Hockey Summer Weeks 1 and 2

Hello friends and family! It’s been a tremendous and busy fury of events over the course of my first few weeks out here in BC. As many of you know I’m spending six weeks with YWAM Hockey helping to run Christ centered hockey camps across BC and in Calgary. Our first week of camp was in Calgary and it rapidly slipped by as a successful camp. Calgary was very much the prototypical YWAM Hockey Camp in the way that things were scheduled and so to give everyone an idea of what my weeks are looking like I’m gonna walk you through the basic schedule we used in Calgary. 

On Saturday July 7th we left Vancouver early in the morning to make the drive to Calgary which included a stop in beautiful Banff. 

Sunday was a day off which I was lucky enough to spend with my sister Christina, her fiancee Harland at the 100th Calgary Stampede. It was a fantastic time where we stumbled across a pretty awesome celebrity.

Monday to Thursday we were up at 6-6:30am in order to be ready to get to the arena prior to the kids. These days begin with a 1.5 hour ice time where I get to spend 30-40 minutes training the goalies and running drills to help their technique, strength, positioning and so on. After changing out of hockey gear we run dry land exercises, have lunch in small groups, then play two half-hour road hockey games which over the course of the week work into a mini tournament. We then finish up with another ice time where I usually get another 20 minutes to work with my goalies before they face shots from their peers doing drills and/or a scrimmage. Each day ends with a chapel time in the locker room where a local talks with the kids about hockey and the gospel. Three times a week the YWAM Hockey staff hosts local players to a game of shinny in the evening after these camps end. 

Fridays are a busy start as we have one more practice session of an hour and half followed by one more chapel time in the locker room and a game refereed by the staff, complete with a running timer, scoreboard, goal horns, warm up music and lots of cheering. In Calgary I had the privilege of running the scoreboard and music with another staff member who joined us from Russia. 

Being the goalie instructor for these weeks has been a tremendous privilege as I’ve grown close with 5 remarkable young goalies over the course of the last two weeks. The four goalies I worked with in Calgary were each quite unique but the four of us quickly bonded as a unit cheering for one-another’s success and holding each other accountable. The oldest of these goalies was a tremendous young man who showed and developed his tremendous leadership on and off the ice. Each of these goalies showed fantastic improvements in their skating techniques in the crease especially the second youngest goalie whose work ethic from improved as the week went on. This past week in Campbell River I worked with one goalie who has a tremendous amount of high end potential and raw skill. We spent much of the week working on developing his leg strength and I was constantly pushing him to improve his stick positioning which he had by the end of the week. Working with this keeper, who was the only non churched student in this very small camp, was a true opportunity to show God’s love through hands on help, encouragement and by genuinely caring for and loving him. As the week progressed he became inquisitive during chapel times and seemed to grow comfortable in the Christian environment of this camp. 

Evenings off in Calgary were largely spent recovering from the physical strain of an intense workout we did prior to leaving Vancouver which was causing me some on ice difficulty, especially during the scrimmages after camp ended. As I recovered through the week I was able to spend some more time with our host family and their wonderfully energetic children. The three boys were a delightfully rowdy bunch who loved to play ministicks, wrestle and be generally rambunctious. Needless to say I felt right at home. 

Evenings off in Campbell River were quite different. We stayed with a family whose son will be headed to University in September and were privileged to spend lots of time with his group of Christian friends in the area. Highlights from this time included an evening soccer game (I didn’t run much to preserve my foot), cliff jumping into a very beautiful local river (see photo, I jumped once from 45 feet) and a beach fire with lots of singing and a cold and brief dip into the Pacific. It was a real blessing to spend time with this group of friends who we were told have experienced some difficulty in their faith walks recently due to some issues in the Church there. It was marvelous to be told by the parents that we were as much of a blessing to this group as they were to us. 

We were blessed to have a fairly clear ride home on the ferry from the Island today where I got this beautiful shot and ended up playing my guitar on the upper deck garnering some praise from other riders:

These first two weeks of camp have flown by and I can’t wait to see what happens next. Tomorrow we drive to Prince George and follow that up with 2 weeks of camps in beautiful Kelowna. Please keep my foot and general body in prayer as it is holding up but still isn’t pain free. The year of inactivity due to the foot injury has me sore in a variety of places quite regularly on top of the regular bruises that come with being a goaltender. 

Thanks for your prayers, support, love and care. I look forward to seeing you all again soon. 

Chris.