Below is an excerpt from the news article regarding a very interesting discussion we had with the scouts.
4/5/2009
What does Dr. Tarter look for?
TORONTO — The presence of Dr. Ralph Tarter during the first two days of the Central Scouting meetings here at the Conn Smythe Boardroom was certainly beneficial. The hope is Dr. Tarter’s findings will soon provide professional and amateur scouts an evaluation of a player’s psyche away from the rink.Dr. Tarter asked the scouts to provide him with physical characteristics they see, and not necessarily the labels they attach, when watching and evaluating these prospects.
Here are a few of the words and phrases, along with responses from the scouts, retrieved by Dr. Tarter. This bit of feedback, according to Dr. Tarter, will go a long way in allowing his organization, EXACT Sports, to project the possible journey an amateur hockey player will take on the road to an NHL career.
“Through our findings, we could also find those athletes ranked lower who have the potential of truly excelling with the right environment,” Dr. Tarter said. “That’s what will make one or two teams truly become competitive.”
As an example, Dr. Tarter initially asked the scouts how they measure heart in a player. “When you use the word heart to describe an athlete, what are you seeing that we can measure?” he asked…
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We went on to discuss character traits such as heart, confidence, motivation, mental toughness, leadership, and maturity, and how scouts view those traits in athletes and what it means to them.