Liam Walsh Aims To Build More Than Players Through ProMentorMe

Coming into being a hockey player can be exciting, but overwhelming at the same time.

Choosing the right path, deciding what camps to attend, down to equipment bought and used, can all of a sudden become extremely difficult to navigate. Players with family that don’t have prior hockey experience or know very little about hockey, it’s an overwhelming feeling.

That is what drove ECHL Player, Liam Walsh, to collaborate and create a mentor program with the Savannah Jr. Ghost Pirates' father, named Matt Hoffman. Together, they created ProMentorMe. It’s founded on connecting youth players with professional athletes who have walked the road and been in their shoes before. Walsh and Hoffman met when Walsh was coaching a youth tournament in Pittsburgh. He started to mentor Hoffman's son. 

For Walsh, the idea behind the platform came from something he didn’t have growing up as a player and going through the ranks of hockey. “We started working together on the mentor side, and I kind of realized it was something I never had growing up, was a mentor. I think there's so many players that if you didn't have an older sibling or a parent that played that you can kind of get lost in all the hockey world: what I should be doing, what kind of lessons, camps, what teams I should be trying out for, all that kind of stuff. There can be so much to navigate. So we just thought that having someone that's been through it could be super beneficial, especially for families where you might not have been through before or you don't know much about the hockey world, so we want it to fill that kind of gap to the people that don't have experience with the hockey world.”

ProMentorMe works by immediately connecting the young athlete with a professional hockey mentor. Walsh explained that the platform is simple: Players sign up online, and are then automatically matched with a mentor that are current competitors at varying levels of hockey. “The way it works is a player just signs up on the platform, and the platform is going to automatically connect them to a mentor who plays professional hockey. Right now, we have four in the ECHL, and then we have one PWHL player who joined the platform. So, there's the woman's side as well.” Currently, the player mentors are John MacDonald (SPHL, Roanoke RailYard Dawgs), Carter Korpi (ECHL, Norfolk Admirals), Michael Bullion (ECHL, Jacksonville Icemen), Ryan Sullivan (ECHL, Savannah Ghost Pirates), and Peyton Anderson (PWHL, Minnesota Frost).

After an athlete is matched, they can book weekly or bi-weekly meetings, depending on the mentor’s availability. The sessions are flexible and personalized for the player, and they can discuss any number of topics during the session. “The player can just browse and see what time would work for them and set up a meeting,”  Walsh explained. “They can kind of write on the website what they want to talk about in that meeting, and if they don't have anything in particular, the mentor can come up with their own ideas.”  The platform also offers video capabilities, which could allow players to upload clips of themselves playing or practicing for mentors to review and provide feedback.

For Walsh, the mentorship goes beyond systems, skating, drills, or even workout routines. “There are topics as broad as school and how important keeping good grades and all that kind of stuff, off ice training, what they should be doing in the summer. It just goes into just being their friend and being there for them.”

Walsh believes young athletes simply need someone that they are comfortable with and comfortable talking to. They need someone who understands the pressure and challenges that come with playing ice hockey and competitive sports overall. “A lot of times with the kids around the age group that we're talking about, they don't want to go to their parents with things that are going on in their life. Sometimes it can be good for them to bounce things off someone a little bit older that's been there.”

Those types of conversations are meaningful and far beyond any hockey advice that is given in sessions. “Just being a sounding board for the youth athlete and someone that's there to listen and kind of talk them through some things,” Walsh said. “It also goes into just getting the young athlete more comfortable in their own skin and getting them talking and formulating their own ideas and opinions. So, it goes very far beyond the on-ice and off-ice training. There's a lot of life skills that are going to be taught as well.”

Walsh, growing up and playing, never had a mentor in his life, and has spent the last few years during the summer giving lessons and working with youth players, and has recognized the need for mentorship. “I’ve just been giving lessons and working with youth players for a couple of summers now. I find it so rewarding to see the growth of the player, both on and off the ice, working with the young kids.”

Being genuine and humble is the way that Walsh, and the other mentors, are going into this program. In today’s landscape of youth sports, it’s becoming harder to find that factor. “I think there's a lot of people in the business that are just trying to collect a quick buck and move along. For me, it's always just been forming a deeper connection with the players and the parents of the players and really watching them grow and evolve, both as players and as people. So once this idea of a mentorship platform came about, it was a no-brainer for me based on the experience I've had working with the youth kids the past couple years.”

In the end, Walsh hopes that ProMentorMe is more than hockey advancement. Helping players reach that next level is always important, but the success of the program will be measured over time by one metric: The people these youth athletes become. “Its success looks like your players growing up, having a better understanding of what it's going to take to get to the next level, what it took other people to get to the next level, and then watching them grow as humans. Just kind of keeping those relationships with these kids as they grow up and are going to blossom into the adults that they're going to turn into. To be a small piece of what their parents have already done and to be a small piece and watch them grow up and turn into good people.”