photo: © International Ice Hockey Federation
There’s an old sports cliché, “look good, play good” and like many clichés, there’s a kernel of truth in that – but surely it should be “feel good, play good”?
In the last decade, dealing with mental health has come a long way from being something players have not only didn’t talk about, but hid any problems, to being another wellness factor to consider.
Hone Athletics is a tool that gives athletes a way to tell the coaching staff about how they feel, and for the coaches to quickly take the temperature of the team. Co-founders, Jessica Renney and Paula McQuaid, are certified psychotherapists with experience across a variety of teams, associations, universities, and national-level sporting organizations.
Jessica Renney, daughter of Tom Renney, a former NHL and Team Canada coach, knew hockey needed a better tool to help players.
“Hone is a digital platform that teams can use. We ask athletes sport-specific questions that have to do with disconnections, relationships, fatigue, criticism, and pressure, to get a sense of where they are at and how they’re coping,” Renney said.
The players answer a few questions, and the anonymous responses are collected and delivered to the coaching staff who can get a better view of how the team is feeling. With better information, the coaches can make more informed decisions as they plan the team’s activities and better support their players.
“When I was coming up, a lot of things weren’t discussed in coaching clinics. There was a lot of talk about the Xs and Os but these days mental health is a big part of a coach’s job and there are better tools now,” said Pete DeBoer, a long-time NHL coach who also will be behind Team Canada’s bench at the 2026 Olympics in Milan-Cortina.
The scores are sent to the coaching and support staff anonymously so they can see how their athletes are doing. Coaches can’t see how an individual is doing, but they get a feel for how the team is doing, Renney explains.
Tool for the IIHF tournaments
While mental health isn’t something you address only once in a while, Hone has proven to be a good tool even in short tournaments, like the IIHF Ice Hockey World Championships.
“We’ve used Hone at the Worlds,” said Gord Woodhall, Team Canada’s under-18 women’s goalie coach in 2018-23, and goalie and video coach of the New York Sirens in the PWHL.
“It provides us coaches with tangible data. The players would fill in the information in the morning, and we’d analyze how the team is feeling that morning. It’s information you don’t usually get. If the team was feeling good, we knew we could push them a little, and conversely, we knew to build our team up, when they needed that kind of support,” he added.
Tools like Hone aren’t something a coach should introduce only when players aren’t feeling well. It’s not only useful to confirm a coach’s intuition in those cases, but there’s also always room for improvement.
“We communicate more and our student-athletes have expressed appreciation for considering more than just their on-ice performance. With the survey results being anonymous, I believe the feedback is honest and genuine and it allows us to better understand how they are doing and make changes, if possible,” says IIHF Hall of Fame, head coach of the University of Toronto’s women’s team Vicky Sunohara, on the Hone website.
Hone Athletics is also looking to improve.
“Through partnerships like the one with the IIHF we can learn how to tailor the platform to different sports, teams and athletes. Feedback is important,” Renney said.
“The more tools like this, the better,” added DeBoer.
More information about the HONE platform you can find at https://honeathletics.com.
In the last decade, dealing with mental health has come a long way from being something players have not only didn’t talk about, but hid any problems, to being another wellness factor to consider.
Hone Athletics is a tool that gives athletes a way to tell the coaching staff about how they feel, and for the coaches to quickly take the temperature of the team. Co-founders, Jessica Renney and Paula McQuaid, are certified psychotherapists with experience across a variety of teams, associations, universities, and national-level sporting organizations.
Jessica Renney, daughter of Tom Renney, a former NHL and Team Canada coach, knew hockey needed a better tool to help players.
“Hone is a digital platform that teams can use. We ask athletes sport-specific questions that have to do with disconnections, relationships, fatigue, criticism, and pressure, to get a sense of where they are at and how they’re coping,” Renney said.
The players answer a few questions, and the anonymous responses are collected and delivered to the coaching staff who can get a better view of how the team is feeling. With better information, the coaches can make more informed decisions as they plan the team’s activities and better support their players.
“When I was coming up, a lot of things weren’t discussed in coaching clinics. There was a lot of talk about the Xs and Os but these days mental health is a big part of a coach’s job and there are better tools now,” said Pete DeBoer, a long-time NHL coach who also will be behind Team Canada’s bench at the 2026 Olympics in Milan-Cortina.
“I’ve used Hone with my teams at the professional level. When you’re dealing with today’s athlete, you can’t ignore mental health and its impact on the team and day-to-day work. It’s not enough to have conversations with coaches, it must go deeper than that, and athletes need better tools, because not everyone is comfortable talking about mental health,” he added.
The scores are sent to the coaching and support staff anonymously so they can see how their athletes are doing. Coaches can’t see how an individual is doing, but they get a feel for how the team is doing, Renney explains.
Tool for the IIHF tournaments
While mental health isn’t something you address only once in a while, Hone has proven to be a good tool even in short tournaments, like the IIHF Ice Hockey World Championships.
“We’ve used Hone at the Worlds,” said Gord Woodhall, Team Canada’s under-18 women’s goalie coach in 2018-23, and goalie and video coach of the New York Sirens in the PWHL.
“It provides us coaches with tangible data. The players would fill in the information in the morning, and we’d analyze how the team is feeling that morning. It’s information you don’t usually get. If the team was feeling good, we knew we could push them a little, and conversely, we knew to build our team up, when they needed that kind of support,” he added.
Tools like Hone aren’t something a coach should introduce only when players aren’t feeling well. It’s not only useful to confirm a coach’s intuition in those cases, but there’s also always room for improvement.
“We communicate more and our student-athletes have expressed appreciation for considering more than just their on-ice performance. With the survey results being anonymous, I believe the feedback is honest and genuine and it allows us to better understand how they are doing and make changes, if possible,” says IIHF Hall of Fame, head coach of the University of Toronto’s women’s team Vicky Sunohara, on the Hone website.
Hone Athletics is also looking to improve.
“Through partnerships like the one with the IIHF we can learn how to tailor the platform to different sports, teams and athletes. Feedback is important,” Renney said.
“The more tools like this, the better,” added DeBoer.
More information about the HONE platform you can find at https://honeathletics.com.