How Does Your Player Deal With a Bully Teammate?

Last week we asked you to provide input regarding how your player deals with a bully teammate. The individual who offered the best answer would win $150 worth of NHL BladeTape from www.BladeTape.ca. Congratulations to Kelly for supplying the following winning response:

Kelly said: This is my son's 11th year playing hockey. He has been on many different teams with many different players. He always has the same answer to this question - stand up to a bully and show him through your skills, not your mouth or fists, how a real teammate acts and how a skilled athlete works. Do it all with a grin and a laugh. He knows that a bully is just trying to get under your skin or trying to boost his ego in the wrong manner. Either way, don't let the end result be that he got away with it.

This year my son has a teammate that always tries to trip or hit others during practice. In the beginning, since he was new to the team, my son reacted slowly to his advances. He tried to give him the benefit of the doubt, thinking maybe the other boy didn't mean to do it. Once my son realized it was intentional, he smiled, beat him at the face off and left him in a whirlwind of wondering where the puck just went and how he just get scored upon. The bully came back for one more turn thinking that was just a fluke, only to realize the same end result. Skill and a smile speak for themselves, without a lot of dialogue needed. When a bully realizes that he is not being effective at bullying his own teammates because he keeps getting left in the shadows, he either stops trying or the behavior is very evident to the coaches and then it is their call.

A good teammate is one who doesn't give way to a bully, but demonstrates through his actions how to be the best player and teammate.

Editor's Note: Congratulations to Kelly for winning this week's contest. As a thank you for her answer, www.BladeTape.ca is giving Kelly $150 worth of NHL BladeTape. Do you want to win this week's prize? Be sure to click here for the latest Grow the Game contest.