SPORTS
Making the team
By Julia Burke
Tom Barnett and the Buffalo Shamrocks salute the parents on green and white day, held yearly on the day after Thanksgiving. Photo by Bill Wippert.

Earlier this year, coach Tom Barnett of the Buffalo Shamrocks Hockey Club became the inaugural recipient of the Bridgestone Mark Messier Youth Leadership Award. The international award is intended to, in the words of Mark Messier, “recognize a player or coach who represents the aspects of youth hockey that really make a difference: courage, leadership, and community spirit.” While this historic incident is a victory for Buffalo hockey, perhaps more importantly, it is a victory for Barnett’s philosophy of a character-building team experience and his vision for a program that is, in his words, “truly kid-focused.”

Photo by Jean-Pierre Thimot.
Barnett says the idea of the Buffalo Shamrocks was born eight years ago as a result of his dissatisfaction with the youth hockey programs that were available to his son. “I took him to a hockey program and it didn’t seem really organized, and I thought there must be a better way,” he recalls. “Some guys I had played hockey with, we all had kids about the same age, and we thought maybe it made sense to do something different.” That first team was made up of thirty kids of varying ages. “We had a tremendous amount of fun,” Barnett says, and the program now boasts over 300 players, including seventy-five on the preliminary learn-to-skate team alone.

Clearly, Barnett’s fun-oriented approach struck a chord with kids and parents. “It’s about sportsmanship, it’s about team play, it’s about personal responsibility, it’s about character building for life, it’s about leadership,” Barnett says. “That’s what our structure is all about.” One of the key pillars of this structure is the preservation of a team entity from year to year—a departure from the team-hopping trend that Barnett considers detrimental. “A kid scores a goal and the parents think he’s going to the NHL. [Some] people want their kids playing the game not for fun, but for a payoff at the end of the line, so the kids go from team to team.” For the Shamrocks, however, “it’s all about team—we want the kid sitting next to you to be the most important kid in the locker room. Instead of switching your team every year, you get in at the earliest levels and you grow up through the program. You get to know the coaches, the fight song, the pride in your colors.”

Barnett with hockey great Mark Messier. Photo by Oliver Barnett.
Barnett with CBC broadcasters Don Cherry and Ron MacLean. Tom Barnett, Don Cherry, and Ron MacLean photo by Cloogie Barnett.
Another element of the Shamrocks’ formula for success is emphasis on fun rather than competition, with “no bullies, no crazy parents trying to beat up referees.” Instead of trying to squeeze in as many games as possible and stretching the season out to nearly a full year, Barnett stresses balance. “It’s become commonplace in hockey for the season to go nearly all year, and the kids get burned out and quit by the time they’re twelve. We want the kids to have as much fun as we do.” However, with a season lasting from October through March, Barnett wanted to ensure that friendships and team connection would thrive during the break.

Barnett found his answer at the Buffalo Zoo. In a program that fosters community pride, friendship, and teamwork while cultivating an appreciation for animals and nature, the Shamrocks spend a part of their summer planting and tending an ongoing garden space at the Zoo. “Everything in it is edible for the animals,” says Barnett, “so the kids see the entire cycle of life.” This aspect of the Shamrocks curriculum is a fine example of Barnett’s commitment to building character as well as athleticism.

Of course, to build great athletes, a sense of friendly competition is key, and Barnett recognizes outstanding play and leadership among his players with special awards and jerseys. He dismisses the modern trend of participation awards and an everyone’s-a-winner mindset. “We want to push kids; we want kids to get better. I don’t want to hide realities from kids. Sooner or later they’re going to have to make decisions based on their accomplishments, their capabilities—we want that to happen now. The Shamrocks who are recognized as leaders are expected to be teachers, and we want the younger Shamrocks to look up to them.”

Even before Barnett received the Messier award, word was beginning to spread that the Shamrock approach works. After growing up through the program, many of Barnett’s Shamrocks went out for highly competitive high school teams. “How did our kids do when it came to trying out for the high school teams, having had a much different meal served to them? Seventeen of our Shamrocks tried out, and seventeen made the teams.” He adds, “Maybe many of these players would have quit much earlier if they weren’t having as much fun as they did.”

Since the Messier award made Barnett a local hero, he’s been getting e-mails and calls from around the country from parents and coaches. He’s been asked if he will franchise the Shamrocks, spreading his signature coaching style to hockey programs around the country. Barnett says he wouldn’t be averse to the expansion of the program—as long as the Shamrocks retain the sense of integrity that has been present from the start. “We grew organically—all by families, people that were joining came because of what we were, not to change it,” says Barnett. The Latin phrase on the back of the Shamrock jersey sums up this determination to maintain high standards: Te Non Timeo, or “I Am Not Afraid.” “Every day we tell kids, we’re aiming high, we’re not afraid to do this.” Buffalo may not have a Stanley Cup to its name, but we can be proud of this international recognition from the NHL and expect great things from the Shamrocks and their visionary founder.

Julia Burke was a Spree intern in summer 2009.


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