September may mean back to school for students, but it also means back to the ice for hockey players.
For 14-year-old Jack Long this September will be a new rink, a new team, and a new town. Long distinguished himself in Powell River, winning the 2014 Gary Lupul Memorial plaque for bantam rep player of the year. This summer he made the BC major midget team, North Island Silvertips, and he is moving to Nanaimo where he will train, play, and go to school.
Jack started skating with his dad when he was 18 months old. His first memory of skating is when he was five, at the Powell River Recreation Complex rink in his first year of hockey. He attended CanSkate and CanPowerSkate lessons as a youngster where he met Coach Nicole Rumley. His interest in skating and hockey propelled him up the ranks. Long likes the game and he likes that he keeps getting better at it.
Other young players are heading to the rink this month too. For the younger players, Skate Canada Coach Rumley is ready with a week-long CanPowerSkate camp. One camp is for novice players and another is for Atom and Peewee level players. Rumley has been coaching for 22 years and believes that good hockey starts with good skating skills. “Many players haven’t been on the ice since spring,” said Rumley, “and some are breaking in new equipment. There are skating techniques to learn and corrections in technique.” Both camps are designed to learn and drill skating skills with full gear and sticks. This gives players a foundation for the hockey season. “It is important to have skating instruction because once the season starts they are learning the game, and not skating.” In addition to the week-long CanPowerSkate camps, Rumley coaches the fall season of weekly CanSkate-Learn to Skate lessons at the recreation complex. Her son, seven-year-old Jagger, will be in his third year of CanSkate this fall.
Last year Long coached the CanSkate-Learn to Skate program and assisted Rumley in the CanPowerSkate camps. She will miss Long’s presence with the young skaters. “Jack has been a leader and a role model for the young boys,” said Rumley.
Long regrets that he will not be a part of the CanSkate action this year.
“I would do it again if I weren’t moving,” said Long. “I like showing the kids what I can do. Most of them listen to me. And it helps my skating too. By showing the basics I learn to do it better myself.”
For more information about registering for Can-skate programs, readers can contact Rumley at 604.487.0418 or [email protected].
