Sports in school: Regina’s Martin Academy celebrates 10 years

For Dayce Derkatch, the extra school periods he spends devoted towards the sport he loves, the more enjoyable school has become.

“It’s basically my whole life,” Derkatch said. “I love hockey and doing hockey at school is just … I mean, who wouldn’t want to do that if you love the game?”

Martin Academy has been supporting high school student-athletes through sport-specific electives since the program launched 10 years ago. Students can graduate from high school through the lens of high-performance physical education.

The program offers four different streams of sport, including hockey, baseball, softball and premier performance. It operates for students at Martin Collegiate from grades 9 to 12.

Derkatch, the son of Regina Pats legend Dale Derkatch, is in Grade 11. The younger Derkatch said his days are broken down into different skill practices, conditioning and power skating.

“Hockey is my life,” he said. “When people are doing five periods of school and I’m only doing three, I get to work on my game and work out or work on my skills. I’m just getting that much better than everyone else.

“I know this academy has helped me improve a ton. It’s a big reason of why I’m at the spot I am right now in life.”

As Brooklyn O’Day approaches graduation, she said the coaching she gets in the pool has helped her get a scholarship to the University of Alabama.

O’Day — the daughter of Saskatchewan Roughriders GM Jeremy O’Day — is in the academy’s premier performance stream for diving.

“I love the adrenaline rush that it gives me,” she said. “You definitely have to be very mentally tough to do it. It’s scary to dive; you’re spinning and you’re jumping off crazy heights that people usually wouldn’t do.”

Through coaching and flexible timetables, she said she has reached new heights in the sport she loves.

Kim Perepeluk, the academy co-ordinator, said the program has 320 students registered in the four streams of sports. (Gillian Massie/980 CJME)

Seeing kids succeed in the sport they love makes it all worth it, according to academy co-ordinator Kim Perepeluk.

“It’s very humbling to see how talented, and how dedicated these students are,” Perepeluk said.

He said there are around 320 students in the four high-performance streams of the program, and more than 1,000 students have graduated from the program over the past 10 years.

The program doesn’t just coach students in high-performance sports; Perepeluk said it also teaches students work ethic, consistency and interpersonal skills.

Perepeluk said the program has an accountability system to make sure students don’t fall behind in their schoolwork. The academic advisory program helps the student catch up when they’re off to different sporting events.

The academy also helps inform students about U Sport and post-secondary opportunities in the United States. That includes any preparation for examinations.

Perepeluk said the best part of the program is combining all the different athletes is the classroom.

Hannah Skiba, a Grade 12 student in the softball academy, said the best part was all the memories she has made with her team.

“If you’re passionate about the game (and) if you’re passionate about going somewhere and being better, do it, because it’s totally worth it,” she said of attending the academy. “You don’t have to be the best (and) you don’t have to be the worst. If you’re passionate, it’s worth it. It really is.”