Log in & Sign up
You are not logged in.
Most Commented
With The Coach: Sam Ghilarducci
He wanted to build an elite squad
John Meagher
The Gazette
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Ghilarducci when he was behind the Lady Islanders' bench. (Gazette file photo)
With the Coach is a weekly series featuring a conversation with a local coach.
Coach: Sam Ghilarducci, 51-year-old Île Bizard resident and project manager with CGI, an international information technology company
Team: Lac St. Louis Tigers midget espoirs
Years coached: 32, from novice to midget
Playing experience: Local junior hockey in Montreal.
Coaching tip: Develop players from the shoulders up as well as from the shoulders down
For a guy who spends so much time on the road, it’s no wonder Sam Ghilarducci enjoys being at home on Île Bizard.
More so when you consider his Lac St. Louis Tigers midget espoirs hockey team is undefeated on home ice at the local rink.
Make that Grandpa Sam.
Ghilarducci recently became a proud grandfather when his daughter, Lynn, gave birth to a baby girl named Clara.
What attracted you to the midget espoirs job?
Ghilarducci: My dream was to build an elite program around an elite facility and we’re doing it at the Île Bizard sport complex. We have dry-land facilities here, so I’m living my dream.
How many times a week does your team practice?
Ghilarducci: Three times a week and every two weeks we do 3-on-3 at NTR. We average about 1.5 games per week. We also do our dry land here with Yves Ethier, who also works with the Canadian speed skating team and with several NHLers.
Does your day job keep you on the road a lot?
Ghilarducci: I’m usually in Toronto on Mondays and Tuesdays, so Tuesday night practices are run by my coaching staff. I run the Wednesday and Friday sessions.
Why would a 15-year-old opt to play espoirs instead of midget AA?
Ghilarducci: The midget AAs don’t practice as often as we do. We have guidelines from Hockey Quebec. For example, we have to be on the ice 4.5 hours a week. Espoirs is an elite program for the top 15-year-old players in the region.
Is it easier coaching without a son on the team?
Ghilarducci: It’s never really bothered me. I never treated my sons any differently when I coached them. They’ll probably tell you I was tougher on them than the others. In fact, once I cut my son from my team because I didn’t think he belonged.
How did your son react?
Ghilarducci: He was fine with it. He had a great season ... at the bantam CC level. I had the BB team. If a kid doesn’t belong, I’m not going to put him there because he’s my son or my friend’s son. I’ve lost a number of friends over the years, but it’s my style.
Why did you leave the John Abbott girls’ team last year in mid-season?
Ghilarducci: I was trying to build at Abbott what I’ve managed to build at the espoirs level: an elite program. The commitment I was looking for just wasn’t there.
Did you take a lot of heat for jumping ship?
Ghilarducci: Yeah. But sometimes opportunities occur and you have to react. The straw that broke the camel’s back for me was when only eight girls showed up for a two-hour practice. I hadn’t made up my mind before that.
What’s it like being a grandfather?
Ghilarducci: Fantastic. You can do whatever you want and then you give the kid back to the parents. (Laughing.)