Pro North Hockey Camp came to Barrhead for a two-week run August 11-15 and August 18-22.
According to Chris Driessen, organizer of the camp, this was the 12th year of the hockey school and she explained how the camp started over a decade ago.
“I just loving working with kids and seeing the kids progress. This was something that started way, way back when our boys were in hockey,” she said. “I have been coaching for the last 35 years and been coaching power skating for the last 20 years. I saw that there was a need for a camp like this; we have a great facility so I thought let’s bring this camp back home to the kids around Barrhead.”
There were 74 kids registered for each week of the camp and Driessen explained the reason for the number of participants.
“We try and keep our numbers low so we could try and develop skill rather than run players through drills. Our philosophy is we want players to reach the next level in their skill so that when they go back to practice they will remember what they learned at the camp,” Driessen said. “It is extremely important to have a small player to coach ratio because then you can break down what they are doing, evaluate what they are doing and correct it. When you are working closely with the kids you can reiterate something over and over again until they completely understand it.”
Driessen explained that the camp is broken down into seven components, game strategy, shooting and skill building, power skating, cross training, fitness development, skills centre training, and goaltending sessions.
“As a whole core team, the seven coaches that are here, our philosophy is about teaching every aspect of the game. We have to work on developing every skill from skating to passing to shooting. One is not more important than the other; you need all of the skills to be the complete package. We bring in different coaches because my expertise is not game play or shooting, my expertise is skating and that is why I bring in all of those other guys that have that expertise. We have an amazing core team where the chemistry is just great and we have the best interests of each player at heart.”
Driessen discussed the importance of the kids learning proper skating technique during the course of the camp.
“Skating is so important because if you can’t get down the ice, you can’t play hockey. The game of hockey has become that much more aggressive and faster so there is more of an emphasis on skating now than in previous years. We work on body position and skating correctly, first by themselves, then with the puck,” Driessen said.
During the camp, participants had some special guests join them for the camp including local NHL draft pick Nikolas Koberstein.
“It is a real honour to have Nik here at the camp and not just for the coaches, but for the kids as well. The kids have the opportunity to see what it takes to get to the next level and Nik is living proof of that and the hard work it takes to achieve one’s dream. Having Nikolas here has reiterated to the kids how hard they will have to work to achieve their own dreams. He is setting a precedent for players to set goals for themselves. Every little kid says they want to play in the NHL so he is proof that their dreams can come true,” she said. “He (Nik) did power skating with me a long time ago. He told the kids he continually works on his skating because that is what is going to get him to that next level. He never quits learning.”
Participants at the camp also had a number of other visitors including SportsCentre anchors Darren Dutchyshen and Kate Beirness as well as current Edmonton Oilers goalie Ben Scrivens.
“Kate and Darren were here for the right reasons. It wasn’t about them. It was about the kids and the community and that was phenomenal. As for Ben Scrivens, it is really neat for the kids to hear from a current NHLer on what it will take for them to achieve their dream. It is not just for the kids as we run a parent session to help educate them on what it takes to be a parent in the sporting world,” added Driessen.
Driessen admitted that she was very happy with this year’s camp and thought it was a success.
“We had two full, packed camps this year. We had two great weeks and the kids were eager to learn and we had great parents that were following these kids. It is good to see that the parents want this for their kids as much as the kids want it. This was one of the best years where the players, coaches, and parents were all on the same page and it was a phenomenal camp,” concluded Driessen.
