To whom it may concern,
I am writing this letter regarding the impact the SD#23 Hockey Canada Skills Academy had on my life.
I applied to be enrolled into the academy in the spring of grade 9. As soon as I heard about the opportunity to play hockey at school I knew it was something that I had to do. So I sent in my application; a short essay, my hockey resume, and a little bit of information about myself. Shortly after applying I was contacted by the program administrator (Mr. Dan Ruggiero) who suggested we set up a meeting time. The intended path for my high school life was to attend Kelowna Senior Secondary School in downtown Kelowna. That is where everyone in my class was going, and where the bus was going to take me. I figured that the transition to Rutland Senior would be worth it as long as I could play the game that I love. So Mr. Ruggiero came to meet with me personally at my school. We talked for a while about my hockey life and the future plans for the academy. I was then told that I had been accepted into the program, and all that was left to do was transfer schools. I knew that it was going to be tough leaving all of my friends behind to go to another school, but I was sure that it was going to be worth it.
Immediately upon arriving to Rutland Senior I knew that I had made the right decision. Everyone was very friendly and helpful in helping me adjust to the change. My first in-class hockey session was a lot of fun. We did introductions on where we were all playing and our goals for the future. I remember being intrigued by the diversity of students in the class. We had some hockey players who were just starting out, and some who were already very accomplished athletes. The chemistry in the class just seemed to fit perfectly. These people were all just like me, they just wanted to play hockey.
I will never forget my first on-ice class with the academy. We were all told to be ready fifteen minutes early for our scheduled ice time for a pre-ice meeting. All of the coaches introduced themselves and told about their hockey backgrounds and what they would be bringing to the table in terms of their teaching knowledge. I was impressed by each and every instructor who had been chosen to coach us. They were all very accomplished hockey players and brought a lot to the table.
After our meeting we finally got to go on the ice. After a quick warm-up the goalies were sent to work with our goalie coach (Larry Robinson) while the skaters were sent to work with the skating coach (Aaron Konescni). A goalie coach! For the first time in my life I was going to learn how to play my position by a real goalie coach! My first impression of Larry was great. He was very easy-going and a lot of fun to talk to. What a character. He immediately made me feel comfortable being a part of the class. I remember after telling him that my favorite goalie was Jean-Sebastien Giguere, he opted to call me Miss Giggy. He made this name on both my liking of Giguere, and the brand of goalie pads in which I wore. Although Larry loved to have fun, he was also about serious work. After our introductions we immediately learned Larry’s favorite goalie skating drills. I will never forget his famous duck walks and Tretiaks. Although our skating was always very tiring, I will never regret doing it. I feel that nothing has benefited my skills more than our skating sessions.
The students in my class were great. The very skilled players would often help out the younger less skilled players. The atmosphere was very competitive; everyone wanted to be the best that they could be. Nobody wanted to be last in any drill, and I feel that it really pushed everyone to work their hardest to get to that next level of play. Watching the improvement of players throughout the year was really tremendous.
As the year went on I continued to have the time of my life. I was still enrolled in minor hockey, and was able to bring many of the things I was learning at academy into my club team. During the day I was able to practice taking shots from the boys, and at night I was able to go to the rink with all of my girls, I was ultimately getting the best of both worlds. I was getting fast paced high quality hockey with the academy, and still great hockey at night with the girls without losing the team aspect.
I stayed in the hockey academy all the way up until graduation. My skills continued to get increasingly better as the years went on, and I was able to stay in optimal condition for what the future had to hold. With the academy I learned leadership skills, teamwork, hockey skills, and most of all the amount of dedication needed to be a true hockey player.
Being in the hockey program I was not only involved in playing hockey, but also a wide variety of other activities. For three years I was involved in teaching at clinics for small children. In helping to instruct, I was able to get a real sense for coaching, which I plan to do sometime in the future. I was also involved in many hockey related clinics. I was able to attend presentations and seminars on nutrition and exercise. I was able to get a real sense of what it means to be an elite athlete.
Watching the program grow has been an unbelievable experience for me. What started out as a single school in Kelowna has spread to five others in the area. The program is always growing and expanding to new schools and children across Canada. Seeing the academy flourish makes me happy to know that I was part of the founding group at RSS.
Life after the Academy:
I am currently playing NCAA Division 1 Hockey for Sacred Heart University. I will be moving on to bigger and better things for my sophomore year as I transfer to the University of Vermont on a full hockey scholarship. I will be competing at the Division 1 level in the Hockey East league, playing against some powerhouse teams such as Boston College, University of Maine, Providence College, Boston University, and many more.
I attribute my success to my roots in BC, Kelowna Minor Hockey and all of the instructors at the Hockey Canada Skills Academy.
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