself I often have to catch myself from coaching my daughter 24/7. Sometimes we as parents get stars in our eyes when our children show affinity or potential in a pursuit. We have to remember that they are doing this because they enjoy the particular sport or activity especially at the younger levels. Too much focus and/or interference can sometimes have the opposite effect and we have kids either not performing or giving up because they feel they cannot perform to their parent's expectations. That is the real tragedy that I have seen over and over again back home when so much pressure is put on kids at such a young age. We as parents have to support our kids regardless of the outcome of a shift or game. The bigger opportunity is weaving the lessons of sport and competition into what these kids face in everyday life.
S: What are the similarities or differences in the administrative and managerial/coaching side of the hockey clubs?
B: Certainly one of the similarities has to be no matter where I go it always comes down to a core group of very passionate, dedicated volunteers who always seem to be at the centre of an organization's success and this is certainly the case at Liverpool Saints Ice Hockey Club. We have the same organized and elected Board and Executive with many of the same titles and duties from development to elite competition. At the individual team level it works out the same as our teams normally have at least 2-3 coaches, a manager and other parent volunteers who act as minor officials during games. Players don't own their sweaters and each team has its own set that is used year to year which is included in the yearly registration costs of the organization. We also don't pay separate costs for training or away game ice. From what I have heard it looks like anyone playing for Liverpool gets a pretty good deal on hockey costs. $500.00 give or take is relatively cheap as just the regular registration back home is $925.00 for the season in Cochrane. My daughter's Bantam AAA team fees were approximately $3,750.00 for the season but that did include bus transportation to all away games as well as some overnight hotels and road meals.
S: Are there any obvious changes that you feel should be made in the NSW hockey climate to improve the sport moving forward?
B: I think the climate for hockey in NSW according to what I have witnessed is very healthy and vibrant. The parents, players and volunteers are all as passionate and committed as those we have back in Alberta. The continuing challenge is how to draw in youngsters at an age that will ensure enough development time (Atom)? My recommendation would be for IHNSW to focus on a grassroots drawing strategy that would enable clubs to create awareness within the communities where hockey is being played. Perhaps the recruitment of a major corporate sponsor (one of the Banks as they need a little PR boost) that would be able to exert their brand influence and economic power to create awareness and build support for the sport. In Canada we have had two organizations step up nationally to establish a multi -year commitment to the growth and development of amateur hockey. One was Scotiabank who have committed to a 10 year plan of support for the development and growth of Girls and Women's hockey. This was initiated by one of our Olympians, Cassie Campbell. The other is Esso Canada (a division of Exxon Mobile) which funds what is called Esso Fun Days where young children of all ages are encouraged to come out to their local arenas and try hockey for the first time. This is run in cooperation with the local community but Esso pays for the ice, supplies hockey jerseys, prizes, food and drinks. In both examples key businesses were identified as having a need to be able to be associated with a healthy lifestyle choice in a localized family environment and with a popular sport. May be worth a try?
S: Any last thoughts?
B: In closing we would like to thank everyone at the Saints Ice Hockey Club for accepting us into their organization. Hopefully we have been able to share our knowledge and passion for what we regard as our game and we have already learned as much in return. I know we have made some great friendships and will hopefully make more as the year rolls on. We will be returning to Canada with many fond memories and much richer for our experience.
Go Saints!