Young hockey stars got a jump on the competition last week at the Sunshine Coast Arena.
The inaugural Sunshine Coast Hockey School was a huge success according to organizers who are already setting their sights on next year.
"I was smiling ear to ear with the results," said Tom Poulton who helped spearhead this year's school. "I never heard too many negative comments and I think for our first summer hockey school it went off great. I heard some comments from families that had gone to other camps in other communities and they said this one was better.
"Now we just need to try to top this next year."
Poulton said the hockey school will be an annual event at around the same time next year. He said people should expect promotion starting in December or early January.
Poulton added the goals of the school are to increase its profile and to expand to bring in more out of town players.
Besides locals Poulton and Denise North, several other coaches contributed to the success of this year's event.
One of those coaches was Gibsons native Brad Wingfield.
"I caught wind a couple of years ago about the prospects of a hockey school starting up here," Wingfield said. "I got a call from Tom, who I've known for many years as a friend both on and off the ice, that the school was a go for this year. I've been involved in many hockey schools all over the U.S. and I've always wanted to be a part of a hockey school in the community where I grew up and learned to play hockey. This was a great week to be back here on the Coast and I had a great time working with the kids."
Throughout the week, Wingfield and the other coaches put the players through their paces with intense skating sessions, lots of drills and game situations.
"We had a serious emphasis on skating this week," Wingfield said. "The Coast has a wonderful power skating instructor in Denise. She's awesome and she works really well with the kids. Having strong skating skills is so important especially at a young age."
Last weekend an elite camp was held for older players. Wingfield, along with Sechelt native Mike Yates, Steve Peat from the Washington Capitals and pro Ryan Esselmont, put the players through the paces in both on-ice and dry land training sessions.
As for Wingfield, he's looking forward to another season playing hockey.
Entering his ninth year as a pro, Wingfield just signed a contract with the Danbury Thrashers, a new expansion franchise in the United League based out of Connecticut. The club is affiliated with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers of the American Hockey League.
"My wife and I flew out there in July and scouted the city as they scouted me," he said. "I'm looking forward to it. It means another cold winter back east, but they play a long season from October to April. It means 80 games and lots of hockey.
"At 29 you can never say never about getting to the NHL. Playing back east you get lots of exposure. If I play my game, anything can happen."
