Coaches Corner
Selecting a Summer Hockey Camp

By: Dan Blysma

This article is reprinted with the permission of Dan Blysma. You can request the Blysma Newsletter by emailing Dan at number21@danblysma.com

TIP OF THE MONTH

This may seem a bit early to think about summer hockey camp, but many camps are already well on their way to being filled. There are over 450,000 kids playing youth hockey in the United States alone, so I'm sure there are a lot of you wondering if you should send your player to a summer hockey camp, and if so, whose camp should you consider.

Why send your player to a hockey camp?

An important consideration is the skill level and teaching ability of your player's present coach. If the coach was like my father, he was a great coach, but he didn't know from sic'em about skating fundamentals. So he sent me to summer hockey camp to learn the things he couldn't teach me. If, on the other hand your son or daughter plays for a coach who knows skating fundamentals and knows how to teach them, you will have different considerations than my father had for sending me to camp.

I like to think of a good camp as one which functions like a doctor's office for players. If your child isn't feeling good, you might try home remedies or over-the-counter medicines, but if the malaise persists, you would take him to the doctor for a check up. A good camp should be able to review the player's skating technique and prescribe a remedy to help the player correct or improve his technique.

I also think summer hockey camp can be a great carrot to elicit desired behavior. Your player's opinions to the contrary, there's no constitutional right to go to summer hockey camp. It should be a reward for good citizenship. Better study habits, personal housekeeping improvements, diligent attention to assigned family chores, and perhaps earning some of the cost are things that can be made a condition for shelling out the big dollars for summer hockey camp. In case you kids are reading this, believe me when I tell you that these were all conditions for my parents to allow my brothers and I to have the privilege to go to a summer hockey camp.

One of the reasons my parents sent my brothers and I to summer hockey camp had nothing to do with hockey. They thought it was important for their kids to attend college. So they sent us to hockey camps at colleges so we could see what it was like to be on a college campus, be in a college environment, and live in a dorm. It was one of their tricks to influence us. It worked because we all thought it was our decision to go to college - it never occurred to us that they had anything to do with our decision.

What camp should you consider?

A camp that promises two things: fun and skating skills - in that order. I think fun is the most important consideration because as the name suggests (and some parents forget): this is summer hockey camp, that is - summer, we're going to play a game, at a camp. Games, summer, and camp should be about having fun. Besides, if the player is not having fun, the learning will be marginal at best. Why is skating important? This game is all about skating. During an average game your player will have the puck on his stick for 20 seconds at most. He or she will be skating for 15 to 20 minutes which should give you an idea of the importance of being a good skater. So I would encourage you to look for a camp that will teach your player new skating skills, improve existing skills, perhaps diagnose and correct flaws in the player's skating technique, and emphasize drills that will show the skater how to work on improving his or her technique.

How can you tell what a camp will be like?

The best way is by word of mouth from hockey parents whose kids have attended other camps. You can also study the brochures at your local rink or the information most camps provide on the Internet. Look for the key words 'fun' and 'skating fundamentals' as well as other things that you might think are important… well qualified instructors, instructor-to-pupil ratios, good role models, special skills (goalie instruction), university environment, indoor off-ice facilities in case of rain, etc.

Should you consider having your player attend more than one camp?

Yes, but I would only consider more than one camp for my child if the other one is a math camp, band camp, science camp, Bible camp, space camp, Odyssey of the Mind camp, orchestra camp, drama camp, Boy or Girl Scout camp, or just plain fun camp.

A Huron Note: We agree with everything that Dan has written about in this article, and want to thank him for allowing us to reprint it.