Sports Hall of Famer, Gerry Trottier Still Loves Putting Fun Into The Game of Hockey

Gerry Trottier, shown above with three of the players he coaches on the Desjardins' Food Basics Dragons Houseleague Tier I PeeWee club, was inducted into the Valley East Sports Hall of Fame in the summer of 2004. Today, he continues to do what he loves best - coaching young boys and girls.

One afternoon recently, he spent some time supervising a few of his charges during a fund-raising event at the Hanmer Valley Shopping Centre. With Gerry above, are, from the left: Connor Hill, a centerman who wears  #12; Patrick Desmarais, right wing, #8; and Cameron Desjardins, #7, playing left wing. The 12-year-old boys all play on the same line with the Desjardins Dragons PeeWees.

Connor and Cameron attend Grade 7 at Valley View Public School, while Patrick is in Grade 7 at Ecole St. Therese.

Gerry has coached at both the houseleague and NOHA rep levels, but he prefers the houseleague environment. "All I want to do as a coach is help the players learn the skills and have fun. The game was meant to be fun, and that is my main goal."

He continued to explain, "I've discovered over the years that players who are having fun at what they are doing have much less difficulty learning. I guess it applies to school as much as it does to sports. And I really stress with my players that school is more important than hockey. They must work as hard in school as they do on the ice."

Gerry admits that there are a lot of problems that must be addressed in hockey today, "I think many of the problems would be solved if we put more emphasis on having fun and less emphasis on winning. If you are having fun, you will win your fair share of games. But if you are under stress and pressure, winning is harder to come by and the game just isn't fun any more."

The kids who are coached by Gerry Trottier don't need to worry about whether or not they will enjoy their season. That is a guarantee. And for some reason, winning just seems to come naturally.

Gerry was also very quick to point out that sponsors like Ken Desjardins', owner of Desjardins' Food Basics, play a huge role in the success of minor hockey in Valley East. Ken, who himself is also a member of the Valley East Sports Hall of Fame, sponsors five teams in the association - one in each division.

 
 

Copyright © 2010 All Rights Reserved
Valley East Today is published by
Infocom Canada Business Consultants Inc.