Home page

Text size

E-mail this page

INUVIK
To ensure all of Inuvik's minor hockey players receive quality instruction, five southern coaches have travelled to the community for a five-day hockey camp.

Coaches train at last year's hockey camp in Inuvik. Five hockey coaches from southern Canada will run a five-day hockey workshop from Nov. 9 to 13 for minor hockey. These coaches have been coming for the past 11 years to provide instruction for the youth. - photos courtesy of Conrad Baetz

From Nov. 9 to 13 Doug Russell, Dennis Polonich, Pat Elynuik, Daryl Baxandall and Barry Prins, former NHLers and long-time coaches, will hold the hockey school for minor hockey players from novice 2 to midget.

This is their 11th year coming to Inuvik, continuing a tradition of bringing coaches to the community for the benefit all players instead of sending the best players south to camps.

"It's a better way to do this. Some of the guys have been coming for eight years and watched players from atom move up to midget," said Conrad Baetz, president of the Inuvik Minor Hockey Association. "Our players have received invites to other types of camps which is an added benefit. They get to see our kids and their capabilities."

Three or four players from Inuvik have made it to AAA tryouts, but haven't made it on those teams. Baxandall, a coach from Calgary, said the players had great experiences in simply seeing how much work is needed to get to that higher level of play.

"There must be good coaching up there because the players do have the skills," Baxandall said. "The hockey is different. The kids are good skaters, stick handlers. The issue is, how do they play the game. In the south they're playing lots of games, but in Inuvik there might be two teams in their age group and they play once or twice a week. They just don't learn the game."

This school will operate differently than other camps, where coaches have certain drills planned. Instead of a set agenda, the coaches will adapt to what type of players they have and see what needs improvement.

"No matter what we hand them or what their plan is, they're great with the group of guys and make sure they get as much out of it as possible," Baetz said. "An improvement is noticeable, especially in the younger kids, not only from the instruction, but the times of day they're playing. The five days accelerates improvements and they're peaking by day five."

The camp was scheduled to start on Wednesday night, with each age group participating in a 75-minute minute session twice a day.

There's even sessions for goalies, with a dedicated goalie coach. Having the coaches travel here ensures the school is as inclusive as possible for all players.

Coaches also benefit from the clinic, by learning new drills and trends moving through the southern hockey world. Baetz encourages the coaches to attend when they can. Younger players will have drills that focus on the basic techniques and how to play the game, while older players will learn aspects such as breakaways and penalty killing.

"It's well-instructed because the coaches are in the know about how to bring the best hockey lessons to the kids," Baetz said. "They are the most up-to-date lessons.

"The clinics are set to continue until Nov. 13 at 9 p.m. at the Midnight Sun Recreation Complex. Regularly scheduled ice times will be cancelled on the weekend for the hockey school.

We welcome your opinions. Click here to e-mail a letter to the editor.