By Jake Helman, courtesy of Kent News
Every year the seniors on the Kent boys varsity hockey team get together with the local youth hockey players aged nine to twelve to teach the kids some of the essentials of the game of hockey. This event is always well attended by the local youth because it is a chance for them to learn from some of the best players in prep-school hockey.
The players all broke off into stations and worked on shooting, passing, stick handling and other necessary skills with the youth players. While this is mainly a learning experience for the youth players, the Kent athletes were able to take something away from it as well. Assistant coach Mr. Garrison Smith said, “It’s a chance for our players to get back to their hockey roots, and it is also a chance for the youth players to play with the guys they look up to and watch play for Kent.”
Captain Nic McIntyre ’09 added, “It was great to get out there on the ice with the kids. Not really knowing what to expect from the whole experience, it turned out to be one of the more fun and rewarding things we have done all year. Any chance we have to give back to the community is something that we want to take advantage of, and we hope we can meet up with the youth team again soon.” It is clear that both the senior boys as well as the youth team got a lot out of this experience. At the end of the drills the players finished the day with a fun scrimmage. All that were involved had a great time and learned a lot from this successful and rewarding event.
