From Hockey Mom to Head Coach

My son plays hockey in a house league in the U12/U13 division. Everybody who signs up gets to play. Each week there’s one practice and one game. It’s chill.

I’ve been wishing for better coaching on my son’s house league team for a while now. The best coaches are amazing. They show kids how to tie up skates and bring an extra stick for a kid to try. They don’t just work on skills, they build character.

The challenge for coaches are the competing demands on their time. They can’t always show up. These dads (yes, they’re all dads) have work, family, and leisure obligations. When they don’t show up, there’s a gap in consistency and continuity. And sometimes there’s the “Select” team that they have to worry about.[1]

In September, an email went out looking for volunteers and coaches. There was one tidbit that caught my eye. There would be professional on-ice coaches for the first half of the season.

So I put up my hand to volunteer.

The on-ice help was important to me, because I don’t play hockey. I can barely skate. I helped out the first season that my son played, so I know some basics. But that was a very long time ago and the kids are more capable now.

I think the league didn’t take my offer seriously. I didn’t get invited to the pre-season preparation sessions. The league convenor emailed me the week before the season started saying that he would let my son’s coach know that I was willing to “help out.”

It wasn’t what I was hoping for, but if they genuinely didn’t need me as a coach, that would be OK with me.

Fast forward a couple of days and an email goes out to all the coaches. I’m on the list and I found out who would be the head coach and assistant coach for my son’s team. I’m an assistant coach after all.

The head coach emailed us two assistant coaches and asked if one of us could take his role. He’s already coaching a select team and he will have to miss a lot of practices.

The other assistant coach declined, because he has three kids playing hockey and would have trouble being consistent.

I said that I’d be happy to be head coach. I could keep folks organized, but I’d need help with the hockey.

The season lasts from October to April. I have a lot to learn.

[1] There are tryouts to get on the Select team and they play against teams from nearby leagues. The players get their names and a number of their choice on their jerseys. Kids on the Select team are required to be on a house league team. They have an additional 2-3 activities on their calendar and it’s not unusual for these to conflict with house league. About one third of the kids and coaches are involved in both teams.

Original post 2022/10/10

Running a DC motor from the Arduino Using the Creatron Economic Starter Kit

I’m teaching a Critical Making course and a question came up regarding how to run a DC motor from the Arduino. It was a bit tricky to get figure out how to do this using the parts in the Economic Starter Kit that students were told to purchase from Creatron, our local purveyor of maker stuff. There were a couple of puzzles, how to use the parts we were given and which online tutorial to follow.

I played around a bit and here is my result. I used the tutorial from bildr, which I found via the page for my MOSFET transistor on Sparkfun.

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Percentage Women Directors in Canadian Tech Companies Not Exceptional

Abstract

According to a recent report, only 15.9% directors of Financial Post 500 are women. When Crown corporations are removed, women make up only 10% of directors. The percentage of women directors in Canadian tech companies is slightly higher (16.1%), but when the boards of multinationals are excluded this figure falls to (11%), which is consistent with other sectors. Blackberry and Open Text have high representation, 28.6% and 37.5% respectively, but four others have no women on the board. Implications and remedies are discussed. Continue reading →

The 80% Mom

One thing you said haunts me still. When I asked about motherhood, you said that children don’t need as much as you gave. “Eighty percent is probably plenty.” I was shocked by your words. Did you regret having given so much of yourself? Now, those words seem like a gift. A way of offering me a model of motherhood, beyond even your own example.

I first read this about a year ago and it really struck home. It comes from an open letter by Karin Cook to her mom who had passed away from cancer many years before.

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Call for customers for Introduction to Software Engineering

It’s that time of year again, when I’m preparing to teach Introduction to Software Engineering at UofT. This will be my third time teaching the course and I have more students than ever, almost twice as many as last year. As part of this course, third-year students in computer science work in teams to implement a software application for a client. Consequently, a lot of the preparatory work is finding clients. Our clients have been non-profits, social enterprises, and schools that needed some software built. Here are some Q&A to help you decide if this is a good opportunity for your organization.

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