Work/Life Balance
High-level hockey player Kim McCullough helps young females improve their gameShe shoots ... she shares hockey tipsThe most successful entrepreneurs understand the importance of giving back to their communities. In the case of high-level hockey player Kim McCullough, her entire new business is based on that premise. SHARON ASCHAIEK -- Special to the Toronto Sun |
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Kim McCullough offers training tips for female hockey players.
Her newly launched product is Total Female Hockey, a comprehensive off-season training program for young female players that's based on her own extensive experience and insights.
"There is a lack of resources geared to female hockey players," says McCullough, 28. "The market is eager for something like this that's specific to these players and will help them take their game to the next level."
McCullough discovered her own interest in the game at 13, and that interest evolved into an enduring passion that saw her achieve amazing heights. She played for five years in the National Women's Hockey League (now defunct), and most recently in the Canadian Women's Hockey League, which she helped to establish in 2007.
During her time in high school, and later at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire on a hockey scholarship, McCullough experienced ongoing aches and pains, the result of an inappropriate and excessive strengthening and conditioning routine. It took her years to figure out she was taking the wrong approach to her training.
That realization made her think about how she could help young female players avoid making the same mistakes she made.
That thought stuck with her through her completion of her Master's degree, which focused on the athletic development of elite players; the time she spent learning from the world's best strength and conditioning coaches; and through her years of coaching hundreds of young female players.
SPEED, FINESSE STRESSED
Last year, when she was ready to put her idea into action, she consulted her peers at the Toastmasters group she attended, and received vital feedback on how to customize her product. Her market research also revealed a dearth in the marketplace of comprehensive, female-specific resources.
McCullough then hunkered down for 10 weeks to write her book, a 250-page manual featuring a detailed, day-by-day, 18-week regimen geared to help players quickly build the speed, strength and conditioning they need to excel on the ice.
The product, which starts at $97, also includes a DVD that shows how to perform every exercise and what errors in technique to avoid, as well as online support and a 30-minute phone consultation with McCullough.
"It would be wonderful if I could train all female athletes one-on-one, but there are only so many hours in a day. My goal is to give them as close an experience as possible to training with me, but the flexibility that lets them do this anywhere," she says.
A key aspect of Total Female Hockey (visit www.totalfemalehockey.com) is that it recognizes and addresses the unique aspects of female hockey.
"It's a different game in that there's no body checking, but there's more of an emphasis on speed and finesse. The demands for the sport are somewhat different," she says.
Since the product's May 24 launch, it has found favour with coaches seeking better ways to support their players' development, and parents looking for more cost-efficient, yet effective, training options.
"It's a way to get this important information to as many people as possible, and it shows you don't need fancy equipment or an expensive gym membership to train for this sport. You can do this training program from home."
McCullough's passion for proper player training is all-encompassing: she talks about it to hockey-related groups, and writes about it in her blogs and weekly e-newsletters.
Ultimately, she hopes to build on the momentum of Total Female Hockey to establish the nation's definitive online resource for young girls in the sport.
"I'm trying to create a sense of community in female hockey," she says. "The goal is to be the resource where people can look when they have questions about player development on and off the ice."
sharon@summitmediagroup.com
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