Hockey Canada skills academy thriving at a Canora high school

CANORA, SASK. -

A Hockey Canada program is helping students at a Canora High School sharpen their skills on and off the ice.

Derek Serdachny, a vice principal and teacher at Canora Composite High School, said he knew the Hockey Canada skills academy would benefit students at his school, when it was first launched.

“It allows our students to come out and learn the game of hockey in an environment that’s not super competitive,” Serdachny said. “We are out here working on individual skills and we want to teach kids about the game and let them have fun.”

The program has its challenges but the community in Canora rose to the occasion.

“We did not have pucks when we started, a lot of the equipment we are using is donated by myself or community members,” Serdachny said “The idea is to raise a little bit of money and we have done that through bottle drives so we can try and get this program on its feet and offer this program year after year.”

The program aims to enhance confidence, self esteem and opportunities for students in both academics and athletics.

“There are 50 hours of off ice instruction like mental toughness, dryland training so they are becoming physically better and we are focusing on nutrition, plus the on ice [work],” Serdachny said. “You put that all together and it’s a pretty awesome opportunity.”

There are a total of seven schools in the Good Spirit School Division that are running the program.

Shaune Beatty, the Super Intendant of School Operations at Good Spirit School Division, said that adding in athletics leads to more engagement from students.

“Whenever we can tack academics to engagement, [we do] and I have talked to some parents and their kids really thrive when they know hockey is a part of their day,” Beatty said.

He said sports are an integral part of education.

“I always called athletics the other side of education I think if you talk to people in education they are not just talking about the academics occurring but they are talking about the life experiences,” Beatty said.

The Hockey Canada Skills Academy is run 150 schools, eight provinces and enhancing 5,500 students' lives in Canada.