A good atmosphere, creating the children's enthusiasm for ice hockey, paying attention to the individual development of the talents and always being a contact person for the young players: for Uli Liebsch and Ernst Höfner, all of this characterizes good young talent training. Together with DEB-Podcast host Karl Schwarzenbrunner speaks to the two in the 21st episode “Coach the Coach” about the five-star program and young talent development in German ice hockey.
Liebsch has been the Young Talent Coordinator for the DEL since 2014 and looks after all DEL Young Talent organizations as part of the five-star program. Ernst Höfner, who was born in Augsburg and has been part of the German Ice Hockey Federation for more than 20 years, takes care of the local talent and club support for the upper league teams as well as the entire coordination with the regional associations.
The five-star program was initiated in 2014 to promote young talent in Germany. The idea behind it was simple: get more children interested in sport and train them better in a longer-term process. So far, around 60 PENNY DEL, DEL2, Oberliga Nord and south as well DEB- Organized and supervised member associations. “World leadership starts with recruiting,” says Höfner.
The basis for good young talent work is always the drafting of young players. The next step is about player development and, last but not least, the focus is on talent promotion and development at the highest competitive sporting level. Year after year, small improvements and adjustments are made to the program, but the basic structure remains the same.
The aim is not only to look at the catalog of requirements, but rather to bring to the fore the awareness that the five-star program is an important part of the club's support. And the change is visible, because Liebsch now sees the children moving more and implementing forms of play. The training has changed enormously and has developed from a kind of adult training to training with fun. Meanwhile, several trainers and helpers on the ice ensure that the children in small groups always stay on the “puck,” so to speak. What is particularly important - as both Liebsch and Höfner say - is that with regard to the promotion of young talent, it is also more important to appreciate and support the work of the trainers in this area, because they give the starting signal and train the young newcomers.
Here go to the podcast episode with Uli Liebsch and Ernst Höfner.