We're just closing out a Queen's Birthday long weekend as I write this. Last year we went to Melbourne to watch the Canadians and Americans play at Rod Laver Arena. This year, an ice hockey jamboree at the Ice Arena.
Kids came from all over Australia, around a hundred between 6 and 12. All the local members of the Ice Hockey Family kicked in to help it happen, so there was no direct cost for the kids to participate. They had to be registered hockey players, so they all knew how to skate, and all the rest was built up with good will and organisation.
They had to register by 8am on Friday morning. Then they each had 2 x one and a half hour sessions on the ice, another on Saturday, two on Sunday, and three more hours today. That's a lot of ice time! Except for today's sessions, they were all built around a simple format of three 'stations' going at all times (the two halves of the big ice plus the small ice) with the kids divided into permanent groups for the weekend rotating through them all twice in a session, each station offering a different series of drills each time. In addition to this basic format, the large ice stations built their drills around varieties of battle drills, with shifts of 3, 4 or 5 players per team. The small ice was more 'light hearted', concentrating on skating games.
On Sunday afternoon there was a barbeque in a nearby park, showcasing one of Adelaide's design features (a belt of parklands around the CBD). Lovely food and a lot of kids having fun with the locals. A couple hours went by quickly before the Sunday arvo/evening sessions commenced back at the Ice Arena.
By the time the kids got to Monday they'd had up to seven hours of concentrated training over the previous three days. They put it all together in a 'tournament' whereby the groups that had got to play together all weekend got to play in (unscored) games against their peers' teams in a round robin style tournament. This was great to watch, the improvement in playing style, ability and skill amongst the whole group had raised, as had the level of intensity and mindfulness in the players. Great to watch!
I didn't stay around but apparently there was a closing ceremony where every kid got a medallion and puck (they'd gotten a cool cap at the opening), and one award was given out for the most determined/improved player of the weekend, which went to a young fellow named Josh who suffers (?) dwarfism but didn't let that stop him being a very effective defenceman. I know I was impressed with his play as well as his tenacity over the weekend and it was nice to know he was rewarded for it.
I was pretty buggered by the end of the weekend, and I just watched! I reckon there'll be a few tired bodies being dragged to school tomorrow!
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