I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how much of youth work and honestly, life comes down to moments that aren’t captured on any formal assessment.
A late-night conversation. A kid sitting quietly at the end of the bench. A parent trying their best but feeling overwhelmed. A young person who doesn’t need another lecture, rather just someone who stays. Those moments don’t always show up in a report or a score. But they matter. And in many ways, they are where the real work happens.
I recently published a book on Amazon called Has It Been 24 Hours Yet? a memoir drawn from years of coaching minor hockey and walking alongside youth and families in all the intensity, chaos, humor, heartbreak, and meaning that comes with it. The title comes from a familiar feeling many of us know: those long days where you’re managing emotions, expectations, setbacks, and breakthroughs and you look at the clock thinking,
Has it been 24 hours yet?
What surprised me most in writing it was how closely the lessons of the rink mirror the lessons of the work many of us do in TCOM-informed systems.
Because hockey, at its core, isn’t really about hockey. It’s about young people trying to regulate, belong, succeed, fail, recover, and be seen. It’s about families carrying stressors that don’t disappear just because the puck drops. It’s about coaches and mentors trying to support development while also managing the complexity of needs that walk into the arena every day.
In TCOM language, what I saw year after year were actionable needs showing up in real time:
- Youth struggling with emotional regulation after mistakes
- Anxiety about performance and social acceptance
- Family stress that spilled into confidence and behavior
- Identity development happening under pressure
- Trauma histories that shaped reactions far more than the scoreboard ever could
And alongside those needs, I witnessed powerful actionable strengths:
- Persistence in kids who kept showing up
- Leadership emerging from the quietest players
- Humor as resilience
- Loyalty, connection, empathy, and courage
- The ability of a team to become a healing context when adults got it right
One of the most important lessons I learned and one that aligns so deeply with the CANS and TCOM philosophy is that kids are never simply the problem in front of us. They are the full story behind that moment. Behavior is communication. Struggles are context. Strengths are often hidden until someone takes the time to notice them. And change happens when the adults around a young person can build a shared vision: Not just “play better, ”Not just “behave,” Not just “get through the season,”
But a shared understanding of:
- Who is this young person?
- What do they need right now that is actionable?
What strengths can we build from? - What does success actually look like for them?
That is as true in the locker room as it is in residential/group living care, schools, community systems, and clinical planning. This book isn’t a clinical text, but it is absolutely a reflection on youth, relationships, and the moments that stay with you long after the game ends. It’s about the coaches, caregivers, clinicians, mentors, and adults who choose to stay steady and the quiet impact that consistency can have over time. If any of you are interested in stories about development, resilience, youth strengths, and the humanity behind the work, I’d be honored if you checked it out, available on Amazon.
Thanks for letting me share a small piece of the journey here.
Vance Heaney, MSW, RSW
Vance Heaney, MSW, RSW
Senior Director of Clinical Strategy and Innovation at Ranch Ehrlo Society
Vance Heaney, MSW, RSW is the Senior Director of Clinical Strategy and Innovation at Ranch Ehrlo Society with more than 30 years of experience in child and youth mental health, residential treatment, and social work education. He holds a Master of Social Work from the University of Cincinnati.
A certified trainer in Ukeru, CARE, Therapeutic Crisis Intervention (TCI), CAFAS, and CANS, Vance has trained hundreds of professionals across Canada. He has also served as a peer reviewer and team leader for the Council on Accreditation for more than two decades.
Since 2000, Vance has been a sessional lecturer with the University of Regina’s Faculty of Social Work. He is also the author of Has It Been 24 Hours Yet?, a memoir exploring the culture of youth hockey and the importance of perspective, resilience, and positive leadership. Vance frequently presents on trauma-informed care, outcome measurement, and clinical practice innovation and was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal (Saskatchewan) for his contributions to the field.