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Osseo Maple Grove Hockey Association

Players Club

Hello OMGHA families,

Please be patient as you read through this, there is a lot of information to read through and understand.  Some may seem common sense, but for this purpose, we believe over communication is the lesser of the two evils. 

Welcome to the Players Club!  The OMGHA Players Club is our new offseason training experience sharing an opportunity for our players to have fun developing their hockey skills and overall athleticism away from the rink.  We hope this programming (which was originally developed by the Ontario Minor Hockey Association) gives our traveling players a fun and competitive opportunity to stay active in the offseason. 

OBJECTIVE:  The OMGHA Players Club will be an off-ice experience comprised of 4 programs for our players to choose from.  The objective will be to complete 2 of the 4 programs between 5/4/20 and 9/30/20.  2 activities are 8-weeks long and 2 activities are 10-weeks long (one of the 10-week programs is designed for goalies only).  There is NO sign up for these activities.  Submission of program paperwork upon completion is the requirement.

TIMING:  Players have from 5/4/20 - 9/30/20 to complete their activities.   We recommend that players use only the weeks allotted for the individual activity to complete each activity.  Choosing a block of time and staying course is beneficial to create a habit, stay in routine and stay focused.  That said, don’t turn this into a job, feel free to make a timeframe work for your player and family. 

AWARD:  The first and most important award is becoming more athletic while getting noticeably better at your hockey craft!  Second, each player that completes 2 activities and turns their completed documents in to our omghaplayersclub@gmail.com email address by no later than 9/30/20 will win an OMGHA designed Trucker Hat with Players Club logo (the hat will be rad, we promise).

PROCESS:  Please review the details of the program as well as the program tracking sheets.  Once program activities are competed, players Name and Last Season OMGHA Team must be printed on the document.  Scan or take a picture of the completed document and email it to omghaplayersclub@gmail.com once completed.   OMGHA will be tracking all results in order to award hats.   9/30/20 is the deadline, there will be no exceptions for submittals after 9/30/20. 

Players Club Activity Choices:

  • 5,000 SHOT Challenge
    • How much could your shot improve if you were to take 5,000 shots over a 10-week period?
      • The GOAL:  Increase shot velocity, quickness and accuracy
      • The PLAN:  Shoot 5,000 pucks in 10 weeks
      • WEEKLY GOAL:  500 shots per week
      • DAILY GOAL:  100 shots per day (5 days per week)
    • RECOMMENDATIONS:
      • Get into a routine. Choose a time when you can practice at the same time every day
      • Plan ahead for days that you can’t practice
      • Have a dedicated place to shoot
      • Be accountable, do what you can without your technique breaking down or losing your focus.  Don’t just go through the motions.
      • Get 20 pucks and shoot 5 sets of 20 for 100 pucks in a day. This should take about 20 minutes given no distractions.
    • GETTING STARTED
      • A regulation size net (Street hockey, or ice hockey, even drawing on a concrete wall)
      • Shooter tutor or targets (Can be made out of plywood or purchased)
      • Shooting surface (concrete floor, driveway, plexiglass or even a 3'x 3' heavy plastic sheet)
      • 10-100 pucks
      • Hockey gloves
      • Stick (should be a few inches shorter than the one used on the ice as player will not be wearing skates)
      • Players may and are encouraged to shoot more than the minimum required shots per week.
      • Form and mechanics are more important than accuracy for this activity
    • TRACKING YOUR PROGRESS
      • Players must track their shots on the 5,000 Puck Challenge 
      • Submit completed tracking sheet to omghaplayersclub@gmail.com when finished
    • Visit the OMHA YouTube channel or https://www.omha.net/playersclub for video instruction clips for all shots and skills 
      • NOTE:  Original program developed by Ontario Minor Hockey Association, this is not meant to say OMGHA
  • 10,000 TOUCHES Challenge
    • How much could your stickhandling improve if you performed 10,000 Touches, stickhandling over an 8-week period? 
      • The GOAL:  Improved puck control skills through increased hand speed, quickness & coordination
      • The PLAN:  Develop stickhandling skills performing a minimum of 10,000 touches
      • WEEKLY GOAL:  75 minutes per week
      • DAILY GOAL:  15 minutes per day (5 days per week)
    • WHAT IS A TOUCH?
      • A ‘touch’ can simply be defined as every time there is a change in direction of the ball.
    • GETTING STARTED
      • Space – Have a dedicated place to practice. A safe, flat, practice surface (floor, driveway) ideally with a wall or rebounding surface (wall, curb)
      • Equipment - Hockey gloves; ball to stick handle with (tennis ball, golf ball or stickhandling ball); Stick (should be a few inches shorter than the one used on the ice as player will not be wearing skates)
      • Additional sticks, pucks, pylons, gloves or other household items to use as obstacles
      • Skills are divided into 5 Skill Buckets; each Skill Bucket has a Goal Number of Touches and includes recommended skills and number of touches
      • Skill = Simple – These are technique building, foundational movements
      • Start slow – Rehearse each movement/skill then convert each movement into Game Speed
      • Identify Weaknesses – Don’t just work on your favorite skill or ones that you’re good at
      • Keep going - Players are encouraged to complete more than the minimum required number of touches
      • Get into a routine. Choose a time when you can practice at the same time every day
      • Plan ahead for days that you can’t practice
      • Be accountable – Do what you can without your technique breaking down or losing your focus – don’t just go through the motions.
      • Break your workout into smaller chunks- for example, do half the workout early in the day and finish the rest later on that day
      • Progressions - Combine skills to double or triple your touches per round of drills
    • TRACKING YOUR PROGRESS
      • Players must track their activity on the 10,000 Touches tracking sheet
      • Submit completed tracking sheet to omghaplayersclub@gmail.com when finished
    • Visit the OMHA YouTube channel or https://www.omha.net/playersclub for video instruction clips for all shots and skills 
      • NOTE:  Original program developed by Ontario Minor Hockey Association, this is not meant to say OMGHA
  • 30/30 Challenge
    • How much could your agility, balance, coordination (ABC’s) and speed improve, racing through timed movements over an 8-week period? 
      • The GOAL:  Improved agility, balance, coordination and speed
      • The PLAN:  30 seconds exercise, 30 seconds rest; repeat for 10 exercises
      • WEEKLY GOAL: 3 days per week | 30-60 minutes per week
      • DAILY GOAL: 10-20 minutes per day
    • THE PROGRAM
      • Each program is set up as a Circuit and consists of 10 exercises (for the appropriate age group)
      • The exercises require minimal equipment so they can be done at home, on the playground or on a field
      • Perform each exercise in order for 30 seconds; followed by 30 seconds of rest then onto the next exercise
      • Athletes track the number of repetitions on their chart that they complete (with good form) for each exercise 
      • For the first 4 weeks of the program, complete the circuit one time. For the last 4 weeks of the program, complete one circuit, then repeat a second time
    • GETTING STARTED
      • Space – Have a dedicated place to set up your circuit such as your basement, garage, playground or field
      • Equipment – each exercise description outlines what is required, however, basics include cones or pylons, ladder or hockey sticks, stopwatch/timing device
      • Wear athletic clothing and footwear
      • Start slow – Rehearse each movement/skill then increase intensity or speed maintaining good form – ‘Fast as you can, not fast as you can’t….’
    • TRACKING YOUR PROGRESS
      • Players must track their activity using the 30/30 Challenge tracking sheet
      • Submit completed tracking sheet to omghaplayersclub@gmail.com when finished
    • Visit the OMHA YouTube channel or https://www.omha.net/playersclub to for video instruction clips for all shots and skills
      • NOTE:  Original program developed by Ontario Minor Hockey Association, this is not meant to say OMGHA
  • GOALIE DEVELOPMENT Challenge

** Thank you to the Ontario Minor Hockey Association for providing great instructions, programs and videos for the 30/30 challenge, 5,000 puck challenge and 10,000 touch challenge. 

** Thank you to the EGF GreenWave for providing these off-ice instructional videos for goalie offseason training.