The Stettler Recreation Centre came alive last week as the first of the two hockey training camps brought kids and their families back to the rinks to prepare for the coming hockey season.
The Black Elk Hockey camp started on Monday, Aug. 8 and ran until Saturday, Aug. 13, and had just shy of a hundred kids participating, according to Jayson Boyson, the off-ice coordinator at the Stettler camp.
The camps break into several different activities, from on-ice skills training and scrimmages, to off-ice endurance and fitness training, outdoor games, and “chalk talk” strategy lessons.
“Through the week the kids will go through dry-land training, outdoor games, Chalk Talk, power skating, hockey skills, and then three scrimmages throughout the week as well,” Boyson explained. “It’s a full day, a tiring day but a full day.”
The idea, Boyson said, is not only to give the hockey students skills pertaining directly to the game, but to get them started on a fitness routine that will build endurance, foster cooperative game-playing skills, and ensure the game remains fun.