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| Stanley Cup in Hockey Hall of Fame (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
Duncan Keith is a hockey player who has made a major impact
thus far in his career. He has won two Olympic Gold medals, two Norris
Trophies, and three Stanley Cup Championships. He was also recently awarded the
Conn Smythe Trophy for MVP of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Amazingly, though, this
super-successful player faced his fair share of challenges and rejections along
the way. In fact, scouts told him no more than 300 times before he finally got
drafted 54th after two years of trying!
A lot of industry experts say that the reason it took Duncan
Keith so long to get “scooped up” was because he tended to be over-confident in
the rink, doing spins and basically just showing off. He also wasn’t cautious and
careful in the way most defensemen are. However, these things later, when
honed, can turn out to be strengths; a person who has the confidence not to
care what anyone thinks is a person who will make risky but necessary plays in
the game and be a real leader for his team.
Because more and more experts are starting to realize that
being “over-confident” or “different” can actually be assets, why not encourage
these things in your young players? Obviously, you don’t want them to be cocky,
but let them be themselves and develop their own unique style, even if it’s a
little different than what you are used to or the way you were taught. Change
is hard, but if something works, it works, right?
Duncan Keith proves that hockey is moving in the direction
of being more accepting toward (and even celebrating) players who are true
individuals and who have their own styles, so don’t suppress those tendencies
in your young players; you might just break their spirit in the process!
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