2017 SQUIRT PREP NOW INCLUDES CLASSROOM SESSIONS AND INDY STRONG PLAYER MENTORS!

12/20/2016, 5:30pm EST

By Derek Edwardson

Original Article on Indystronghockey.com

The Indy Strong is pleased to announce that our 2017 Squirt Prep Clinic is now open for registration. This year’s clinic is open to all 2008 birthyear players from the Indianapolis area looking to play travel hockey in the 2017-2018 season. We have changed the format this year to make it easier for families and not overload mite players with ice sessions and information while their current season is still in progress. This year, Squirt Prep will begin in March and hold seven sessions leading up to travel tryouts in May. New additions to the program will include weekly classroom sessions and Indy Strong player mentors to help teach and prepare mite graduates for full ice squirt hockey.

The goal of this program is to provide high level instruction and education to elite players in the Indianapolis area that have completed their final year of mite hockey. The transition from mite to full ice squirt hockey can be a difficult one for many young players. By bringing together the top players in the area and providing supplemental training and education, we feel that the transition can be made much more smoothly.

Squirt Prep will have two main objectives. First and most importantly, we will introduce the players to drills and situations on a full sheet of ice. In our experience, players coming to try out for our squirt minor teams are not accustomed to playing on a full sheet and this consequently affects their performance. Players are not comfortable possessing the puck for longer periods of time and are often lost on the larger playing surface. Secondly, we will spend a significant amount of time teaching the rules and basic positioning principles of full ice hockey.

This year we have added two exciting new elements to our program. Kids often learn best from their peers. This season, the Indy Strong will select older players from within our program, who have distinguished themselves as model players, to act as mentors for our squirt prep participants. Each mentor will be assigned a small group of players to guide on and off the ice throughout the spring.

The second new teaching tool for our mite graduates will be classroom and video sessions to better explain the new full ice concepts for our more visual learners and give kids a better opportunity to ask questions of coaches and their mentors. Every on-ice practice will be followed with a 20-30 minute classroom session for players and parents. We will use video clips, interactive discussion and group activities to ensure that each player completely understands the new rules and concepts that he will encounter next season.

All on and off ice sessions will be run by Indy Strong Executive Director and Head Coach Derek Edwardson. Cost for the clinic is $229 to be paid online only. We will not prorate this clinic. All players will receive a jersey to keep. Goalies are welcome to skate for free, but must attend all sessions and may not skate out as a player. Squirt Prep 2017 will be limited to the first 28 players to register and is open to ALL players no matter where they skated as mites. To register and pay click the link below. Best of luck to all as we begin the final stretch of the 2016-2017 season!

2017 Squirt Prep Registration and Payment

All sessions will be held at the Carmel Ice Skadium with a 20-30 minute classroom session following the ice time