Happy Summer Rhino Families!!!

Hope you are enjoying time away from the rink and your kiddos are enjoying their summer holidays. The break from the rink is a time to recharge and hopefully do another sport or something else your child is passionate about. We do though want some hockey type activities still going on over the summer for those wanting to be a part of the Select Program. These activities can be shooting, stickhandling, working on catcher/blocker for our goalies, working out in some fashion (prefer body weight exercises or bands instead of weights for this age group), working on flexibility, etc. Last summer we introduced a 10,000 shot club and we saw some big improvements for those that participated. This summer, we are introducing a program that is run out of the Ontario (Canada) Minor Hockey Association. This program has three different challenges which are outlined below:

5,000 Puck Challenge
The goal is to shoot 100 pucks per day, five days per week, for ten weeks. This will help develop our athletes shot speed, quickness, and accuracy. The Puck Tracking Sheet can be downloaded in the attached pdf, and the YouTube video playlist can be found at https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLA30890862C62F255.

10,000 Touches Challenge
The goal is to perform 10,000 stickhandling touches over the summer. This can be accomplished by stickhandling 15 – 30 minutes per day, five days per week, for ten weeks. This will improve our Rhinos puck control skills through increased hand speed, quickness & coordination. The 10,000 Touches Tracking Sheet can be downloaded in the attached pdf, and the YouTube video playlist can be found at https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzJ1p0pyZHXKFyFhI6pR_V4YE2sGog5fr.

30/30 Challenge
The goal is to perform ten different exercises, 3 – 5 times per week, for ten weeks. Each exercise will be performed for continuously for 30 seconds, followed by a 30 second rest before you move onto the next exercise. This will keep our Rhinos in shape and improve their agility, balance, coordination, and speed over the summer. The 30/30 Tracking Sheet can be downloaded in the attached pdf, and the YouTube video playlist can be found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHn5VOq90gA&feature=youtu.be&list=PLzJ1p0pyZHXLXJjgu1Rlcxbx18WWMpAm4 for our Squirts and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDQ70MiJk9I&feature=youtu.be&list=PLzJ1p0pyZHXLXJjgu1Rlcxbx18WWMpAm4 for our Peewees.

If you are working on completing all three challenges in the day this works out to about one hour of activity. We understand that families also have plans over the summer and these challenges may not be possible to be completed within the eight to ten weeks. Please feel free to adjust as it fits into your schedule or your child’s abilities to complete. We also understand that not everyone may have nets/pucks at home so feel free to focus on the other two challenges.

You can register online as well if you prefer to track online or you can use the attached tracking sheets to keep track of progress. For those goalies out there, look for time to get shots from your teammates, but also focus on flexibility, core strength, and even some fun activities like ping pong, badminton, or baseball. All we ask is that you make the best effort to complete as much as possible before we are back on the ice mid-September.

We hope your children enjoy these challenges and other activities away from the rink this summer.

Coach Troy and Coach Corey