Last week’s Bellz Edge hockey camp at the Westlock Rotary Spirit Centre was a big success.
The brainchild of former Westlock resident and professional hockey player Gord Bell, the camp ran Aug. 18-24 and gave local hockey players a chance to learn from professionals from across Canada and the United States.
“It’s been great,” Bell said Thursday morning. “It’s honestly run as smooth as it could run. The arena staff have been great helping out.”
There were 96 players enrolled in the camp, which exceeded Bell’s goal of as many as 75-80 players involved.
In addition, he said he had six goalies at the camp – two in each age division – which allows each goalie to play the full 60-minute game on the camp’s final day.
Those games on the camp’s final day are for all the marbles, as the teams will be competing to raise a miniature Stanley Cup, Bell said.
However, the winning teams won’t be the only ones to have a chance to hoist the trophy.
At the end of the camp, three players were singled out by the coaching staff as showing the most character and ethics.
Those players were also presented with the trophy, and will have their names engraved on it to show off for as long as the camp continues to run.
The players taking part in the camp all expressed satisfaction with the experience.
“I love it,” said player Jaiden Romanuik. “I think it’s awesome.”
Romanuik said he wanted to do the camp after his parents found out about it and asked him if he wanted to take part.
He said he’s learned a lot of things during the week, including how to do a toe-drag deke and how to skate faster.
The best part of the camp, Romanuik said, was the three-on-three scrimmages at the end of the second on-ice session each day.
It was the best part because he got to be on the ice and he could spend time “deking people out of their socks,” he added.
Another player at the camp was Sam Milner.
He said some of the best parts of the camp were the power skating sessions in the morning, as well as the shooting clinic. He was also happy to work on his stick handling and faceoff skills.
Bellz Edge was Milner’s first hockey camp, and he said he hopes it will return next year.
“I feel they do a good job getting us into shape,” he said. “For sure it’s something I would want to do again.”
Bell brought in a number of highly experienced hockey players to run the various clinics during the camp.
Several of them played professional hockey for a number of years, while the two women coaches had played Division 1 hockey in the U.S. National Collegiate Athletic Association.
Many of the coaches are local products, Bell added, which allows the players in attendance to see what opportunities lie before them.
“The opportunities are there,” he said. “We’re just showing them off.”
