Hockey skills academy coming to Sault area schools this fall

The Algoma District School Board (ADSB) will be incorporating hockey into its curriculum for the 2018-2019 academic year.

Signing up for the ADSB Hockey Canada Skills Academy will cost $475 per student in total, with a $100 deposit due by the Feb. 16 registration deadline.

The skills academy - which will include instructors such as former National Hockey League player Jeff Toms and Soo Greyhounds alumnus Mark Matier - is open to all students in grades 7-10, and will take place at the John Rhodes Community Centre beginning this fall.

“I think kids in Sault Ste. Marie, there’s so many of them that play hockey and get excited to go to the rink every day,” said program administrator Steve Caruso. “This is an opportunity for them to engage in the sport that they love and also engage in subject matter that can be related to sport, and they can achieve in hockey and in the classroom at the same time.”

According the hockey skills academy information package, the elementary hockey skills academy promises to include 70 hours of ice time throughout the school year, while the secondary school program will give students 50 hours of ice time, in addition to 60 hours of off-ice training and 110 hours of careers and civics curriculum with a focus on sport and culture.

With three high schools in Sault Ste. Marie, Caruso says it was a challenge to organize the skills academy to make the scheduling work in terms of transporting high school students to and from the rink. The school board also required a classroom at the rink, so that classroom minutes wouldn’t be compromised.

“We wanted to make sure that we had quality teachers with hockey backgrounds, quality community members, and being able to address every position as well as making sure that we had the right course that linked to sport and society, which careers and civics does very nicely,” Caruso said.

So far there are nearly 30 students registered, Caruso said, noting that he’s been fielding calls from parents on a daily basis.

He says that the goal of the hockey skills academy is “more about engagement with school in general, and hockey is just a medium for that.”

“I think kids will get excited to go to school every morning because they’re engaged in school and in sport at the same time,” Caruso said.

Information on the ADSB Hockey Canada Skills Academy can be found here.