It might be the dog days of summer, but more than 90 athletes laced up their skates this week for the annual Jasper Hockey Camp.
Celebrating its 20th season, the camp first started in 1995 when four German athletes arrived in Jasper only to discover the hockey camp they had planned to attend was cancelled. Recognizing how far they had travelled, Graham Parsons, who was running a similar hockey camp in Sylvan Lake, Alta., was contacted and the players were fit into the camp there.
That’s when Jasper’s culture and recreation director realized there was a demand for a weeklong hockey camp in Jasper and contacted Parsons, asking that he organize a camp in town.
“It’s been a great run for us and we want to go another 20 years,” said Parsons. “It’s a tremendous community and we look forward to it every year.”
Leading the camp is Cody Reynolds, who attended the Jasper Hockey Camp over the past 20 years, first as a 12-year-old hockey player and now as the camp’s program director. He is also the associate coach of the Red Deer College Kings.
“The athletes have changed so much over past 20 years that you have to stay up to date on the latest techniques and drills,” said Parsons.
“We focus on Hockey Canada’s and Hockey Alberta’s long term player development model, which is all around skill development.”
The camp in Jasper focuses on the basic fundamentals starting with skating. As the week progresses the on-ice program consists of puck handling, passing, shooting and team play. The camp also includes a “contact confidence station” where athletes learn how to give and take a body check. Off ice, athletes spend some time in the classroom and participate in dry land training programs that are directly tied to what they did on the ice that particular day.
“We focus on having a good time too,” said Parsons. “We try to mix it up with fun activities.”
Parsons said the co-ed camp has a ratio of six athletes per instructor and about 20 per cent of the camp is made up of female athletes.
In addition to hockey, the camp is also billed as a vacation for athletes.
“The idea is to combine your vacation with a hockey camp,” said Parsons, adding players also hike, swim and even raft down the Athabasca River.
The majority of athletes and their families stay in hotels or camp while they are here, although there is also a dormitory at the activity centre.
Over the past 24 years, both locations—Jasper and Sylvan Lake—have also sponsored four hockey players from Harlem, N.Y. to come to Alberta for a week each year.
