For one weekend in May, Athabasca will officially be Oil Country.
The Edmonton Oilers hockey club will bring their annual development camp to the Athabasca Regional Multiplex May 13-15. Ninety lucky kids between the ages of nine and 12 from across Northern Alberta will be randomly selected to take part in the camp. Over 500 hopefuls signed up for the camp, which is usually limited to two participants per minor hockey association.
So at least two very lucky local hockey players will be taking part.
The weekend, sponsored by Cenovus Energy, will begin on the Friday with a community event. Everyone is invited to join representatives from the Town and County in welcoming the Oilers. The festivities will include interactive games, zamboni rides and a free barbeque.
The camp will begin that night with orientation, and first thing Saturday morning the 90 kids will be split into three groups of 30. During the weekend, they will hit the ice as well as take part in off-ice sessions.
“We’re putting on a camp where kids can come in and work on skill development in a real positive atmosphere,” said Trevor Murphy, manager of community and consumer partnerships for the Oilers. “It will be a weekend they’ll remember for a lot of positive reasons.”
Members of Oilers Grassroots Hockey will be leading the camp, along with the Oilers Community Partnership Group and Hockey Alberta instructors. A handful of local coaches will also be invited to participate and help out with the camp.
Hosting the event is a big deal for Athabasca, according to Rob Balay, manager of regional recreation services.
“We heard about it a couple years ago, and we were interested in hosting it, now that we have the facility we do,” said Balay, noting it would have been very difficult to host the event in the old recreational complex.
“(The Oilers) really love our facility.”
Members of the community are invited to take part in the weekend. All on-ice sessions will be open to the public.
“We want a lot of people to come out on Friday night, show support for the event and hang out with the Oilers. The more people the better.”
