2009 Western Regional Player Development Camp
July 19 – 23
Las Vegas, Nevada 

States Participating:

Alaska - 8, Arizona – 2, California – 36, Colorado – 6, Illinois – 1, Nevada – 15, Oregon – 1, Texas – 1, Utah – 1, Washington – 4

July 19 – Check in – Day One – Sunday 

75 participates began arriving and checking into the UNLV dorms at 9:00 a.m.  While some of the girls flew into McCarran Airport from as far away as Alaska, others drove from California and even Colorado.  After a day of travelling, checking into rooms and meeting new and old friends, camp orientation for all participants was held at 3:30 p.m. to review the week’s activities and camp expectations.  The girls promptly arrived for dinner at 5:00 p.m. in the UNLV campus cafeteria – the food was great.  The girls were thrilled to see all the food choices and commented it was like going through a casino buffet!  At 7:00 p.m. all the girls got together on the second floor as Ryan Stone, coach for Colgate University, conducted a presentation on his year in China coaching the Chinese National Team.  The information and slide show shared with the girls was a real eye-opener and sparked many very good questions and discussions.  After hearing some comments from the girls, I believe they are extremely happy to have the luxuries and freedoms they possess.

Immediately after the presentation, the teams went on a photo scavenger hunt on the UNLV campus.  After just over an hour the Yellow team came racing up the walk way to deliver their photos to Mr. Myers followed closely by Blue. YELLOW team was the winner!  Check out the pictures on the Nevada hockey girls’ website.  http://photos.nevadagirlshockey.com/

As Day 1 came to a close, the exhausted but enthused girls were in their rooms at 9:30 p.m. and sound asleep by 10:00 p.m.  -  A busy Monday was coming …

July 20 – Day Two -  Monday

The day was scheduled to begin at 6:30 a.m., however, there were girls chomping at the bit to get on the ice – they were ready at 6:00 a.m!  A delicious breakfast was served at the cafeteria – once again, many great comments regarding the food!  The busses left the dorm headed for the rink at 8:30 a.m.  Once at the rink their day began!  The coaches:  Jeff Vizenor (Head Coach Minnesota State University), Ryan Stone (Coach Colgate University), Hiroki Wakabayashi (Hockey Lab Japan – Goalie Coach), and Pam Dreyer (Olympian – Goalie Coach) were there to greet the girls.  Accompanying the girls to the rink AND being with the girls ON the ice every day were Megan Myers and Charlotte Carter!  Awesome young ladies!   During their time on the ice, the girls worked on power skating and rotated through various stations that consisted of goalie positioning, stick handling, shooting, and much more.   What a site to see 76 girls on the ice!  Jocelyn Santos (Sports Psychologist) and Tracey Wakaluk (NHL Trainer) performed dry land with the girls twice during the day giving each participant nutritional and athletic information to take home with them!  Great information to share with their teammates back home!  Lunch was served at the rink with a little bit of down time.  Then back to the ice for more fabulous information, and drills.

The girls departed the rink headed back to the dorm for dinner at 5:00 p.m.  Tracey and Jocelyn conducted a presentation at 7:00 p.m. on the importance of stretching and training to become a healthy individual!  After a GREAT day of hockey the girls were in their rooms at 9:30 p.m. and again fast asleep.  They were totally exhausted!

July 21 – Day Three – Tuesday

The day started off bright and early for some of the staff members and players – 4am!!  We met KTNV Channel 13’s Action News Reporter, Tina Patel at the rink where she conducted four interview/demonstration segments for the local two hour morning news show.  The segments were live and very entertaining.  Tina interviewed players and staff members who were helping with the camp then tried her hand at hockey.  I think she found out hockey isn’t as easy as some of these girls make it look.  The final segment was an interview with Pam Dreyer regarding the development, support and growth of girls in ice hockey.  To see the interviews please go to:  http://www.nevadagirlshockey.com/2009_West_Reg_Devel_Camp.html and scroll down the page.   All in all it was great publicity for the local association, the Las Vegas Ice Center and the ever growing sport of girls’ ice hockey! 

As we, at the rink, were winding down from the show and having some breakfast, the girls at the dorm were just starting to stir – “up and at ‘em for another fun-filled day of hockey, hockey, and hockey”!  Instead of all the girls on the ice at one time, two teams at a time shared the ice allowing a wider range of player development drills to be utilized.  Once again the girls had dry land with Tracey and Jocelyn.  Dinner was at the dorm, the girls had “down” time, as once again, they were completely exhausted.  An early “lights out” and bed check for the girls on this evening as they were REALLY dragging!

July 22 – Day Four – Wednesday

Good morning chaperones!  The girls were on the ice as teams again today.  Power skating, stick handling and scrimmages consumed the ice time during the day. Another nutritious lunch was catered at the rink.  After lunch and some down time everyone was going again.  The afternoon’s dry land education was again met with excited girls.  By the end of the camp they were able to take home a list of various exercises and stretches to help develop a healthier athletic body including visualization –several of the girls were really getting into the class; they found themselves so relaxed and “in the moment”… well … they fell asleep… sshhhhh.  Late afternoon came the girls enjoyed some down time at the rink before the games and dinner.  The girls were given plain white T-Shirts to paint.  Each girl created their own individualized Western Regional Player Development Camp T-Shirt.  WOW, not only are they fabulous hockey players, they are also artistic!!  They all wore their T-shirts with pride and smiles on their faces!

That evening the stands were filled with parents, grandparents, siblings and curious spectators for the two of four games. Red vs. White on the North Rink and Blue vs. Yellow on the South Rink.   After a very long day and an amazing evening of girls’ hockey the girls arrived at the dorm, showered and fell into their beds!

July 23 – Day Five – Thursday

The last day!  What a GREAT camp this was!  The last two games were played and the stands were once again packed.  Now it was time for Blue vs. White and Red vs. Yellow.  And again more great hockey!!! Wow! These girls have learned a LOT – on and off the ice!! 

Old friendships prospered, new friendships were created, but most of all the camaraderie that was formed amongst these girls will last for years; playing with each other or against each other, the bond will always be there – even digging it out in the corners…

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I would like to take this opportunity to thank those that were so involved in the creation of the first girls’ Western Regional Player Development camp!  Mike Myers, Nevada Girls/Women’s Representative, Jeff Vizenor, Minnesota State University, and Carrie White – without your perseverance this endeavor would not have been possible.  The girls of the Pacific, Rocky Mountain and Northern Plains Districts cannot thank you enough!

Thank you to everyone who came, who volunteered, taught, learned, and those who loaded and unloaded hockey bags and sticks every day.  Every one of you is very much appreciated.  The 2009 Western Regional Development Camp was a total success because of all of you. 

Many parents asked the dates for next year’s camp!  We will get that information to you as soon as we have it.  We can’t wait either!!!

Thank you!

Margo Dreyer
Girls’/Women’s Pacific District Representative
USA Hockey

Sarah Joy Carlson has played hockey in Pacific District for many years.  She has won the Humanitarian Award and in our opinion is just an awesome person.  She is an Emergency Room nurse traveling overseas to Africa for a year to do medical missions and has provided us with her blog address which is http://www.sarahjoycarlson.blogspot.com/.

Sarah says, "I grew up, the oldest of seven kids, in Kenny Lake Alaska, a population of about 400 people.  Hunting, fishing, camping, hiking, playing hockey, climbing mountains, Triathlons, playing the guitar and piano, singing, watching the northern lights, and pretty much any adventure are some of my favorite activities.  I moved to Boston to play Ice Hockey at Boston college.  After graduation stayed in Boston and have been working in the ER downtown, as well as volunteering as an assistant Women's Ice Hockey coach at BC.  I am a follower of Jesus and am so excited for a year volunteering overseas with medical missions to see what God teaches me and where he will lead and guide me.

News about an opportunity for women to try out ice hockey in the San Francisco bay area. The women's hockey league, the Northern California Women's Hockey League (NCWHL), hosts an event called "Give Hockey a Try Day" (GHATD) twice each year to introduce more women to our sport. GHATD is usually a 1.5 to 2 hour event where the league provides donated gear to all participants and coaches to teach them how to skate, pass, and shoot. During the second half of the event, players are divided into 2 groups and have a full-ice pickup game so everyone can try out all their new skills. There are also have a few spots for women who'd like to try out being a goalie (the league provides donated gear for this also), and there is a dedicated goalie coach who leads them through drills before the pickup game.  Click here for a copy of the flyer:
Give hockey a try

Or go to www.ncwhl.com for more information

Female Pacific District Tournament – March 5 – 8, 2009 in Fairbanks, Alaska

Bring your winter clothes!!!!  We are going up North this year.  The last time Fairbanks hosted this tournament, the crew up there did a remarkable job.   I don’t doubt that the same experience (maybe even better than before) will be had by all the participants again this year! 

Girl's /Women Tournament Update (Games/Scores) 

Girl's / Women Schedule 

The mandatory coaches meeting will be held Wednesday, March 4, 2009 at the Big Dipper Ice Arena at 7:15 p.m.  Yumi McCulloch is the tournament chairperson and can be reached at 907-978-2627.  Her email address is Mcculloch@acsalaska.net.  All games will be played at:

1. Big Dipper Ice Arena, 1920 Lathrop Street, Fairbanks, Alaska.  Contact: Linda Ingham  907-459-1068 or lingham@co.fairbanks.ak.us
2. UAF Patty Center Ice, 803 Alumni Drive, Fairbanks, Alaska.  Contact: Kara Armstrong 907-474-6888 or karmstrong@fs.uaf.edu
3. Polar Ice Center, 1087 Dennis Road, North Pole, Alaska.  Contact: Bill Master  907-488-9525 or polarice@alaska.net

The 2008 Pacific District Female Select Camp took place  May 8 - 11, in Mountlake Terrace, WA.  The best US players from California, Alaska, Nevada, Oregon and Washington born in year groups 1994, 1993, 1992 and 1991 were invited by their respective State affiliates to this year's event.  The girls all worked hard to impress the evaluators in consideration of invitations to the National Select camp to be held later this summer.

Those selected are listed on our Select Camp section:

Pacific District Select Camp

Alaska Affiliate Female Select Tryout Date – January 3 – 4, 2009 at Dempsey Ice Arena, Anchorage, Alaska

Once again this year this tryout will take place at the Dempsey Ice Arena in Anchorage.  All USA hockey registered girls will be eligible to participate with the birth years of 1995, 1994, 1993, 1992.  Registration will be online with payment made via paypal.  The cost of the tryout will be $60.00 per skater.  You must declare one position in which to skate – there will be no opportunity to switch once the registration has been completed.  If you are unable to attend the affiliate tryout, you must tryout in either another District or within another affiliate in our District.