Clearwater Hockey School is starting up next week, where local young players can beef up their skills and get ready for the upcoming hockey season.
The school runs from Aug. 25—30 and offers both half day and full day programs for youth to take part in.
“It’s a six day program and it’s super affordable,” said Eleanor Collins, healthy living coordinator for the District of Clearwater.
“We offer a half day program for beginners and really young skaters who want to try hockey and then we have a full day program for players and goalies who are more experienced.”
Collins added the half day sessions, which cost $60, are a great way for children to try out the sport without committing to a full season.
Aside from hockey, the half day sessions also involve dryland activities like soccer or a visit to the splash park if the weather is nice, and is more geared toward the experience, showing kids how much fun the sport can be.
The half day sessions also come with an hour of ice time.
“The full day is a little more structured; there’ll be some emphasis on higher level skating skill development,” Collin said.
“They also have instructors come in and do mobility stretching, a yoga session, they’ll also do some strength conditioning and and they’ll also have a nutrition session.”
The full day session comes with two ice times, an hour each, and focus on the foundations of the sport.
Collins noted in many cases youth will play hockey for a number of years without taking formal skating lessons, which are important when it comes to being a well rounded player.
“They might not know how to use their edges properly and they really work on their cross-overs and backward skating, that’s a big one, a lot of players lack in their backward skating,” she noted.
“So they really work on those types of things because obviously skating is the foundation for beginners.”
Being that the hockey season starts back up in September, the Clearwater Hockey School is a good way for players to get warmed up and ready to hit the ice again.
“It’s super fun. The kids always have a blast. We hire local hockey players to help and it’s a great for them to give back.”
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