Puck Smart Inc. Fall Hockey Skill Development Academy 20 sessions September '17 - February '18 Tuesday South Fairview Program Thursday North Crowchild Program

Dear Puck Smart Participants:

Well it’s official hockey tryouts have started and yet another summer just flew by. My name is Kevin Yellowaga and I can honestly say that this summers training was our best to date. The summer for Puck Smart was filled with incredible skill development training sessions and many highlights. We are coming off our busiest summer and would like to thank everyone who attended our camps. We saw 250 players participating in our 14 different specialty camps that included: Body Checking, Shoot To Score, Academy Skills Training, Power Camp, Jr./ NCAA Prep Camps, Bantam High Tempo Skills Prep Camp and our popular Skills N’ Drills Prep. All camps sold out very quickly as the result of one send out in early January; in large part thanks to our many returning customers.

I am looking forward to my 5th season as the skills development coach with the (as well as our 7th season of Skills Training in ). The Bandits had their share of highlights last season starting with both Cale Makar and Parker Foo drafting to the NHL in June. Cale becoming the highest pick ever in AJHL history going 4th overall to the . The Bandits winning the Western Canada Cup in May, RBC Canadian Cup Finalists and all this followed up with the Bandits being named the HOST team for the 2019 RBC Canadian Jr. A Hockey Championships.

Our Fall/Winter skill development training will include the PS Skills Academy Training in the South (Fairview Arena) and North (Crowchild Arena)

This is our strongest technical program that we offer and something that is missing from most regular training development programs. Puck Smart Fairview Tuesday Morning Hockey Academy beginning September 26th, 2017. We will once again be training at the Fairview Arena from 6:45 - 7:45 am. each Tuesday morning for 20 sessions which will take us to the end of February. Also the Thursday Morning Program at the Crowchild Arena beginning Thursday September 28th, 2017 and continuing for 20 sessions to the end of February 2018. Top Goalie instruction for the goalie portion of the Hockey Academy. A maximum of 12 players and 3 goalies will be accepted for this program.

This Year’s Academy will be focusing on Atom and Pee Wee players born ’07, ’06 and ‘05 (some '04's will be included in the program). We are heading into our 5th year in Calgary with the successful PS Morning Academy Curriculum that continues to be developed and refined each season. I have included a couple of articles below to further educate and support the decision you will be making. The PS Academy will give you one more hour of skill development training and knowledge each week and the opportunity to continue to add these elements within your regular season practices and games. We also provide Student of the Game content for players to study and use to further their development.

A primary focus in every PS Academy session will be development of a strong technical base in all areas of skating, shooting, passing and puck control. Having this foundation will allow us to attack more advanced skills as we move up the hockey development pyramid. Players will have opportunities to practice these advanced academy skills in game like situations giving them opportunities to improve hockey sense. As a players skills improve, the players mind is more free in recognize certain patterns and make the correct decisions when it comes to executing these skills under stress.

The cost of the program is $875.00 (payment by e-transfer).

What makes Puck Smart a Leader in Hockey Skill Development Training

We are proud to be known as a leader in hockey skill development in Calgary and we aim to continue pushing our limits while providing you with the best value training in the city. We accomplish this by attending NHL conferences, remaining open to learning, studying video, and collaborating with current pro players. We also have connections to experts to support the entire growth and development of the athlete - which may include nutrition, off-ice training, mental training, joint health, video-analysis, equipment and informing about routes/choices around WHL/CJHL and CIS/NCAA. While also including educational material for our parents/players in the form of student of the game clips, video analysis and guidance in long term-athlete development to to help support a hockey players full development.

Like any successful business Puck Smart continues to learn from the most successful leaders in the hockey and sport development industries. We learn from experts around the world that are leaders in the field of sport performance and long term athlete development, we attend the top hockey conferences/clinics, we analyze game video from Jr. A, NCAA and Pro players, we seek out mentorship opportunities and have connected with several NHL coaches in the process. All of this combines to make us very unique in the hockey industry, plus we make sure that we have small group sizes so that your player gets the reps and feedback they need in order to improve their game. We want to see every player benefit from our skills program with results that you and their coaches will notice from participation in the Academy.

Why participate in the Puck Smart Hockey Skills Academy:

Regardless of how strong your minor hockey association may be (and you may be really lucky) in general I continue to see a lack of teaching hockey skills as a barrier in developing hockey players to their fullest potential which can also affect their enjoyment of the game later on. Even in this day and age with all of the knowledge that is now available, hockey as a sport is lagging behind other sports when it comes to progression of teaching skills, attention to detail, feedback, curriculum development, identifying what skills a player should be introduced to at each level, common themes and skill sets that separate players and a language that should be common across the board. provides resources and training for what skills and tactics should be learned at what age (also in LTAD plan) but it's open for debate on which coaches have access to this and more importantly how they will execute the plan. Do they have a long-term development plan and daily practice plans/themes in helping them to achieve the objective. Or are your coaches left saying "I am just a volunteer what do you expect."

We can debate how many coaches can teach skills (or have the ability to perform them) or the ability to regress a skill or progress a skill, how many coaches are just doing drills around cones vs. executing a skill and giving feedback and correction. Hopefully all coaches are accessing mentorship and continuing to develop their skills. Many spring programs and morning programs will pack the ice and race the kids around circles (but never actually do a crossover), have long lines, mostly relying on what their coaches taught them way back when they played.

LASTLY: Pay Attention to the value you are receiving?

Why am am I explaining all of these things? Because all of this should influence your decision making process when you decide what type of program will add value for your player. In making this decision another way you can look at it is what program has the ability to show noticeable differences in improvement and abilities on the ice (not just because you did more ice or skated on a treadmill more) but because they learned new skills that are not being taught elsewhere.

It’s sad just how many people are paying big dollars for “same player in same player out”… player comes in with a certain skill set and they leave the program with the same skill set (or regress). Parents and players will also notice that coaches are spending far less time on skill development and more and more time on systems as their player progresses to the Atom/Pee Wee and Bantam levels.

You can submit your application on-line for the academy by completing the following registration form: http://pucksmart.com/registration2.html

TRYOUT PACKAGE

Hoping you all have a great try-out weekend… I have also attached a tryout tips package for your player(s): https://www.dropbox.com/sh/gr1x99mwiby41em/AAC4ZOrs7j2I82hSVAxRYz SQa?dl=0

Have a great season!

Kevin Yellowaga Puck Smart Inc.

Puck Smart Hockey Skills Academy Morning Programs

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