A Coach Chic Style Whistle
November 2, 2008 by Dennis Chighisola
Since about 1975, I’ve been affixing a referee’s whistle to my lower- hand glove.
Trust me: that I can get this kind of whistle to my lips quickly, as opposed to having to fish for one that’s dangling from a lanyard.
Hi Coach: Great idea on the whistle! Since I started coaching in 1985, I have never owned or bought a whistle….I always left the whistle blowing to my Co-Coaches. In Canada eh, we speak loud, use short words and hope the Co-Coaches bring the whistles…Keep up the good work!
Joe Coulter
You might appreciate this story, Joe…
Back in about ’75, I was sitting in the stands watching at a Boston Bruins’ pre-season training workout. At one point — during a brief scrimmage, I saw the B’s head coach fumble for his whistle (on a lanyard), and not being able to stop play when he really wanted to. I just thought there had to be a better way.
Over the next year or so, I tried fastening a whistle to my lower hand glove — with wire, with heavy elastic, you name it. Finally, it struck me that a referee’s whistle could be squeezed over a section of padding on just about any model glove. Phew!
So, nowadays I can get that glove up to my lips in an instant (while I still see a lot of coaches looking pretty frustrated at not being able to stop a drill or play exactly when they’d like).
Then, in reference to your comment about never using a whistle… Would you believe I have NEVER used one to start a drill? You’ll have to wait for an explanation about how I pull that off. But, one of the things that dictates when I do or don’t use a whistle has to do with how the game is played. For, in games, whistles are only blown to halt play!