The first thing you notice about Michael Cooke at the rink might not be his championship resume, his thorough preparation, or even the countless hours he spends helping youth hockey players develop.
It might just be his shoes.
Cooke, a longtime Parkwoods Hockey League coach, is known for wearing a pair of bright green-and-black Air Jordans that perfectly match the association’s colours. A few players originally complimented one of his former pairs. When he discovered a Jordan release in Parkwoods green and black, he picked them up and began wearing them behind the bench. Before long, they became part of his uniform when he steps inside the rink.
The kids loved them.
Cooke’s shoes capture something important about his connection to Parkwoods. The colours represent a community he has been part of for nearly four decades.
Cooke first laced up his skates as a Parkwoods player in the late 1980s and spent his entire youth hockey career in the organization. After finishing university and stepping away from the game for several years, he found himself right back where he started when his first child entered the association’s Learn-to-Play program. Since then, all four of his children have played in Parkwoods, and he has spent years coaching multiple teams while helping hundreds of young players take their first strides in hockey.
What keeps him coming back is the community.
Unlike larger organizations where rosters change frequently, Parkwoods has maintained the feel of a neighbourhood club. Players often grow up together and form friendships that last a lifetime.
“I had a group of guys that played select for years and years together,” Cooke said. “I’m still in touch with eight or nine guys that I played with from eight, nine, 10 years old. I had eight former Parkwoods select teammates at my wedding.”
That sense of connection remains one of the organization’s defining characteristics.
“It’s a small club, kind of a neighbourhood club,” he said. “You know everyone there and you can get some really good relationships out of that.”
Cooke is a firm believer that success is rarely determined by one dramatic breakthrough. Instead, it’s built through dozens of small details adding up over time. He constantly challenges players and fellow coaches to think differently and search for advantages others may overlook.
“What can we do that other teams aren’t doing that gives ourselves a better chance of winning than them?” he said. “Some things will add five percent to your probability, some things will add half a percent, but the more things we can find to do to give ourselves an edge, they all add up.”
That way of thinking has led to some creative ideas. Before one important playoff game played at an unfamiliar arena, Cooke scheduled a practice at the venue so players could learn how the boards reacted and identify anything unusual about the facility that might affect the game.
Players receive reminders about hydration, nutrition, sleep habits, and when it might be time to sharpen their skates.
To some people, those details may seem insignificant. To Cooke, they are opportunities.
“Anything we can think of that other teams aren’t doing, or anything we can do better than other teams, we try to find it,” he said.
That creativity extends beyond game strategy and into player development.
While hockey skills remain important, Cooke believes the real value of youth sports is teaching young people how to approach competition and challenges throughout their lives.
“If I’m applying for a job or going to interview for a job or any sort of competitive situation I’m going into, how many things can I come up with that my competition aren’t doing?” he said. “How many things can I come up with that I’m doing better than my competition that will take my chances of success from 20 percent to 27 percent and to 35 percent and to 42?”
Those lessons become especially meaningful for players who may not have access to every hockey resource available. Cooke encourages athletes to focus on what they can control. If a family isn’t willing to spend money on extra training, there are other ways to improve. A golf ball in the basement can improve stickhandling. Film sessions can improve hockey IQ. Five extra minutes of focused work each day can create meaningful growth over time.
“There’s always something you can do that makes your odds better,” Cooke said. “You’ll never run out of things that can help make your odds better.”
At some point during his coaching journey, Cooke realized he had found something he truly loved.
“At some point between then and now, coaching hockey became the thing that I probably loved doing more than anything else,” he said.
Cooke realized sometime after coaching that if kids can be the best at something, it allows them to believe more in themselves.
“I think little kids tend to think that they can learn how to do something, but being the very best at something is a category reserved for other people,” he said. “If you get them to a point where they can win something and be the best at something, then I think they can start to get the sense of, ‘Why not me?'”
That belief — helping young people discover what they are capable of — has become his driving force.
In June, that commitment was recognized when he received the Rob Silc Community Coaching Award at the 2026 GTHL Awards Gala Presented by Nothers The Award Store after being nominated by parents within the Parkwoods organization. The recognition came as a complete surprise.
“I’m really appreciative,” he said. “The parents nominated me. I didn’t know that was all happening.”
For someone who invests countless hours developing youth hockey players, and finding an edge to help the team succeed, the acknowledgement meant a great deal.
Yet even that honour reinforced the same lesson he teaches every season.
“Everybody who starts out at anything is probably not all that impressive when they start,” Cooke said. “But there’s no cap. You never reach a point at which you won’t be able to think of something else you can do to take another step.”
Years ago, he walked into a dressing room as a first-time coach trying to figure out what to say to his players.
The philosophy hasn’t changed.
Keep learning, keep looking for an edge, keep finding creative ways to succeed.
And somewhere behind the bench, wearing green-and-black Jordans that match the Parkwoods colours, Michael Cooke will continue doing exactly that.
