What are the best practices when it comes to teaching strategy and tactics to kids? In this episode, I speak with Laurentian Varsity Curling Coach Ryan Lafraniere. Ryan will be presenting a session at the upcoming "Adapting Thriving" Curling Coaches Conference in March 2021 titled "How To Teach Strategy And Tactics."
Some of the topics we discuss include:
* How Ryan was recruited by his coach to become a curling coach himself (4:45)
* His coaching mentors (6:43)
* How coaches taught strategy "back in the day" (10:25)
* Where to begin teaching strategy to kids (12:55)
* A fun way to teach strategic concepts to kids using word association (16:43)
* The most challenging part of teaching strategy to new curlers (22:30)
* A curling coach's secret "equipment supply store" (26:30)
* What attendees can expect at his session on March 21st at the "Adapting Thriving" Conference (27:15)
Links to the resources mentioned in this episode:
Adapting Thriving 2021 Conference Web page (NOTE: URL no longer exists)
https://ontariocurlingcouncil.com/blog/adapting-and-thriving-2021/
Ryan's "Alumni Spotlight" video (2017) for Laurentian University
https://youtu.be/2uyIHhWtH1Y
Sudbury.com article (2009) about Ryan carrying the Vancouver 2010 Olympic torch
https://www.sudbury.com/sports/local-curling-coach-selected-as-2010-olympic-torchbearer-224554
Dollarama Web site
https://www.dollarama.com/en-CA/
Ryan's e-mail address: RX_Lafraniere@laurentian.ca
Follow our podcast on Twitter: @kidscurling
Glenn Gabriel is an NCCP-certified curling coach who lives in Pickering, Ontario, Canada. He has been the coordinator of the Little Rocks (U12) program at East York Curling Club in Toronto since 2011. If you have a question or feedback on the podcast, send us an e-mail at coachingkidscurling@gmail.com
The intro and outro music is "Golden Sunrise (Instrumental Version)"
https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Josh_Woodward/The_Wake_1790/JoshWoodward-TheWake-NoVox-10-GoldenSunrise
By Josh Woodward
https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Josh_Woodward
Licensed under CC BY 3.0
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/