Year one of the Howe Sound Hockey Academy was a success, organizers say, and there鈥檚 a strong possibility it could be expanding to Don Ross Secondary School (DRSS) as soon as this fall.
The academy concluded its first session at Howe Sound Secondary School (HSSS) earlier this month and Craig Millin, president of the Pacific Rim Hockey Academy which runs the local academy, said it was a perfect debut.
鈥淚t鈥檚 been great,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he first year is always a challenge because it鈥檚 new for everyone, but it鈥檚 been excellent. We鈥檝e been running academies like the one at Howe Sound for 10 years so it鈥檚 been a pretty seamless transition for us.鈥�
He said it鈥檚 been a good fit for the school.
鈥淚 think the school is happy with the progress the kids have made both academically and in terms of their general conduct around the school,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 been positive and we鈥檙e in the process of registering new players coming from DRSS and students who can return.鈥�
Millin said every player in the program improved and that the fall 2015 version of the academy will be similar to 2014.
鈥淲e鈥檙e not looking to change too much,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e鈥檒l have some new in-class presenters and make some minor tweaks. We did a concussion management session which will now be an annual event, and we鈥檙e going to bring in a sports psychologist to work on goal-setting and motivation.鈥�
Students receive a physical education credit for the academy and get the benefit of more ice time. They have both on-ice and off-ice sessions and are graded by a teacher on-site.
Millin also said that talks are heating up to expand to DRSS, adding that it鈥檚 a logical next step for Squamish.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a natural progression for us,鈥� he said. 鈥淓verywhere else we go, we have middle schools and secondary schools. Sometimes they come in at the same time and sometimes they don鈥檛. We want to do it at DRSS but it鈥檚 a matter of them putting it together logistically.鈥�
He said the DRSS hockey academy would be completely separate from the HSSS program but it would allow younger students to continue participating in the hockey academy as they reach the bigger school.
鈥淚t would be a nice transition,鈥� he said. 鈥淒RSS parents have interest 鈥� at the meeting we had last year at least half were middle school parents. The DRSS principal has been interested the whole time but they just need to figure a way to fit it into their schedule. From our point of view, there is no problem at all for us to expand. There鈥檚 no reason why it couldn鈥檛 expand unless there are logistical issues.鈥�
He said the expansion would be positive for middle and high school students.
鈥淲e鈥檙e excited that we鈥檙e getting kids who were going to places like Sentinel [West Vancouver] to come back to Squamish,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 want people to have to leave their community and friends to go to an academy.鈥�
Millin said it鈥檚 unlikely that the academy could expand to elementary schools but encouraged anyone who wanted more information to attend one of the academy meetings this month.
HSSS hosts a meeting on Feb. 17 at 7 p.m. and DRSS welcomes anyone interested on Feb. 26 at 7 p.m. For more information on the parent company, visit www.rpmhockey.com.聽
