A couple dozen kids sped around the ice on Rink 2 in the afternoons last week, firing shots at goaltenders, performing skating and puck-handling drills and then facing off against one another in short 3-on-3 games.
They were taking part in the annual Cariboo Elite 3-on-3 camp, now in its fourth year.
Originally thrown together on a whim by Richard Gauthier, recreation manager for the City of Quesnel; Matt Cole, who had previous experience running hockey camps in Kamloops; and Shane Thon, who provides the marketing savvy; the camp has since morphed into a full-blown summer hockey school that attracts former NHLers to come teach skills to local hockey-obsessed youth.
“When the ice time stops being booked by minor hockey at the end of March, there was always this vacancy,” says Thon.
“There was an opportunity from late afternoon to early evening where there were these couple blocks of ice time, so it was thrown out there as a possibility to do something.”
They were able to drum up some interest from local parents who were tired of having to drive far to take their children to camps in Salmon Arm and the Okanagan.
The first year saw them coaching two pods with anywhere from a dozen to 15 players in each.
“It was just an ad-hoc piece of ice where we had some instructors that weren’t traditional parent coaches of the association,” Thon says.
“[During the season] … the kids would have the same coaches all the time and all of a sudden they show up [here] … and it was a lot of fun and there is a little skill development and they play a little three-on-three.”
Thon adds that the camp doesn’t have all the pressures that others have.
“It’s not about making the rep team or being on the first line.
“Everybody gets to play and everybody gets to do their drills and we’re trying to help everybody at the same time.
If you’re a great player, hopefully you get a little out of it and if you’re an entry-level player, chances are you get something out of it too.”
While the Cariboo Elite summer camp sees professional coaches like Ed Patterson, former Pittsburgh Penguin, and Chris Murray, who played for a bevvy of NHL teams, the 3-on-3 camp is a labour of love, with volunteer coaches coming year-after-year.
Thon’s daughter Sarah, who was an NCAA Division III player is one of the coaches this year and so is a former player with the Kamloops Storm.
