Hockey schools

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• Camps that specialize in hockey
• Camps offering hockey as an activity

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At a hockey school, your child will hone skills in stickhandling, playmaking, shooting, goaltending and more.

Finding the best hockey camp for you

Hockey schools are about an even split between overnight camps (residential camps) and day camps. The advantage of an overnight camp is that your child is totally immersed in hockey for the week.

Benefits of enrollment in a summer hockey camp:

Time at hockey school enables kids to extend their hockey-playing experience into the summer. The benefits of this are many:

• Your child will be totally immersed in the sport for the time they spend at camp.
• Kids get an extra edge in playing time and experience, when hockey starts up again in the fall.
• They get to meet other kids from elsewhere in the province, many of whom will also be exceptional young hockey players.
• They will get to meet and learn from NHL players who lead the camp or make special appearances in this type of camp. 

More specifically, camps offer young hockey players a variety of specialized benefits:

• Off ice hockey training regimens. Many camps will have specific exercise programs that target specific muscle groups that benefit young players. Off ice training is a key component in the development of the very best players, a major difference between players who succeed and those who do not.  
• Targeted skills development in the areas of stickhandling, playmaking, shooting accuracy, etc. Cultivating specific skills gives kids an edge on the ice. In order to pursue your NHL dream, you need to have an edge in as many skills as possible. At hockey school, you'll be given both instruction and personal time to make constant improvement in things like shooting accuracy, stickhandling flair, and a continued development of "hockey sense."
• Application of skills in scrimmage time. The extended scrimmage time in a hockey school adds to the fun of camp but also helps kids to further develop skills and apply what they have learned at camp in an actual game setting. 

Consider the following as you search for a hockey camp or school:

• What references can they offer you?
• What level of commitment do instructors have? If they advertise the presence of one or several pro hockey players, how often are those players really present at the school?
• Apart from hockey skills, what else does the hockey school teach about conditioning, training, fitness, etc?

If your son or daughter is serious about the pursuit of a pro hockey career, check out our listing of hockey schools and camps above. Underneath specialised hockey camps you will find a list of camps offering hockey as one of many activities, including skiing, martial arts, and gymnastics. Hockey school is one of the more popular types of sports camp for kids, especially in Canada. 

The strong Canadian orientation of the sport of ice hockey also makes it a destination for kids from throughout the northern United States. Many of these camps allow kids to participate in the traditional kids camp experience that includes things like late nights around the campfire, canoeing and other outdoor activities that kids can only experience when they are at camp.