You want to talk about ‘bet on emerging talent.’
You want to talk Level 1 Coach?
Ryan Ward is that dude.
I was writing the afterword to the first book as he was hired in Youngstown. I didn’t call it, but like… They won the Clark Cup year 1 with a Level 1 Coach.
For those that need a great Level 1 visual, here is a picture of his playing resume on Elite Prospects:
That wasn’t a mistake by me, he doesn’t have a playing resume on EP.
Here’s his professional coaching one:
What team do you know in the best junior league in the country that would hire a coach that had 13u on his resume the year prior?
I got stonewalled from an ECHL video job because the HC was concerned I couldn’t do the video job after being a tier 3 HC in my last job.
Where you not only have to do the video coach job by yourself, but you also have to be the HC, strength coach, mental skills coach, team psychologist, etc…
I wouldn’t have even got an interview had I been coaching 13u…
You bet on people, you don’t bet on playing resumes.
Youngstown knew this, bet on emerging and won huge.