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Second hockey academy fills up in Maple Ridge

New program at SRT has skills focus
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Ryshak teaches contact.

A new hockey academy at Samuel Robertson Technical School is giving players a chance to refine their skills, and learn about the game in a way that goes beyond minor hockey.

Pitt Meadows Secondary has had a successful hockey academy for 15 years, so when the Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows School District chose to put a new academy in the east end of the district, it was natural for them to choose the operator of that program – Craig Millen of RPM. He now has 15 hockey academies across the province.

The decision was made after parent consultation, and it meant turning away from the elite hockey programs like the ones run by Yale Hockey Academy in Abbotsford and the Pursuit of Excellence (POE) in Kelowna. That allows kids who have been playing house league hockey to join the program alongside those who might be bound for hockey pay cheques, said Millen.

“It caters to everybody,” he said. “It’s meant to be inclusive, and it’s meant to be co-ed.

“And the primary goal is academic excellence, while pursuing the sport they love as well.”

The SRT Hockey Academy has been popular, with 44 students divided evenly into two groups – one Grades 8/9 and one 10-12. Essentially, it divides into a group of bantams and a group of midgets by hockey age grouping.

There are three senior coaching staff members, including Bayne Ryshak, who is best known in Maple Ridge as the coach of the Junior B Ridge Meadows Flames.

Tanner Cunningham is another local hockey player on the coaching staff, and he played in the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League. Eric Williams is the goaltending coach, and he spent four seasons, 199 games, in the Western Hockey League with the Spokane Chiefs and Prince Albert Raiders, before going on to play for the UBC Thunderbirds.

Millen said the interest in east Maple Ridge has been strong.

“I’m pretty excited with the whole process,” he said. “We knew there was growing interest, and School District 42 has been 1oo per cent on board.”

The kids are on the ice twice a week. While they don’t play in a competitive, elite-level league, they do get a lot of time to put some speed on their shots and some sauce in their saucer passes. They will get an extra 80 hours per year on the ice.

“The skill development we’re providing is significant,” said Millen.

He finds that rep team coaches often focus coaching time on team play and tactics, with a focus on winning games.

“We’re all about refining and continuing to further develop their skills.”

Over the years, the extra skating kids get at Pitt Meadows Pacific Rim Hockey Academy has helped propel some players on to great things in hockey, said Millen, noting that Vancouver Canuck Patrick Wiercioch is the best example.

“But we’ve had all kinds of kids go through the program, and do very, very well.”

They also do dryland training and have classroom sessions that go over tactics, concussion management, nutrition, goal setting, motivation and other topics. There are also guest speakers, guest instructors and special events. For example, Millen has had former Vancouver Canuck Darcy Rota drop in to talk about goal setting. They also have to do some volunteering.

“The message there is that you’ve got to give back.”

After 15 years, Millen is confident that he has a good template to allow kids who love hockey to explore the game.

He believes the best system for success is that kids stay in their hometown and play for their local minor hockey association, while getting extra skating and skill development.

“I think minor hockey should be community based, and I’m a big supporter of it,” he said. “There are resources out there.”

Most of the players are rep calibre, but some are from the C divisions. There are also about 10 per cent girls in his academies across the province, and he sees that as a grown area as opportunities for women in the sport increase.

“We’re getting more and more girls join us,” said Millen. “And there’s lots of talent in Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows.”

At $1,800 per year, it is the most affordable academy. Some of the academies that select top-level players are charging $30,000, and Millen cautions that there are never any guarantees of future success.

“It can get pretty scary, the amounts that people are asked to pay.”

He said low cost was a big factor with parents who were surveyed.

Now they don’t have to leave town for an academy, don’t have to make an extra mortgage payment, and parents are actually noticing an academic improvement.

“They understand the importance of the two (hockey and academics), and it might be a method to keep a marginal student in school.”

There are parents nights set for the local academies in the new year, with the SRT Secondary meeting on Jan. 29 at 7 p.m. and the Pitt Meadows meeting on Jan. 30 at 7 p.m.

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Millen


Neil Corbett

About the Author: Neil Corbett

I have been a journalist for more than 30 years, the past decade with the Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows News.
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