Female Hockey Development Camp comes to the Lakeland

Female hockey continues to grow in the Lakeland and now offers female players of all levels the chance to advance their game and goals in the sport.  

“The camp came from an idea sparked on a road trip to Fort McMurray between Roz Klassen and I. We were reminiscing on our times playing hockey and how much female hockey has grown since we played,” said Jena Colbourne, one of the camp organizers.

She and Roz Klassen coached U11 Female Jaguars this past season, with Klassen as the head coach and Colbourne as the assistant coach. Both have a passion to grow female hockey in the region and see that camp as an opportunity to do just that. 

The camp provides vision training, a gym start program, mental health in sports, and power skating sessions all with certified female trainers and coaches. 

“It was important to find females for these roles. It is crucial for the development of future female leaders to see older females succeed in their dream roles. It is also important that young girls see that female hockey is just as awesome as the NHL,” said Colbourne. 

“With the recent uptick in the popularity of female hockey through the Olympics, Women’s Worlds and the professional female hockey league in the states it is easier than ever to have a valuable, meaningful career in hockey.”

The camp is successfully filling out from U7-U13 and is calling out all U15 females interested in coming and join.

The program for a female-only camp is that females learn differently, respond to leaders in different ways, and pay different attention in regard to sports and mental health. 

“The bonding aspect is so important for hockey development, we want girls to feel included and valued. We also want to eliminate bullying and seclusion and foster an environment of growth and strength,” said Colbourne. 

Dryland training is another factor seen in this camp and female hockey goalies have access to techniques to better their part in the game with goalie training from Bella Mckee.

Concussion awareness, injury prevention, athletic therapy, team building, yoga, proper pregame warm-up, and even an intro to lacrosse are some standing-out activities that will take place over the five-day camp. 

“We do not want to take away from mainstream hockey or boys hockey because many females play mainstream and do very well. But there is definitely something different about playing with the girls.” 

The Lakeland Female Hockey Development Camp is set to start from August 21-25 and offers programs for U7-U15 hockey players hosted at the Bonnyville and District Centennial Centre from 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. 

Females born between 2008-2017 are eligible for the camp. The early bird price is $300 which includes each player with their own jersey.

It is recommended that all signing up are confident skaters and have at least a year’s worth of experience on the ice.

For more information or further questions email lakelandfemalehockeycamp@gmail.com 

And if your child or anyone you know is interested fill out the application form today here.