St. Bon’s partners with Xtreme Hockey for academy program

St. Bon’s is partnering with Xtreme Hockey for its first hockey academy program

There are dozens of young hockey players who leave the province every year to pursue their hockey dreams.

These players must do this because of a lack of development opportunities in the sport that also involves a high educational component.

Now, St. Bonaventure’s College in St. John’s, which has a long history with hockey in the province, is trying to change that with what is believed to be the first hockey academy program in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Recently, the school announced the upcoming start of its introduction St. Bonaventure’s College hockey program.

“Here at St. Bon’s, we looked at all of that, and we also have the St Bon’s Forum, metres from our front door around the campus,” said school president Stephen Handrigan. “So, it was kind of, in a sense, a no-brainer to say, ‘OK, why don’t we do it here.’”

The St. Bonaventure’s College hockey program is scheduled to start next fall and is intended to give athletes the opportunity to pursue quality academics and hockey training at the same time.

It is a 32-week program designed for the under-9, under11, under-13 and under-15 age groups with sessions being held at the St. Bon’s Forum or nearby Capital Hyundai Arena being used as an alternate site in some cases.

It isn’t limited to current students at St. Bon’s and Handrigan said the school has the capacity to welcome more students-athletes.

The hockey program will run alongside the school day. That means hockey will be built into a student’s day instead of taking up time after school or before it.

“(Students) can register for hockey that they might have math class and science, and then they go to hockey, and then they come back to whatever,” said Handrigan. “So, it’s part of the academic day.”

While it frees up the athlete to still pursue any hockey interest outside of St. Bon’s, the hope is also that it frees up some family time as well.

“We’re trying to build back family time and parent personal time as well,” said Handrigan.

When it comes to hockey, the program can eventually help fill in some of the gaps currently seen in the province.

That means keeping highlevel athletes in the province longer instead of seeing them leave for hockey programs on the mainland.

“It’s an exciting new venture because it’s going to create a prep school where there really hasn’t been a so-called prep school in Newfoundland, in a long, long time,” said Xtreme Hockey director Andrew Mckim. “So, we have a lot of kids that are going away at a young age, and we’re going to try to keep them here a little bit longer.”

He anticipates the program being an extension of the work he and his team at Xtreme are currently doing. As a bonus, those who enroll in the program at St. Bon’s will get priority registration for other Xtreme programs.

That, combined with the academic reputation of St. Bon’s, is sure to enhance what can be offered to young athletes.

“So, we want to have a solid educational program with a solid hockey program, and we want to be able to keep kids here longer, and I think parents want the same thing,” said Mckim.

If any athlete is interested in learning more about the program, an information session is scheduled for May 31 at the Aula Maxima of Mullock Hall on the St. Bon’s Campus.

The registration form can be found online at www. stbons.ca/hockey.