Skating with the Squirts

Most college students do not spend what precious little free time they have playing laser tag and pond hockey with fourth and fifth graders, but Ian McNally and Colin Koch are not most college students. As head coaches of the Squirt A Princeton Tigers of the Princeton Youth Hockey Association (PYHA), the two seniors and former Princeton varsity hockey players have turned their knowledge of and love for the coolest game on Earth into a uniquely rewarding experience not only for themselves, but also for their young players.

"They just really embraced the team, embraced the kids," said Marc Edenzon, whose son Michael plays for McNally and Koch. "It's pretty awesome what they're doing."

After leaving Princeton's varsity hockey team just two seasons into their collegiate careers, McNally and Koch knew they could not stay away from the sport for long.

"We both stopped playing hockey ourselves, but we didn't stop having an interest in hockey," McNally said. "It was the biggest part of our lives for the first 20 years of our lives."

They searched online for hockey-related opportunities in the Princeton area and found the PYHA website. After meeting with the league's president, they decided to take on a coaching job together.

"Last year we came in, and we coached the B team for the Squirt level," McNally said. "This year we took over the A team, which has done very well. We've only lost a couple games all year."

Though the young players may not quite have a handle on long division yet and are still half a decade away from going anywhere near a steering wheel, they have proven themselves to be outstanding hockey players. Koch said their record is "something like 35-4-4," and just last weekend the team won its division in the New Jersey Youth Hockey League state playoffs.

"They're very young, but it's competitive," McNally said. "We told the parents at the start of the year that it is about fun, but when all the kids like each other and you win, that's the most fun."

Part of the Tigers' success can be attributed to the emphasis McNally and Koch have placed on team-building activities. Once the kids are all best friends, the coaches claim, they work harder on the ice for each other and want to win together.

Mike Wasson, one of the players, said the two Princeton students have attended their birthday parties, taken them out to restaurants and even given them a tour of the fire station where McNally spent time as a volunteer firefighter. Teammate Andrew Clayton added that last fall their coaches took the team to a cornfield maze, and McNally even threw a pizza party in his dorm room.

"We do enjoy hanging out with the kids and stuff because we are trying to have this team atmosphere," McNally said.

Many of the team parents recognize the value of having college kids coach their sons, as opposed to a player's parent.

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"The kids relate to Ian and Colin better than they relate to a parent," said Art Wasson, Mike's father. "A nine — 10-year-old kid is, I wouldn't say intimidated, but just not as comfortable talking to parents."

Koch also noted that the common problem of parent-coaches playing favorites has not been an issue.

"[Not having our own kids on the team,] we're in that position of being objective," he said. "We're not gonna favor one kid over another. It's been pretty successful because the parents have trusted us to coach as we know how and to be fair."

For their part, the kids love having McNally and Koch as their coaches, especially since the boys all look up to the two as former college hockey players.

"They're phenomenal; they're just great," Dakota Skove said. "They plan parties, have fun practices. It's just fun."

The coaches downplay their popularity.

"They think we're pretty cool, but we're not," McNally laughed.

Even though two years ago they had no prior coaching experience, as former Division I varsity players who grew up in hockey-mad Toronto and Vermont, respectively, McNally and Koch knew what they were doing.

"Coaching is all imitation," McNally said. "Everything we do, we've learned from our coaches along the way."

Both agreed that they wouldn't be as successful without the support of the players' families.

"We're treated extremely well by the parents," Koch said. "We get a lot of recognition for what we do. It is a big commitment, but we wouldn't be doing it if we didn't love it."

Unfortunately, as both McNally and Koch will be graduating in June, this will probably be their last year coaching in the area, though both intend to coach again in the future.

"They're good role models for the boys — we just really enjoy them," said Repy Skove, Dakota's mother. "The only complaint we have is that neither one of them will be there next year."