After a break last year due to the renovations that were being done on the Eddie Mountain Memorial Arena the Hockey in the Rockies hockey school is coming back to Invermere.
“We are excited about getting it back. When you build a school you just love to see the kids come out of the area. Invermere is such a beautiful place for a school. Not only is it good for a hockey school it is great for families.”
Don Murdoch has been a part of different hockey schools for 25 years and in 1977. This year will see two camps being held. The first will run from August 8-12 and the second will happen between August 15-19.
He is now running the school with former member of the Kootenay Ice Colin Sinclair.
Having the best instructors for both the on ice and dryland training is a very important aspect of the school for Murdoch who wants to give as much as he can to the students.
“We try to cover the most that we can. We work on the fundamentals. We do a lot of the skating, stick handling, shooting and passing. If you get better at those things the rest of the game comes easier.
As for why he has continued to work with students at the school Murdoch still loves what he is doing.
“It is just watching the kids have fun. I love working with them. Getting to see their enthusiasm on the ice. The main thing is help them while they have fun both on and off the ice. A lot of these kids do not know each other and develop friendships while at the school,” Murdoch said
Players can take part in the program as long as they are between the ages of 5-16. The five-year-olds must have at least one year of minor hockey experience to participate.
The enrollment includes 2.5 hours of on-ice time each day, one hour dry land activities and video work, chalk talk with professional and collegiate hockey players and a hockey game which will be played on the Friday.
Some of the areas the instructors will focus on during the five day course are power skating, passing and shooting along with developing a positive attitude and learning about zone coverage.
For more information about the school you can go to www.hockeyintherockies.com or call Murdoch at 250-489-9389 or Sincliar at 403-793-5435