Coaching Experience - Barry Biegler

Mite

180

Squirt

9-10

150

Pee Wee

11-12

140

Bantam

13-15

310

Midget

15-18

300

Junior

17-20

75

Total Games Coached:

 1155

Years

Description

1976

Head coach for Midget A team for Wilmette Hockey Association (suburb of Chicago).  This was my first year out of college.  I took my first hockey coaching classes this year.   While I learned a lot about coaching the most memorable item was that two of the kids were completely deaf.  Many of the parents felt they should not be allowed to play on the team. They were worried these kids would not hear the whistle and hurt someone after play was over.  I had to convince them that everything would be fine.  I also had to learn sign language to communicate with the kids.   A great experience. 

1976-1978

Attended Sloan School of Business at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).  I played for the club team these years and was not able to coach

1979-1980

After graduation from MIT I moved to the Los Angeles Area.  My first two years in town I was the assistant coach for the Bantam “AA” team for Marina Cities.  Their league director was the head coach and “took me under his wing”.  I learned a great deal from him about how to handle kids and parents.  He brought a positive attitude to coaching that I have used as my model.

1981

Head coach, Marina Cities Midget “A” team.  After two years as an assistant coach in the Marina Cities organization I was given my own team, a Midget “A” team.  Some of those kids are still my friends.  See picture on www.vailhockey.com.

1982

Moved up to Midget “AA” team for Marina Cities.  We only had 10 players but still won the league championship.  I took 3 additional coaching certification classes this year.

1983

Junior AAA

National Champions

Promoted from Midget AA to head coach of the Marina Cities Junior AAA team.  A great experience with kids of ages 17-20.  I learned a lot about how to deal successfully with drug and alcohol issues, as these were Los Angeles kids exposed to it all.

 
This was a team that had never even won a local tournament before.  In 1983, we won the Western Regional in Anchorage Alaska and the National Junior AAA championship in Anchorage.  While these victories were great, my most rewarding memories are of the kids I helped decide to go to college who where not planning on it.  There is a great picture of this team on www.vailhockey.com.

1984-1987

I started my software company (Resort Data Processing) in 1984, and got married.  I was also working full time for Hewlett Packard.  As a result I did not have enough time to be a head coach.  The four years from 1984-1987 I went back to being an assistant for the hockey director of Marina Cities Hockey.  I would help out various other coaches from the Mite to Junior level, running practices or coaching a variety of teams when their coaches could not attend.      

1988-1993

In 1988 I moved to Vail from Los Angeles.  My wife and I had three children during the years 1988-1993 and my company was booming.  There was no time left for coaching, and I missed it a great deal during these years. 

1994

In 1994 I helped Jim Meehan coach the Vail Mites. After working for years with older kids it was a great experience to teach the little guys and girls.  It was also wonderful to be “back in the coaching game”.  Many of those 1994 mites are going to be on the Battle Mountain team this year!

1995 & 1996

I was the head coach of the Vail Mites in 1995 and 1996. We only had 9 kids the first year, but they played with great heart.  I also organized a “joint team” with Vail and Arvada to go to an “end of season” tournament in Phoenix in 1996.  This provided a great opportunity for the kids to learn that players on other teams were “just kids”, not “the enemy”.  The kids from Vail formed many friendships with Arvada players that continue to this day.  Our games with Arvada for the next 8 years were like “family reunions”.

1997 & 1998

Head coach of Vail Squirts for 1997 and 1998.  We had some very talented players and were able to compete for the state championship with the Denver and Colorado Springs powerhouses.  I organized a “barnstorming” trip to Florida at the end of each season in March.   We would play games in Tampa and Orlando each night after spending the day at Disneyworld or other parks.    

1998 was the first year I started my “return to see your friends” policy.  Several kids who played for me as Mites moved away from Vail and were not able to play as Squirts.  We invited these kids to come back for our Florida trips, and they did.  The friendships made in hockey can last forever. 

1999 & 2000

Head coach of Vail PeeWees for 1999, and co-coach with Terri Kleisenger in 2000. We won the League Championship in 2000, as well as the State Championship. 

I had young assistant coaches working with me, right out of college.  They reminded me of me when I was young!  It was great fun to coach the kids, but also help my new coaches, and show them just how rewarding and wonderful coaching can be.

I also started www.vailhockey.com during 1999 and had the players update the website.  This provided an avenue to teach the kids computers and website design in addition to hockey.  Some of the kids turned out to be excellent with computers and may work for me someday!

2001

2001 was an interesting year for Vail.  We only had 8 Bantam age players, which was not enough for a team.  So I contacted a friend and coach from Taos, New Mexico, (Brian Greer) who had the same problem.  He only had 7 Bantam age players.  We formed a joint team, and were co-coaches.    We played 9 tournaments and were in the finals in 8 of them!   

A wonderful year for the kids as they met new people from a new town.  I remember the first game – we all showed up at the rink in Denver and the Taos kids sat on one side of the room, and Vail on the other, and wouldn’t talk to each other.  By the end of the year they were fast friends.  We played an end of the year tournament with these same kids in 2002 and 2003.  Hockey is about having a great time and making friends for life! 

Several kids from Breckenridge ended up playing in Vail in 2001 on the Vail team.  I helped coach this team with Bill Young as well as the joint Taos/Vail team. 

2002 & 2003

Head Coach, Vail Bantam “A” team.  The last two years have been great as I’ve been able to coach the Vail Bantams.  In 2003 we won the league championship.  Many of my players from this championship team are now going to play for Battle Mountain High.   

2004

Head Coach of Vail Midget “AA” team.   Also assisted with Vail PeeWee B team.

 2005

Head Coach of both Vail Bantam “A” team and Bantam “B” team. 

2006

Head Coach of Vail Bantam “A” team    

2007-2009

I didn’t coach the last couple of years but am very excited about getting back.