Hockey Lessons from “Outliers”

The book, “Outliers; The Story of Success“ by Malcolm Gladwell, has inspired me for a number of years and, if you haven’t already done so, I encourage you to read it for the many success stories drawn from hockey and beyond. 

In Outliers, Gladwell asserts that birth month has a huge impact on success in hockey and other sports. Yet, he also makes it clear that there is nothing pre-ordained in the DNA of kids born in favorable birth months; it’s just that early success accumulates or “snowballs.” 

In hockey, kids with 6-9 months more ice time at the mite/squirt level – those born in January vs. November -- fair better at tryouts and make better teams. Better teams lead to even more ice time, better coaching, and higher expectations. Year after year, those best prepared from the previous year make better teams. Anyone else has to find a way to break the cycle.

In general, Gladwell asserts that success results when:

• Good fortune leads to the opportunity to work hard (Gladwells examples: Bill Gates, Bill Joy, The Beatles, Hockey players with birthdays near the “cut off” date)

• Expectations are high, high performance follows (Gladwells examples: Kipp school, The Beatles)

• Community/Parental Intervention is the rule, not the exception (Gladwells examples: Bill Gates, Gladwell’s own Mother)

Inclusiveness breeds success

For more kids to “snowball” with hockey success, rinks need only provide all the “snow” they want by allowing and promoting practice cross over. For instance, teams may have mandatory skills practice where all team members are expected to attend, but where those practices are open to others, magic happens. 

When A-level players attend the AA skills clinic, they directly benefit from the extra ice time (hard work) and higher skill levels (high expectations). Likewise, when AA-level players attend an A skills clinic they get additional practice and raise the skill level there.  

The key is to promote cross-over so that doesn't take an act of courage for those kids with drive and commitment to venture out of their own age group; it’s invited and expected. Not all will take advantage of the additional practice, but those who do will chip away at the 10,000 hours Gladwell suggests it takes for success. 

Yet, it’s not sufficient that our children just reach some magic number of hockey hours – they need to do it at the right level by the right age. If they are not ready to play AAA Midget by age 16, they fail to get that experience.... If they don’t make Juniors by an early age, they will hardly be scouted for college.... And if they fail to be recruited by a college team by age 21, they are barred from playing under NCAA rules. It is not a marathon, but a sprint to accumulate 10,000 hours of ice time (10k by 21).

Teams at the famed prep school, Shattuck St. Marys hold practice five to seven days a week and play 50-75 games a year. That's what it takes to produce championships and over 40 NHL draft picks, including LA Kings defenseman Jack Johnson and Penguins captain Sid Crosby.

Rinks need policies that promote and encourage rigorous play and practice – beyond the 2-3 hours of team practice per week -- to foster excellence in hockey at all levels. It’s not simply the “more the better.” It’s that more is better; sooner is better; and better (level) is better.

When all else fails... Intervene

Gladwell is with Bon Jovi on this one. The lyrics go "Luck ain't even lucky; gotta make your own breaks." When bad luck derails progress, parents and/or the community should feel compelled to intervene.

There's a great story in Outliers about a middle school computer lab that ran out of funds. It would have shut down, but the parents jumped into action and raised some cash. Not only did it remain open but, through a twist of fate, became one of the first labs ever to use real-time keyboard entry -- at a time (1960's) when university professors were still punching cards!

Maybe this intervention doesn't seem like a big deal, but we'll never know. It's just that this action, in this middle school, by these parents permitted the young Bill Gates to follow his passion for computers when, otherwise, his fire may have gone out.

Not every kid is going to make the best hockey team or play at Shattuck St. Marys, but the 10k-by-21 clock is still running. Intervention is a twist on Yogi Berra's line, "When you come to a fork in the road, take it." When you find your player on the wrong path, don't just "take it;" take charge. There's alway a path to more ice time and higher level play, so keep the fires burning.