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Dates of the MGHCA Fr/So camp at Breezy Point this year are posted on www.mghca.com as July 8-13, 2007

Dates of the Phase 3 for girls born in 1991 is July 7-13, 2007 as posted on www.usahockey.com under the 2006-07 calendar.

Even more confusing is that the Minnesota Hockey website has different dates for both of these posted, but I am assuming that the sponsoring organizations have the correct dates.

Why would these two events be the same weekend? A girl born in 1991 is typically a Freshman or Soph this year and eligible for both of these. Direct conflict?

If 10, 12, or even 15 1991-born girls from Minnesota end up making the Phase 3 camp this summer that takes the top group potentially out of the Fr/So camp. Does MGHCA see their Fr/So camp serving a different group than the best 15 or so 1991s in Minnesota?

GHS you posted this about the Fr/So camp last year:

"FRESHMAN/SOPHOMORE DEVELOPMENT CAMP
Sunday-Friday, June 25-30, 2006 Breezy Point Arena, Brainerd, MN

I'll see if I can't find some of the info. on this...

THE PHILOSOPHY... (the bold type is what makes this camp a good one)

getting to the next
level will require you to continue to hone those talents. That is where we would like to help. We have gathered
together some of the finest High School Coaches in the state and have put together a curriculum and training
program that will help you develop into the best hockey player you can be.

Camp Goals:
The difference between a Division III hockey player and a Division I hockey player is minimal these
days. The difference between a third line D-I player, who will see a couple of shifts a game and a fourth line D-I
player who may see a couple of shifts over the entire season, is even less. It takes a lot of dedication and hard
work to make yourself just a little bit better than the players you are competing against. Spring Leagues and
AAA Teams are fun to play on, but developmentally they do little for you. Trading off a little bit of fun today
for a lot more fun later on requires that you spend more time concentrating on skill development and training.
What we want to provide players with at our camp are tools that will help them help themselves become
better hockey players. We will provide players with information, tools, training programs, ideas etc. that they
can take with them and work on, on their own, during the off-season and throughout their regular season.
Our camp will give players a taste of what it is like to train at the high, intense level that they will
encounter if they choose to move on to the collegiate level or beyond. It will also give them a taste of what level
of training will be required of them to get to that next level.
The camp will be very hockey intensive. This is not intended to be a summer camp. We will not be
horseback riding, swimming or making crafts; this is a development camp. Players will be training all day and
part of the evening. They will be working on position specific skills as well as team skills. When they are not
on the ice, they will be training off-ice on a variety of programs. If players are not prepared to skate 3-4 hours a
day, train another approximately 4 hours and spend some time in the classroom – this is not the camp for them.
Our goal is not to turn a player into an Olympian over the course of a week. It would be nice if it was
that easy or that quick, but it isn’t. Think about how much you improved over the single best week of your last
season. Positive results don’t occur overnight. It takes a long time and a lot of hard work to improve a little.
We want to get you started on an extended training program that over the course of time will take you to the
level of play that you desire. We will show you the programs, it will be up to you to do the work. You will only
get out of this camp what you put into it, and you will only get to the next level of hockey by what you put into
training and development over an extended period of time. "

All these specialized camps are fun and good but what does your kid do if she is a pretty solid player but her coaches would not nominate her even if she was an Olympian because her mother has a big mouth and the coaches are unforgiving?

That is unfortunate timing. I know that the Fres/Soph camp was moved to avoid the conflict with MN 15 camp in Mankato that has been prevalent the past couple years.

There aren't too many weeks that the resort they use is open, and it's too bad that they will still be missing the top tier group, but I imagine it will be less kids who have a conflict than what it has been the past two years.

Yeah it kind of makes it a 2nd tier training week, doesn't it?

trilogy wrote:Yeah it kind of makes it a 2nd tier training week, doesn't it?

As I recall last year it was held during the same week as the Advanced 15 camp in Mankato I guess it's hard to avoid conflicts this time of year.

trilogy wrote:Yeah it kind of makes it a 2nd tier training week, doesn't it?

Nothing wrong with this IMHO. Gives kids who don't have a chance at one to go to the other, thus giving more opportunity to more kids. This is a good thing! "Broaden the Base".

Just curious; does anyone really think that these one week development camps really makes a difference in the overall development and improvement of players? IMO, the top players will be the top even if they never attended a development camp; and the development camps are not going to be able to convert a 2nd tier player to a top tier player.

The camps may accomplish a few things: exposure of players to coaches; provide income for coaches in the offseason; be a "yardstick" for the players to see how they compare to other players, etc.

But I just don't see how a one week camp is developmental.

xwildfan wrote:Just curious; does anyone really think that these one week development camps really makes a difference in the overall development and improvement of players? IMO, the top players will be the top even if they never attended a development camp; and the development camps are not going to be able to convert a 2nd tier player to a top tier player.

The camps may accomplish a few things: exposure of players to coaches; provide income for coaches in the offseason; be a "yardstick" for the players to see how they compare to other players, etc.

But I just don't see how a one week camp is developmental.

I think it all depends on the individual. For some who have not had a lot of experience of going up against top competition, or have not been exposed to other such intensive skill development camps, it can be a real stepping stone as they learn new things and what it takes to compete at a higher level. On the other hand a different individual who learns that maybe she isn't as good as she thought she was and finds there are many others that are at least as good or even better might become discouraged and actually lose motivation (but this would have happened eventually anyway at some point).

Also just as a camp will expose the players to the coaches it will also expose the players to new coaches, and some players will benefit as a result, doing different things in a new setting.

Last but not least girls will establish new friendships with others from different areas and backgrounds that share their love of hockey, and this can be rewarding and even educational too.