Concepts of Athletic Development

Athletes all develop differently and there are any number of factors that influence an athlete’s development. Factors like physical attributes and mental abilities, eating and sleeping habits, and social skills all have an impact. So does a player’s maturity, and not only his physical maturity but also his mental and emotional maturity.

It is extremely important that young players find their “path” to the best development. For Bridgedale Academy, the goal from an athletic development perspective is to help each player understand what he needs to work on, and how to do it, so he is able to get the most out of his individual abilities.

In discussing human development Aristotle said “we are what we habitually do.” In other words, all people are in a sense defined by their habits. And so it is with hockey, that a player’s habits define how thoroughly he will develop as an athlete and as a hockey player. Maintaining good habits is crucial to a young player’s development. And so daily habit control is demanded and maintained by our staff, to assure the players perform and execute the drills correctly.