By Tamica Garnett
The week-long Junior Hockey Summer Camp conducted by the Hikers Hockey Club at the St Stanislaus College Forum ended yesterday with a mini-hockey competition.

Participants of the beginners’ category were divided into four teams: Wild Cats, Wild Stars, Red Bull and J.Lo.

With two games and a draw the Wild Cats team emerged winners of the competition.

Wild Cats defeated J.Lo 3 – 0 and Wild Stars 2 – 1 before drawing 1 – 1 with Red Bull.

J.Lo  earned a 3 – 0 win against Red Bull and a 5 – 0 win against Wild Stars to finish second while Red Bull defeated Wild Stars 4-1 to secure third place.

The camp, which began last Monday, is in its third alternate year as a developmental venture aimed at attracting young children to the sport.

Speaking with Stabroek Sport, Chantelle Fernandes, one of the coaches of the camp, declared the camp a success. She noted that while the camp started off a bit slowly, things eventually picked up as the players over the one-week period displayed improvement in their skills.

“It started off a bit slow, because we didn’t have a good turnout on the first day but then we started to get a much better turnout as things went along.

Both in the beginners and the advanced group we have seen great improvements during the week, they have gotten much better. And to me the summer camp was a success,” Fernandes said.

Marvin Dannett, another of the coaches, said that in addition, many of the participants at the camp have shown an interest in the sport beyond just the camp.

“The good thing is that we have a lot of young children that came to the camp who look interested in playing the sport more in the future. So, hopefully they will get involved in the sport at the club level and play more often like on the weekends or during the week,” Dannett stated.

He noted also that the Hikers Hockey Club has a junior programme where coaching is conducted Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 19:00 – 21:00 hrs at the club.

And while the club has also been looking at securing a more comfortable arrangement for the younger set, Dannett said the unavailability of coaches outside of those hours has made that venture difficult.

A mother of one of the players stated that it was the social aspect of the camp that she believes holds the most benefits for her child. She related that while her child would play hockey at home, the camp gave him the opportunity to fraternize with other children and learn aspects such as team work.

“I think it’s good, it’s good interaction with the other kids. At home he would play with his brother but here he learns the sport and then he would learn about team work and team spirit because at home it’s just him and his brother,” the mother said.