By Kathy Gallant

King’s female hockey school focuses on strength

Aug 16, 2018 | 5:00 PM

Over 50 young female hockey players had the chance to learn from local lady hockey greats at the second annual Girls Only Hockey School Aug. 13 to 17.

Led by sisters Dayna King and Danene Kopperud, who both played for the University of Saskatchewan Huskies in their day, the camp focusses on off-ice conditioning, drills, team-building and gameplay. It follows the same format as the mixed camp hosted last week, which included DJ and Dwight King.

The female-only program for girls between the ages of five and 14 started last year after a demand from the community. King said by playing against other girls, the young women get to learn self-esteem and confidence.

“Sometimes when they’re with the boys, they hold back a bit and get a little bit of intimidation,” King said. “But when they’re with their own peers, they can see there’s other girls that play, and they can compete harder against their own.”

King said this week’s participants had lots of questions for both her and her sister about their careers in hockey. She said it was also great to see the girls learn so much in four short days.

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“It’s cool for the girls to see,” she said. “And to hear what it takes and the opportunities they can get if they put the work in. And if you watch [the girls] today, in the skills competition they could all stickhandle and all weave around for puck control.”

Jarisa Ballantyne from Stanley Mission and Sadie Taves from Livelong have both played hockey for five years, and this was their first year at King’s Girls Only Camp. Both girls said their skating has improved, they loved the exercise and learning about the King family. 

“I wanted to come to meet new people, and get to experience it, I’ve never been to a hockey camp before,” Ballantyne said.

“I wanted to practice for hockey and learn some cool new stuff,” Taves said. “It’s a really helpful camp for your skills and they teach you the right stuff.”

kathy.gallant@jpbg.ca

On Twitter @ReporterKath