Solway Sharks Juniors were delighted to get back on the ice to start preparing for the upcoming ice hockey season with a summer camp at Dumfries Ice Bowl.
The week-long camp was headed by Mark Beggs, Head of Talent Identification for GB Ice Hockey, and Solway Sharks and GBU20s coach Martin Grubb, with assistance from local coaches Andy Craik and Richard Bentham.
As well as on-ice skills and skating sessions to help the young players find their stride again, there were also off-ice sessions specific to ice hockey delivered outside to make the most of the good weather, helping the players start to recover their fitness levels after the short break.
The camp was a great success, with the on and off ice sessions leading up the much-anticipated big game on the final afternoon. Mark Beggs commented, “It is always a pleasure to come to this camp Dumfries. Solway is a fantastic club with a great coaching group and the best ice surface to train and play on. It was a great week on the ice and I enjoyed catching up with friends. Everyone improved as the week went on, and the game at the end was the highlight for all the players, and a great testament to all their hard work.”
Martin Grubb added, “They all deserve tremendous credit for the work they put into their own development on and off the ice”, and you could clearly see the improvements made throughout the week. The Friday game is always a big event for us, Having Mark Beggs here is always great and the players enjoy working with him. I think we are lucky to have such a good group of coaches all bringing different experiences to the camp, they were all excellent and this was a hugely positive start to our season.”
Junior Sharks Club Chair Leanne Thomson said after the camp, “What a week! It was a great team effort to put on such a successful camp, and massive thanks are due to everyone who helped in any way either during the week or beforehand with the organisation and planning. The players were all delighted to be back on the ice, happy to put the effort in and they all worked hard. All in all our players couldn’t ask for better preparation for the season ahead, and they can’t wait to get back to playing games.”
If you want to play junior ice hockey, learn to play sessions are planned to resume shortly at Dumfries Ice Bowl on Tuesday and Thursday evenings and Saturday mornings. Call 01387 251300 for more details and to book place.
Solway Sharks Juniors are actively recruiting players at all age groups – if you are interested in joining the club please contact us through our facebook page.
