After meeting up with Glen as well as, Jen from Winkler Manitoba, Alex from Cody Wyoming, and Jonathan and Kyle from Prince George (four members of the HSOS) team; we left for the Kelowna airport to pick up one other member of the team flying in from South Dakota named Madie. From there we all piled into the 15 seater van and headed to Penticton BC for some time at the beach at Skaha beach and just get to know each other. After a couple hours there, and a sunburn as evidence of our time there, we drove 25 minutes to the small town of Oliver BC where we were going to stay for a couple days at a newly established YWAM base. We were welcomed with open arms and had an amazing time there. The next day we went back to Penticton and played some beach volleyball at Skaha beach and had some orientation from the YWAM Hockey Director: Glen. My sunburn developed even further following this day. The next day we chose to float down the canal in Pentiction since no one else on our team had ever done it before. Later that day when we got back to the YWAM base in Oliver, we were given our team clothes; tracksuit, a jersey and multiple t-shirts. Christmas day for a hockey player. Not going to lie, I was super stoked our jersey were not red because my goalie gear is blue and yellow. From there, we made the drive to Calgary. We stopped in Banff and at at the Old Spaghetti Factory. The next morning (Monday) hockey camp started. The first day is usually a long day; this camp was no exception to this rule. I have 5 goalies to work with in this camp. 3 in the group called the Oilers and 2 in the group called the Flames, remember we are in Alberta after all. Over the course of the week, these five goalies all showed great improvements in their skills and their mental toughness. It was really rewarding to see all the goalies play really well in the scrimmages on Friday. One young guy, nine years old, impressed me way beyond what I ever could imagined. I was told that last year he came to the camp as a player and could hardly skate, this year he was doing more as a goalie (that has never had coaching) that I did at his age. I was truly amazed and this boy had a desire to play and get better, it was amazing. I hope young Aiden really continues to develop and learn to love hockey and continues to allow God full rein on his life. It was really refreshing to have met such an amazing young kid.
Tomorrow we continue our journey as we head to Prince George; a home coming for me. Despite my bio on www.gospartans.ca I see my hometown as Prince George as I have spent most of my life there and I always enjoy going back home to see my family and friends there. Our camp is in Kin 3, where I have spent countless hours of my life so getting back on the ice there after five years is going to be a pretty cool memory jerker for me. I'm super excited. See you all in a week!
Tim
ps. be sure to like the YWAM Hockey page on facebook!
https://www.facebook.com/pages/YWAM-Hockey/184296504944200
