Camps, programs offered for hockey season
Welcome back to hockey season! To be honest it actually seemed like a long summer, busy but long. Spent a lot of time in the rink, some relaxing and some camping. A few of those camping days were spent in Waterton. Hiking, touring and sitting by the fire, now I’m praying that the fire doesn’t destroy the beautiful park and praying for the residents of Waterton.
Having been at Hockey Alberta for over a year now, I am extremely excited for the events and the coming season in southern Alberta. It seems players, coaches and associations are chomping at the bit to get the season underway and I am as excited if not more to support coach and player development in southern Alberta.
We will once again offer a Workshop Series for coaches in Lethbridge. The first workshop is a Practice Planning and Player Habits Seminar on Sept. 27 at Nicholas Sheran Arena. This workshop will focus planning and executing a practice while focusing on skill development and player habits. Fran Gow, Hockey Alberta’s Coach Mentor and coaching veteran of over 1,000 AJHL games, will be the facilitator. To register for this seminar go to: https://www.hockeyalberta.ca
/regionalcentres/locations/south/.
For those parents looking to see their athletes to get additional player development opportunities, Hockey Alberta has planned several clinics/camps in Lethbridge this fall and winter:
Weekly Goalie Skills
— this weekly goalie program is open to novice, atom and pee wee goalies and will focus on skill development and skating.
Head Instructor — Matt Weninger.
Monday evenings, eight sessions before Christmas and 8 after.
Weekly Elite Goalie Skills
— this bi-weekly goalie program is open to bantam and midget goalies focusing both on and off the ice to further the development of goaltenders in southern Alberta.
Head Instructor — Matt Weninger.
Monday evenings, eight sessions throughout the season with additional off-ice opportunities.
Early Morning Skills Camp
— this is a progressive program for pee wee and bantam players with a large emphasis on puckhandling, passing, explosive skating and small area play.
Head Instructor — Kevin Higo.
Monday morning, nine sessions throughout the season (2 per month).
Initiation and Novice Advancement Program
— this program is designed to help the beginners to hockey improve their skills while enjoying their first experiences at the game.
Head Instructor — Matt Weninger.
Monday evenings, eight sessions from October — February (two per month).
Female Development Program
— this female specific program is designed to foster and encourage the development of female players in a motivating and engaging environment.
Head Instructor — Michelle Janus.
Friday afternoons, eight sessions from October to February (two per month) with two additional mentorship programs run through the University of Lethbridge Pronghorns.
To register go to:
These programs will all begin in the middle of October but spaces are limited. Each one of these programs is aimed at a different age group to help ensure that qualified instructors are offering development opportunities to our athletes.
The real season is right around the corner, the bantam AAA Golden Hawks will begin their back-to-back South Division Playoff Championship defence on Saturday against the Calgary Royals. The Lethbridge Hurricanes are nearly down to their roster and start next weekend against Medicine Hat. Lots of hockey to be excited about this month as we lead into the season.
With the AAA bantams being the only team that has finalized their roster, I am sure there are a few stressed-out parents and athletes for the next couple of weeks. As I have said several times, playing at the highest level is a long-term goal, not a short-term goal. I have spent several hours already sitting in rinks and watching tryouts — enjoy the process, have fun and show the best version of yourself that you can.