Congratulations to 10U Chandler Henderson!

1. Current Team: 10U Van Valer Fishers, aka Biscuits. And just made 10U All-Stars team this year! 

2. Position: Both offense and defense

3. Years Playing: 3 years

4. Most memorable hockey experience: When he attended a Chicago Blackhawks game in Chicago for his 6th birthday and he got a puck from a player

5. Favorite team: Chicago Blackhawks and favorite player is Alex DeBrincat

6. School/Grade: Cherry Tree Elementary and is in 3rd grade

7. Community Service: Last season, Chandler organized the IYHA Jr Fuel equipment room for his black belt community service project. He labeled the skates, helmets, pads, gloves and bins. 

8. Academic Achievements: Recognized as Excellence in Mathematics, Student Leader, and a great helper!

9. Favorite food: Nachos

10. Favorite movie: Star Wars

11.  Random fact: Chandler is the youngest person to get his black belt for TKD at Master Yoo's when he was 7 years old. He is continuing on for his 2nd Dan which includes numchucks and swords.  

Coach Driscoll has demonstrated what some of the best coaches can do- bring a team together and focus on developing chemistry.  Whether it’s starting practice by playing music over the loud speakers or team celebrations after they score a goal, his team has really come together.  His team name is officially the Frostbites- a team name chosen by the kids. 

His son Van is going to be a future coach one day too, I can already tell from his leadership skills!  Coach Driscoll is a Coach in our 317HL 12u Carmel Division.

By Adam McHugh, 317HL Director

Each newsletter will feature players who are nominated by their coaches for standing out with their hard work, leadership and representing the IYHA Jr Fuel on and off the ice. 

We also want to recognize our great coaches and volunteers who generously give their time to the kids and the organization. Thank you all! 

Would you like to nominate a coach or volunteer for next month? Email JJ Beck: jj@iyha.com

The IYHA Jr Fuel is a fast-growing, dynamic organization whose purpose is to teach and promote ice hockey to children in Fishers, Carmel, Westfield, Indianapolis, and the nearby communities.

The IYHA Jr Fuel is the largest youth hockey association in the Midwest, with over 1200 local boys and girls ages 3 – 18 participating. We are committed to providing opportunities for all skill levels to ensure each player has a positive experience that they will always remember.

In order to be successful in our goals, the IYHA Jr Fuel is seeking financial support from individuals and businesses. Please contact JJ Beck for sponsorship opportunities: JJ@iyha.com

By Ryan Beck

The IYHA Jr Fuel is back in action and Learn to Play Hockey is offering classes at multiple locations for boys and girls of all ages. This a great introduction to the sport and skill levels are welcome. Players will learn everything from the fundamentals of skating, controlling the puck, passing to teammates, and scoring the game winning goals! Our station-based format gives players the opportunity to learn the skills necessary in a safe and competitive environment. The action packed practices keep the kids moving, engage, and excited to back to the rink every week!

Register today for December classes at www.iyha.com/ltp

Class Days, Times, and Locations:

Saturdays 10:30am - 11:30am
Arctic Zone Iceplex 16616 Southpark Drive, Westfield 46074

Sundays 3:15pm - 4:15pm
Indy Fuel Tank 9022 E. 126th Street, Fishers, Indiana 46038

Mondays 5:00pm - 6:00pm
Carmel Ice Skadium 1040 3rd Avenue SW, Carmel, Indiana 46032

Thursdays 5:15pm - 6:15pm
Indy Fuel Tank 9022 E. 126th Street, Fishers, Indiana 46038

By Adam McHugh

Skills We'll Be Focusing on This Month:

8u:  At supplemental skills we will be focusing on shooting.  All practice plan suggestions for coaches will be focused on passing amongst other skills such as turning with two feet and backwards skating.

10u, 12u, 14u:  At supplemental skills, we will be focusing on backwards skating technique and different types of passing techniques.  Practice plans that are suggested to coaches will focus around team oriented skills such as breakouts, backchecking, and defending an opponent. 

Parent Etiquette
Parents, family members and friends: the athlete you are supporting in the rink is a CHILD.  We must remember this.  The athletes that your son or daughter is competing against are also children.  Vulgar and obscene language directed toward any player, coach, referee, rink staff or other parents will not be tolerated. All parents had to sign the Parent Code of Conduct and must abide by the contract.
As a reminder, the parent code of conduct can be found here:

https://cdn1.sportngin.com/attachments/document/3bbf-1934877/USA_Hockey_Parent_Code_of_Conduct.pdf

Sense Arena: Sense Arena released their Goaltending VR in July of 2020. It is being used by multiple NHL teams. What Sense Arena offers is that goalies can train at home with or without putting on all of their gear. https://www.sensearena.com/for-goalies

CatchBall: The CatchBall is a great way to practice hand-eye coordination and head trajectory. The CatchBall goes around the goalie’s waist and it is as simple as throw and catch. https://www.prolabsports.com/products

Hecostix: Hecostix helps goalies work on hand-eye coordination, decision making, and precision catching. Have someone throw the hecostix to the goalie and call one of the color options and the goalie must track that color and catch the hecostix at that color. You can change the difficulty by throwing the hecostix with more or less spin.

https://hecostix.com/pages/hockey

Blocker Sleeve: The Blocker Sleeve is a great way to warm up the goalie’s blocker hand before the game. Before the blocker sleeve goalies had a difficult time warming up their blocker. The Blocker Sleeve will also give the goalie instant feedback on how they control the rebound. https://www.blockersleeve.com/

Brian’s Pad Carry Strap: The Brian’s Pad Carry Strap is made for goalies who use any toe tie set-up other than laces. The strap velcros through the boot strap buckle on each pad and allow goalies to carry their pads over their shoulder easily. This also prevents the bungee toe ties from stretching or ripping out of their velcro sleeves.

These are just recommendations for gifts during the holidays all of these products will help your goalie develop in fun ways at home, or make their lives easier. I hope that everyone has a great holiday season and stays safe!

By Brent Gwidt

Development quote of the month:

“Practice isn’t the thing you do once you’re good. It’s the thing you do that makes you good”

-Malcom Gladwell-

Training Resources
https://www.gelstx.com/
https://www.projecthockey.com/

Small area game of the month:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5S4kvlMi-l8

Putting In the Time 

The game of hockey is filled with quick decisions and small little plays that happen all over the ice. The reason why we work so much on our skills is to make sure that when an opportunity with the puck is presented, the player can be confident to make a play. A player really doesn’t have the puck on their stick that much during a game, so making those puck touches count is huge for a players confidence. A huge positive to puck skills is that it's extremely easy to work on at home or in small areas of the ice. A player that truly wants to get better should be willing to put in the time away from their general practice and take advantage of all the tools and resources there are these days that help a  player improve their stickhandling, shooting, and passing.

Many legends of the game and current NHL stars always talk about how much they just loved the game so much when they were in their youth hockey years. They embraced the sport and lived to compete on the ice, and as they grew to love the game more and more; their dedication to getting better grew as well. For a player to continue to get better and reach their full potential, they need to spend time away from their regularly scheduled games and practices. We don’t want to force anything onto a player and making sure the player wants to put in the work is where it needs to start. If we can start to create more advantages for the individual athlete, then they will be able to push their potential, get out of their comfort zone, embrace training, and more importantly just put more passion into the game. 

Whether the player has dreams and aspirations to play junior, college, or pro hockey or if they just like to play the game for fun, why not encourage and try new opportunities for individual skill development. With a game that is filled with mistakes, it can sometimes be pretty hard for a player to have consistent confidence in his/her game. Players need to understand that mistakes are made every single shift and to limit those mistakes we can put in the work to get better!

Extra skill development recommendations

1. Ask the coaches where they think the player needs improvement. They can also help with advice on resources or drills to do away from practice and games.  
2. If the player enjoys practicing on their own time, have them join with some teammates or friends. That creates much more energy as well as some internal competition.
3. Being consistent is probably the most important part to developing all the skills in hockey. Finding a good routine and sticking with it, and even adding more training to the plan as you keep progressing. 
4. Make it fun and challenging at the same time. 
5. Have the passion start from the player.

By Jimmy Mullin

10 TIPS FOR THE GENERATION Z HOCKEY PLAYER

1. Put down the phone, computer or any other device. Learn to have a conversation. Learning to have an articulate conversation with a teacher, superior, coach, scout, or GM will be very useful someday.
    
2. Please do not call a superior by their first name. Please use honorific words such as… Ms. Mrs. Mr. Coach. Mam. Sir. Dr. I know it seems like a very small detail, but coaches notice it. 
    
3. Do not be the player who cares more about looking cool on Instagram, Twitter or Tik Tok. There are thousands of hockey influencers in the world. How many Sidney Crosby’s are there? Get to work. It’s perfectly fine to have fun, but understand that someone out in the world is working harder than you. Now lets work on the things that matter! (Talk to your coach if you have questions on what to work on)
    
4. Don't let your parents do your dirty work. If you will miss a practice, game, workout or team event... learn to have a tough conversation. If you can have a meeting in person and let them know of your absence, great. If not, pick up the phone and make a phone call. Unless a coach gives you instructions to text them, give them the courtesy and call them on the phone! 
    
5. Be careful on social media. Recruiting happens in person, on the phone and yes… even through social media. If you think a tweet, post or video is inappropriate, then don't put it out there for the world to see.  
    
6. PUT YOUR PHONE AWAY IN THE LOCKER ROOM. Nothing good happens when the phone is on in the locker room. Don’t snap chat, dont record stuff, just leave it in your stall until you are out of the locker room. Be in the moment with your teammates. Take this time to talk with teammates about the upcoming game, or the next opponent. Take advantage of the small amount of time you have with teammates this season!
    
7. Look/Dress the part! We understand that fashion, and individuality is a huge part of generation z’s natural makeup. But understand, dress for the job you want, not the one you have. Go to the rink prepared, and sometimes a nice suit, nice outfit can make you look good, feel good and play good! For my younger players that don’t have a dress code yet, don’t be the player who shows up to the rink with your hair all over the place. Take pride in your appearance.
    
8. Take your headphones, or ear pods out when someone is speaking to you. Even though the music may not be on, it's just a sign of respect to the person speaking to you. 
    
9. Be okay with taking your time. Don’t be in a rush to move on because it seems like everyone on social media is moving up in the hockey world. Worry about development and outworking them. Your time to shine will be just around the corner. 
    
10. Generation Z is made up of 27% of the US population. That is more than 1/4th of the US! Just remember, keep innovating, keep moving the needle, but learn from those before you. Just think… Maybe you can be the next Connor McDavid, Seth Jones, Kendall Coyne, Carey Price or Brianna Decker? 

By JJ Beck

The Indy Fuel return to the ice December 11th! Stay tuned for details.

Have you ever flipped to the last page of the USA Hockey Magazine to see all the amazing drawings, poetry, and creativity from young players across the country? Show your creative side for a chance to be featured! There are three way to share your art!

1. Mail to USA Hockey
   Attn: Slap's Gallery
   1775 Bob Johnson Dr.
   Colorado Springs, CO 80906
    
2. Submit Online & Vote
   Enter your drawings online at: USAHockeymagazine.com to the Slaps Gallery Online Derby. Then vote for your favorite drawings. The top vote-getters each month will be published in the USA Hockey Magazine
    
3. Fan Art Friday on Facebook
   Like USA Hockey Magazine on Facebook to see if your artwork gets posted