Glen Williamson, the tecnical director of youth hockey in Hungary, and the U18 national team coach gave in interview for jkb.hu about the 2014-15 season and also talked about his ideas for the MOL League.
How can you sum up the past season, starting with the U13-U14 age group?
We worked with about 150 players at the U13 level through five camps and one larger tournament. At this age we teach them how to think, we give them ideas and touch on some basic concepts and what skills they need to develop. This is an introductory program this is where we really start their development and from the signs it looks like they are really enjoying themselves working together, and they really put everything they have into the work. The U14 is very similar to this, there are camps that are geared towards teaching the players with a larger tournament at the end where they compete against teams from Canada, Russia, Finland, Germany and Czech Republic. Right now we are in the middle of the field at this age group and we are continually improving which can be seen in the wins and the close results. We are a small country but it's great to see that the kids really want to learn, develop and become better. At these tournaments they can really learn how get past bigger teams and how to become better players. Education is very important as well and we emphasize this at every level. We try to develope them to understand that their performance in the classroom is just as important as on the ice. The top hockey players generally tend to be successful in life as well. We expect them to be good students as well.
How well can you keep track of this?
We try to always check up on the players, to see if everything is going well. We have constant communication between the players and the coaching staff, we are always keeping tabs on them. Trust is a big factor in this relationship, we trust the keeps to be honest with us when ask them about how things are going. This isn't really about us, if the keeps are lying they are actually hurting themselves. We put education in the forefront because we believe that is creates a balance with hockey and we would like that smart, intelligent and constantly developing individuals come out of the program and could be successful in other fields of life.
What about the older age groups, U16 and U18?
For the U15 and the U16 age groups we had a number of camps with a number of high level tournaments. At these tournaments we played very well and I’m proud of the boys, we can be satisfied, they worked alot and put in a tremendous amount of work and energy this past season, and this was seen in the results. We had a large amount of players come through the program at this level and its great to see how the pool of players is getting deeper. We passed on the information to them at a higher level at the camps.
At the U18 level we competed against top hockey nations, the past two seasons we had won the world championships that we competed in and this time we really played against some top teams and we were in the top 16 in the world. We only had six players back from the previous years teams and we had a number of new players, I’m really proud of the way they competed and played in Debrecen. Simply put this team was not at the Division 1/A level. I still believe if you want to compete against the top teams then you have to play as many games as you can against teams at that level. The players learned a lot from this season and they have a clearer picture of how hockey is played in the elite countries and where we have to get to. I think that was already a great accomplishment that we were able to play at this world championship level, both for the team and for Hungarian hockey. We have started to become more recognizable on the hockey map at the youth level. I think this is true at the U20 level as well. I am not the coach of that team any more but this is how development happens, you take two steps forward and one step back and then another two forward. We need to learn from every situation and we became better this year because we experienced new situations and we learned new things.
Overall I think we have a useful season behind the program, a number of people maybe only saw that at two age groups we were relegated from the division we were in, there is more to this than just that. You have to take a look at the big picture and in terms of the future, based off today's experiences the future can be better for both age groups. The coaches who were with the players all season put in a tremendous amount of work as well and this can be seen how the coaches have improved and are working at higher and higher levels. One example of this is Gergely Majoross or Zoltán Szilassy but there are a number of other coaches I could mention. The information that is passed on to the players in the camps are world class. Our presentations are no different than the ones in the camps in Canada. We are improving step by step and during this season we took another step forward. We are trying to change the attitude through the program, the entire ice hockey mentality and I think that the coaching staffs and the players are doing fantastic work and we are moving forward.
Will you be staying in Hungary for next season?
I will go back home and I will take some time to think everything through. I love Hungary, the program, what we have developed, this is one big team. I am very proud of what we have accomplished with the program, the kids as well, I think what we are doing here is really helping Hungarian hockey and the country as well. We develop a number of life skills, we teach at a complex level and I believe that they can accomplish a lot in life, they will become better and stronger citizens.
What else is needed for the following steps to be taken?
We need to give more players the opportunity to play at the highest possible level. This is why it is important that two more teams will be joining the MOL League, there are a number of talented Hungarian players who are coming up from the youth system. I think that the league is improving and it is more organized, there are more quilty coaches and players. I have some ideas that could improve the development of players. I think that it would be useful that we cut the game day roster size down to 18 players, this way everyone can play more minutes. Another idea I have is that each team would need to dress six players that are U23 for each game. Players between the ages of 18-23 would be given the opportunity to attend university while playing in the MOL League. There are a number of examples of this already, after they can decide what path in life they would like to choose, as a hockey player or as a civilian. Either way it is important that they get their education, it's not enough just to play hockey. With they ideas teams could be able to cut down some of their costs. Of course we need to keep the quality imports in the league however it could go back down to five import players.
After the U18 World Championships you took a longer vacation, you walked part of the El Camino pilgrimage trail, why did you decided to do this to relax?
First off Hungarian cooking is really good and I have put on a good couple of kilos and I wanted to get back into shape. Also I usually have 15 hour work days where I am constantly pushing people, motivating people and I don’t have any energy left to push myself. I needed the break, and I really like to go backpacking and camping. The hockey world that we live in is filled with emotion and constantly moving and going that sometimes we just need to have time for ourselves and to regenerate and to think things through. In the past couple of years I have been on a number of trips, in the Himalayas, Australia and in Canada, I have done a number of backpacking trips as well and motorcycle trips. This are trips for myself where I make life simple, the El Camino has always interested me, people are always making the trek for a number of different reasons from all over the world and I wanted to be a part of this as well. I wanted to do it for my health for my soul and for the adventure, it was very hard I did lose a number of kilos and I am in better shape spiritually and physically as well. I recommend this for everyone, I met a number of Hungarian on the trip, I walked with a good friend of mine who had walked the length twice already, he helped me during the 20 days as we covered 210 km. We you walk 18-25 km a day for weeks, you have a lot of time to think as you watch one foot go in front of the other. It was phenomenal it was enjoyable and it represented life as life is a journey as well not just a stop or a station.
photo: László Mudra