Mad Dogs Hockey

The Mad Dogs Mission

The Mad Dogs Inline Hockey Club is the Capitol Beltway’s leading inline travel club. We field teams at the 8U, 10U, 12U, 14U, and 17U age levels and compete at the highest levels of inline competition. Indeed, our teams have won both regional and national inline championships and our teams are consistently ranked high in the nation by inline authorities.

Along with the leadership ot the AIHI, our goal is to develop the finest inline players possible in order to compete at the highest levels. We purposely recruit many of the region’s leading travel ice hockey players since that is the only way, in our opinion, we will be able to compete at the highest levels of inline hockey. We are confident that the skills we teach will complement a player’s ice hockey skills. We do not believe there is an inherent conflict between the two sports and, in fact, believe that they compliment each other quite well. It is not a coincidence that many of the region’s leading ice hockey players also play inline hockey. Nor are we surprised that some of the nation’s leading college ice hockey coaches are targeting hockey players with inline backgrounds.

We also are dedicated to recruiting the region's top inline players and further developing their skills.We believe that if we assemble the best hockey players possible for our teams, we are able to compete at the highest level in the very competitive inline hockey world.

Teach Your Hockey Player to Be a Good Sport
Techniques for promoting good sportsmanship.

Rick Wolff
Sports Illustrated for Kids’ Sports Parents

Read today’s sports pages. Good sportsmanship seems to be the latest cultural dinosaur facing extinction. Talking trash and taunting opponents are now common forms of self-expression for many athletes. It’s no longer sufficient to defeat your opponent — you must humiliate him as well. Sadly, this behavior is becoming routinely accepted. Where does it begin? Most likely, it starts at a young age. Kids learn behavior patterns from the adults around them. If you and your peers set the wrong example, don’t be surprised if your kid acts like a graduate of the John McEnroe School of Sportsmanship and Fair Play. The problem is that when it comes to sportsmanship, many parents don’t act like the mature adults they’re supposed to be. To get you and your kids on the right track, here are a few suggestions parents and coaches should consider:

Explain to your child or players what appropriate behavior is. Don’t assume that your kids or your players know, or understand, what sportsmanship is all about. They need to be told the right thing to do in certain situations.
Take the time to explain to each child how he or she should behave when a call goes against him, when she loses a game, or when an opposing player taunts him.
Before a season begins, have each child or player sign a pact or letter of agreement saying that he or she will be a good sport at all times. The letter should spell out in simple terms precisely what being a good sport is all about. A league-wide pact should also make it clear that any individual who does not follow the guidelines can be banned from playing.
At the end of a sporting event, have the parents of the opposing teams shake hands. What better way to impress upon children that their parents know how to be good sports, win, lose, or draw.
Give an award to the player who’s the best sport on the team. Make this an important award. When the award is presented, be sure to pinpoint examples of what that award winner did during the season to earn his or her trophy.
Bench any young athlete who refuses to be a good sport. The only true power a coach has over a team is determining who plays and who sits. If you have a player who is out of line, just let him sit on the sideline. After a while, he will be so eager to get back into the action that he’ll start behaving.
Conversely, if you don’t bench a player who is a poor sport, you’re doing both him and his teammates a disservice.
As a parent or coach, you want your advice on what is right and fair in sports to make a lasting impression on children. And if you don’t teach them about sportsmanship, who will?

The Good Example
The best way to teach a child how to be a good sport is to be one yourself.

Follow the Golden Rule of sports competition: Treat opposing players, coaches, and refs the way you’d like to be treated.
Respond immediately when any player gets hurt—and stop the game. Show kids that attending to an injured player is more important than the game.
Cheer for your child and his team to play well. Don’t cheer against the opponent.
Do not tolerate trash-talking or taunting by any player.
You can disagree with a ref or an umpire, but don’t use abusive or obscene language, don’t embarrass the official, your child, or yourself, and don’t make a scene.
Respect an opponent’s abilities, and applaud the opposing team when it makes a good play.
Encourage fair play at all times.
Teach kids that every athlete knows the bitter taste of defeat and that the true test of a champion is being a good sport after losing the big game, not after winning it.