Hockey School opens

In the summer of 1995, I worked a three month internship at The Warroad Pioneer, which I'm sorry to say has since ceased operation. This was the first professional newspaper that I worked for in my career, and it turned out to be a wonderful experience. I had only worked at Bemidji State University's newspaper for about a year and half before landing the internship. At The Pioneer I gained experience in sports, feature, beat and government reporting. I designed pages, took and developed photographs and was responsible for community relations. The best part is that I remain friends with the owners nearly 30 years later.

July 18, 1995

By Devlyn Brooks

It does not have to be winter for hockey to invade Hockeytown, USA. For the next two weeks, The Gardens will be full of high school hockey players attending the second annual Hockeytown, USA Hockey School.

Cary Eades, director of the Hockey School, said that there are more than 100 kids attending the first, one-week camp, which started Sunday, July 16, and there are about 120 signed up for the second, one-week camp.

The first week is a half-day school, Eades said. The kids get about an hour of practice, an hour of roller blade hockey and about an hour of scrimmage. Then they are done for the day. Eades said that some kids enjoy the half-day school because they can do other things than just hockey.

Eades also said that some kids enjoy the full-day camp for exactly the opposite reason. They are on the ice three times a day. "They are here pretty much all day," Eades said.

Then, of course, you have the kids who participate in both schools, who just want all the ice time they can get.

He said that there were several goals that he hoped the kids finished the school with. "We hope that they'll become better hockey players," he said.

Of course, he said, that they emphasize the fun side of it, too. "This is summer hockey," he said. "It isn't the playoffs here."

He said that he also hopes that the kids will "pick up some hints from each coach and bring them back to their play."

A side benefit of the hockey school, Eades said, is the fact that it gives the local players an opportunity to get some ice time in the summer. Eades said that before teh Hockey School was started, the local players would have to ravel to attend a camp.

"This is really going to help the local players," Eades said. "It's a nice transition for the players. They're not off the ice for six months anymore."

He said that the kids also get the opportunity to meet kids from all over and exchange ideas. "IT's a great environment for a young one," Eades said.

And kids do come from all over. Some of this year's kids are from Texas, Manitoba, Ontario, Pennsylvania and Illinois. There are plenty of kids from Minnesota and North Dakota also.

Eades said that in the future, he hopes the number of kids will grow so that they will be able to offer more one-week schools instead of just the two.