GORE BAY—The Gore Bay arena was again the venue for a hockey clinic held during the Christmas holidays, and was enjoyed by youngsters from across Manitoulin.
“It’s all about giving the kids a chance to be on the ice and to have fun,” stated Roger Chenard, who ran the Gore Bay Arena Christmas initiation age level to bantam age level clinic.
The event was held over three evenings, December 27-29. Each participant received three one hour on-ice sessions.
“The clinic was kind of similar to the one put on last year,” said Mr. Chenard. “We focused, for instance, on warming-skating, such as turning and stopping, puck handling, shooting and teaching the younger players how to protect themselves in case of a falls and being hit on the boards.”
Gore Bay arena manager Dave Hillyard told the Recorder, “we had a total of 25 kids take part, eight in the initiation age level and 17 in the novice-atom age level. We are planning to hold another hockey clinic at the beginning of the March break.”
At the end of the third day of the camp, kids were provided with hot chocolate, pizza, cake and juice on having completed the clinic.
Mr. Chenard has had extensive experience coaching kids’ hockey on all levels, in the NOHA, Double A, Triple A, and house leagues in Sudbury and Valley East. He even worked at the Garson arena while he was in Grades 9-13 at school.
