Being a part of young hockey players’ developmental process is a fulfilling experience, said the initiation team’s head coach.
“From a parenting perspective as well as a coaching perspective, it’s one of the more rewarding age groups because you see them progress so rapidly from needing something to stand against just to be on their skates, to skating around and going after the puck,” said Josh Rozenhart.
The Sundre Minor Hockey Association’s initiation Huskies introduces players between the ages of four and six to the sport, and Rozenhart expressed an affinity for helping them to get started.
At this level there are two extremes on the spectrum in terms of growth, he said. The four-year-olds often have little experience on skates — some have barely ever even been on the ice — yet slowly but surely become increasingly confident on their feet as they progress, he said.
“That’s a big step for the younger kids.”
On the other end, the six-year-olds are more prone to get into the game and are beginning to develop an understanding and awareness of what needs to be done, he said.
Of course at such an early stage in hockey, he said the focus remains largely on building the fundamentals of skating as well as stick and puck handling skills.
Prioritizing positions on the ice and strategizing specific plays comes later on, he said, although some of the basics such as how to face off are introduced.
“At the end of the day, they just follow the puck and kind of crowd around it,” he said with a fond chuckle.
“In our games, a lot of times, a team will steal the puck from each other — they just want the puck.”
So coaches do find themselves reminding players not to compete with their own teammates for possession of the puck, he said.
The Huskies recently had a chance to showcase how far they’ve come over the past season during a two-day tournament. On March 2-3, about a dozen hockey teams participated in the event hosted at the local arena. Squads came from Didsbury, Olds, Carstairs, Crossfield and Cremona.
All of the teams played both of their two games on one day to avoid splitting the matches over the weekend so they didn’t have to stay overnight or travel back to Sundre twice, the coach said.
“A lot of teams appreciated that because it decreased costs for them.”
But the event still kept people in Sundre for a day, offering them a chance to meander around town to check out local eateries and businesses between the scheduled games, he said.
“It was great,” he said about the tournament, adding the arena was a bit busier on Sunday, March 3 when the Huskies hit the ice.
“We got quite a few people; it was a decent turnout.”
Providing an opportunity for each team to play two games seemed to work out perfectly since players at that age level don’t typically have an abundance of energy or the attention span to be able to enjoy much more than that, he said.
“Younger kids tend to lose a bit of gas and peter out.”
The tournament also served as a fundraiser, which in turn was well supported. Raffle tables and prize packages donated by sponsors as well as parents helped bring in about $2,000, he said.
Those funds go back to the current year’s team and might help offset player fees going into the next season, as well as perhaps providing skills development clinics, with any unspent dollars going back to the association, he said.
The coach praised the contributions of donors and the behind-the-scenes organizational efforts of volunteers as well as the municipal staff who “worked pretty hard and diligently keeping that ice surface” in good condition.
Different towns host the annual year-end initiation tournament, and this year was Sundre’s turn, he said.
“It’s a chance to go out at the end and play a couple of games in a row.”
Keeping score was not a priority, and none of the teams were competing for a championship title, he said.
“That’s not really the important part. They can worry about that later when they’re eight, nine, 10 years old,” he said.
“Right now, it’s just about hanging out and playing hockey and learning to play as a team.”
