Docforrest - Tom's advice is great. A few things to consider....
- Practice with your best player in a different color jersey (or invite someone talented) and have everyone focus on knowing where that player is at all times, then taking away time and space before she gets up to speed in any game situations.....anticipate & disrupt from the defensive side.
- Think about match-ups. Can your team agree that you need a certain defense pair out there against her and make an effort to change accordingly?
- On D, emphasize 1) forcing the player wide and 2)partners backing each other up by anticipating going to the near post in a straight line ( to get there quickly) when the talented player tries to turn the D wide.
- Frame this situation as a challenge, not an unfair advantage for the other team.
All this might be too much for rec hockey, but I thought I'd at least throw my two cents in. Good luck and let us know what works!
Dave
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Hi coaches, I'm new to the forum. Maybe you can help me with this dilemma:
I coach a pee wee girls house team. We play a team who has a player who is head & shoulders above the rest, on both teams. This girl usually scores 4 - 5 goals per game, she's basically playing way above her skill level. She is an affiliate player, as I'm assuming this team is short players, she's played every game so far. She's probably a rep player for her age level.
My dilemma is, my team is starting to get deflated when they play this team, as they know what's coming. We can't line match against this player, as our league has equal ice time rules. Some of the girls talk about "getting" this player, but I squash that talk immediatley, as I tell the girls there is no solution that needs to get dirty or cheap.
I'm really shrugging my shoulders on this one. Any ideas?
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My suggestion is that you emphasize to your D to stay on dside between the star and the net and have your first forward back, f1 backpressure and chase the star to create a defensive 2-1. Maybe you can keep him to one or two goals.