As we wrap up one season and start preparing for the next, the Grey Bruce Highlanders want to take this opportunity to share some of the exciting changes we have made to our program.
It’s no secret the landscape of minor hockey changed this past season with the open borders’ announcement from the OHF, effective this coming season. The Grey Bruce Highlanders view this change as an opportunity. An opportunity to stay true to our roots which is being a rural based values driven organization that takes pride in creating amazing young men and women, while also putting together a program that creates competitive hockey players!
Some of the program changes include:
4 hours of practice time/week for each team
We accomplish this by providing 2 x 2-hour practices/week.
This results in more time at the rink, with less time travelling to and from the rink than previous years.
Increase skill development
Of the 4 hours of practice time each week, 1 hour will be dedicated to either skills or power skating from a third-party instructor.
This is double the amount of skill development we have offered in the past.
Increase in goalie development
Each team will receive 2 dedicated goalie sessions/month from our organizational goalie coach.
This is twice as many as previous seasons.
Additionally - we have doubled our parent reimbursement for goalie development outside of our training to $500/goalie for the season.
Mental Performance training
We are once again offering mental performance training through Upper Mentality.
This program offers age based mental performance training, for players and coaches.
We will be starting the program this year right after tryouts.
New apparel provider
We are excited to announce we have partnered with Hometown Sports out of Owen Sound to offer top tier apparel and gear to players and families.
Junior hockey consultant
The consultant will work with our U15, U16 and U18 teams to help players reach the next level of their hockey career and provide education to parents and families as players prepare for junior, OHL or University hockey.
These are just a few of the exciting changes we have made, along with sponsorship improvements to help families keep up with the demands of AAA hockey, new board positions, extra flex programming for skills, and prime time games.
As mentioned above, the entire Highlanders Family viewed this as an opportunity, we moved methodically, sought feedback from all levels of our organization from players to executive, and we couldn’t be more excited about the changes we’ve made.
We look forward to seeing you at the rink!