Monday, December 3, 2007

Ingersoll Minor hockey Goalie Clinic

Today we ran another in a series of minor hockey goalie clinics we have presented this winter this was the 2nd for Ingersoll and 8th or 10th overall already.

Our goalie schools and clinics are always well received and we enjoy instructing the minor hockey goalies on the finer points of the game. Over the years we have run into a few 'bumps' in doing these and because myself and the team of goalie instructors we use are all very dedicated and knowledgeable when it comes to knowing exactly what I want from them, in terms of specific goalie instruction and drills they are to run, we seldom ever have a problem we can't improvise and fix 'on the fly'. Today was a little different and exciting as we had a bit of a surprise.

We had 20+ students on the ice, ready to go, our goaltending instructors were ready to start and we had assembled the goalies at one end to begin when we noticed that the arena hadn't provided us with the additional nets we need to set up our stations at. No big deal, this has happened before and the reason has always been the same, the rink guy forgot to put them out, we remind him and there were there in a couple of minutes. NOT TODAY...I asked where the nets were and the answer wasn't good..."the rink forgot you were running a goalie clinic today and they are out back, in the barn".

Well we can't run a goalie clinic without nets for the goalies to use, so Gerry Ellison (my long time Head Instructor) and I set out to quickly redesign the program, on the fly, doing some skating & balance drills, stance & movement drills and a few other goalie instructional items. The great thing was that we 'stalled' for 35 minutes and no one knew, it went like clockwork and the parents who were watching didn't even realize we had made up the entire session (2 hours) because all of our timing and predesigned drills had to be scrapped.

The nets arrived... on a tractor, 35 minutes into the goalie clinic, covered in ice (it was freezing rain outside) and muddy on the bottom, oh the joys of rural arenas.

We love doing goalie clinics and goalie schools and travelling around to new arenas because we always have new and exciting challenges to deal with. not to brag (too much) but we're good at what we do and 20 years of experience affords us the opportunity to be 'quick on our feet' and change or even redesign entire programs without missing a beat. Today was another fine example of this and I want to thank the instructors who are always there for me to make it all happen and come together smoothly for our students.

Another reason to go with an established goalie school with experienced goalie instructors. Things never go perfectly and the ability to react accordingly and make it work, comes from experience and dedication - today between 4 of the instructors on the ice we had OVER 60 YEARS of CERTIFIED GOALTENDING INSTRUCTIONAL EXPERIENCE!! Find that at any other school!

Our guys did a great job, the goalie students learned a lot, had fun and the parents want more, so everyone is happy.

Thanks to Ingersoll Minor Hockey for having us in and being good sports about it and THANKS again to some of the best guys I know, who also happen to be great goaltending instructors too! Gerry, Craig, Mark & Ryan!!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Very good clinic, thanks for coming, hope to see you again

Anonymous said...

Very Good clinic, I plan to attend the next clinic in London on December 30th

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