The Northern Sport Culture and Recreation District (NSCRD) hosted a two-day hockey skills camp at the Jonas Roberts Memorial Community Centre (JRMCC) Saturday, Jan. 27-28.
Close to 70 players from Southend, Montreal Lake, Stanley Mission and La Ronge participated in the camp, which involved four levels of hockey, U9, U11, U13 and U15, NSCRD program manager Tonia Logan said in an interview with the Northern Advocate.
NSCRD hired the La Ronge Ice Wolves’ coaching staff to lead the camp, which began with enhancing the players skating skills, particularly for the younger players.
“They came out to teach the kids how to skate properly and then they build on that,” Logan said.
As the weekend progressed, they moved into more advanced skills sets.
“The younger that they are, the focus is more on the skating, but then as they get older—like the U15—it’s on a little bit more puck handling and how to hold your stick properly and some different trails like practice drills to practice their shooting passing,” Logan said.
They ended the camp Sunday with some scrimmages, she said.
Stanley Mission held their annual snowmobile derby on the Saturday, so not many players registered for the camp, but Sunday, “they brought ton loads of kids,” Logan said.
For example, five or six van loads of kids were transported from Southend to La Ronge on Friday, and [they] took in the La Ronge Ice Wolves’ game that night, before participating in the two-day camp.
They also spent Saturday evening skating on the lake that is close to the Town of La Ronge’s decorated tree.
“They spent the evening out there on there … and had hockey all day the next day too, so it’s really cool to see that so many kids that were here,” Logan said.
Close to 70 players participated in the camp over the two days.
The Rec director in Creighton will hold a similar event for players from the communities on the eastern edge of the North Central Hockey League’s area, which also includes Cumberland House, Sandy Bay, Deschambault Lake and Pinehouse Lake.
