February 22, 2012
Posted in BC Edition, Alberta Edition, Ontario Edition, Development
BY MARK JANZEN /
When Hockey Canada hosted the inaugural World Sport School Challenge in Calgary over the Christmas break, it was a major step and may be even a bigger statement about the burgeoning concept of hockey academies in this stick-and-puck-centric country.
Simply put, hockey academies are the way of the future for many aspiring young hockey players and Hockey Canada is revving the engine.
In the first ever rendition of what will likely be an annual event, the World Sport School Challenge, WSSC for short, which was hosted at WinSport Canada’s athletic and ice complex, played host to six high-level hockey teams including four schools – Okanagan Hockey Academy, Pursuit of Excellence Hockey Academy, Edge School for Athletes and Shattuck-St. Mary’s – and two national U17 teams, from Finland and Slovakia. And for Paul Carson, Hockey Canada’s director of development, it was exactly the type of launching pad they had hoped to create.
“It was a starting point,” Carson said. “It was a very successful event. On an awareness level, there was maybe limited awareness but certainly there was more awareness than in the past around the sports school model. We just really want to give that school-based environment the opportunity to have another stream to compete in. And now we have the ability to work with a number of schools across the country.”
And when Shattuck-St. Mary’s – the Faribault, Minn. prep school that has produced the likes of Sidney Crosby, Jonathan Toews and Zach Parise – captured the gold medal after a 5-3 win over the Finland, it may have provided the exact type of target – as one of, if not, the best prep hockey school in the world – Hockey Canada was looking for.
With Hockey Canada currently endorsing 10 hockey academies across the country, the growth of these programs are in their relative infancy but with the demand ever-increasing, Carson believes this is just the beginning of a great thing.
“Based on what parents want in so many areas, whether it’s music or arts or sports programs, parents are very specific about what they’re looking for in their kids’ programing and this is one of those opportunities,” Carson said.
“We’re really excited about this opportunity and it’s a new area to explore and we want to move quickly and work with a number of communities across the country to create new opportunities for youngsters who want to play hockey at that level.”
While the hockey academy concept is something that is very much at the grassroots stage – with only a few schools across the country and no official league to participate in, competition is limited to exhibition and tournament play and travel costs, at least right now, can be high – the model has great potential.
Players have daytime practices integrated into their school day and while they aren’t getting “credit” for their on-ice work, Carson says, “it’s just a much more efficient and effective usage of their time.”
On top of their schooling, practices and off-ice training, the academy model provides aspects like sports psychology and nutrition to help guide young hockey players through unknown territory.
“A sports school model is fairly different than high school hockey because these are kids who are very focused on their development as young players,” Carson said. “They’re getting a lot of extra attention in their development.
“And today’s consumer is really excited about all those components. It’s almost long overdue.”
With the likes of future high-end NHL Draft picks like Matt Dumba (Edge) – currently ranked seventh by Central Scouting amongst North American skaters for the 2012 draft – and Curtis Lazar (Pursuit of Excellence) – who has 25 points in 48 games in his first year with the WHL’s Edmonton Oil Kings – the proof of the early success of hockey academies is in the prospects.
And with Hockey Canada fully behind the concept, the future is bright for both these schools and the youngsters who simply yearn for more hockey.
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Comments
Absolutely, and the trick is to have a school accommodate the hockey academy, the community accommodate with ice times between 7:00 and 3:30 each day so that the ice time and facility is being used efficiently. A two semester high school program with 4 courses with 3 hours of classes per day seems to be the trick. I would suggest this two semester course would best use the limited funds for education on Indian reserves with a hockey ring close by.
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