New hockey academy perseveres through COVID-19 season

It can be tough getting any program off the ground at the best of times, and one new Saskatchewan hockey academy had to adapt to the pandemic on the fly.

The South Saskatchewan Hockey Academy is a private youth academy based out of Moose Jaw. It isn’t sanctioned by Hockey Canada or the Saskatchewan Hockey Association.

“We provide a different option for people. It’s an all-inclusive program for people that want a little bit more than what’s offered in a regular, typical minor hockey-type program,” said director of operations Dayle Wilcox.

The program had 56 players and had three teams this season – a U9 AAA team, a U11 AA team and a U11 AAA team. Wilcox said the academy is one of the first in Saskatchewan to offer that type of programming for younger age groups.

Much like similar programs found in the United States or in neighbouring provinces, the academy provides specialized coaching for the teams. They would normally participate in tournaments throughout the season.

But COVID-19 changed that.

“We had to deal with the restrictions that any kid and any minor sports program would have to deal with,” Wilcox said. “With (the) cards we were dealt, I think overall it’s been good.”

Those restrictions included reducing the number of players on the ice at any one time from 30 to eight. Organizers also have had to make sure that there was proper physical distancing between the players and that masks are worn when required.

Wilcox said one of the biggest challenges coaches faced was trying to create a schedule that still got all their players similar ice time to what they would have gotten in a regular year.

But Wilcox, who has been coaching for eight years, said there was a silver lining to these restrictions.

“Instead of us having two coaches for 15 to 16 kids, we’ve got two specialized coaches working with just eight players now. We really get to see some attention to detail from us as coaches and pick up a lot of things,” Wilcox said.

“We’ve done a lot of shooting, a lot of skating, a lot of those individual skills. A lot of kids don’t get that many puck touches in a regular season. The one benefit that a lot of kids will get out of this season is that individual skill development.”

And while the players haven’t been able to use those skills during games this year, Wilcox said he has been impressed with how the players have handled these unique circumstances.

“We’d love to see our kids and our players play games, but overall, we met with our kids three or four weeks ago and sat them down and said how impressed we are with all our players and how they stuck with it,” Wilcox said.

“We haven’t had any kids back out and they’ve all come to the rink still and work hard every single practice and leave the rink with a smile. I think they’ve learned to adapt and I think they know now this is their reality and what they have to work with so if they want to be at the rink and they want to play hockey, this is all they can do right now.”

With the academy planning on running another season, Wilcox looks forward to seeing the program grow.