It appears that 2014 will mark the arrival of several new sports and arts academy options for Squamish residents.
Pending Sea to Sky school board approval and student interest, Howe Sound Secondary School (HSSS) is preparing to launch the Howe Sound Hockey Academy starting in September.
According to a statement issued from Pacific Rim Hockey Academy on Friday (Jan. 10), the HSSS academy will be open to boys and girls in Grades 10 to 12 who are HSSS students as of the 2014-'15 school year. The academy will be a joint venture between HSS and PRHA.
PRHA has worked with school districts in B.C. for the past 11 years and currently operates hockey academies on Vancouver Island, the Lower Mainland and other areas in the province.
Organizers said the program will likely include three on-ice sessions and two off-ice sessions per week. It also includes sport-specific training and class time for leadership education and other special events.
Instruction will be provided by two professional on-ice instructors, a goaltending instructor and a teacher from HSSS. Goaltending instruction will be provided if there is enough interest.
The cost of the program will be $256 per month for a one-semester (five-month) program and students will receive eight credits upon completion of the program. A parent meeting for more information on the academy is planned Thursday (Jan. 16) at 7 p.m. at the HSSS library.
HSSS isn't alone in the academy boom as the Coast Mountain Academy (CMA) private secondary school is also hosting four sports/arts academies starting in September.
David Baird, the CMA's head of school, said there has been a lot of interest in the community about local sports academies.
David Baird, the CMA's head of school, said there has been a lot of interest in the community about local sports academies.
Back in August I started to hear a few comments from people asking if we're just going to be a school or will we do other things, he said. A few months later we had a board member talk to a parent about academies and then five or six people came out of the woodwork mentioning how many people were leaving Squamish for academies in North Vancouver. We did more research to see if it fits with our academic model and the more we went down that road, the more we thought we can do these academies.
The school houses Grades 7 to 9 but expands to Grade 11 in September and Grade 12 in 2015. Colin Boguski, CMA's director of admissions, said he hopes the academies can fill a void in the community.
What we're trying to do is serve the needs of the community, he said. This school was created to meet the needs of the Sea to Sky community and when we look at something like ice hockey, there might not be much time to develop individual skills with 25 players on a team and so many games. Academies can really support the community in the growth and development of young athletes.
Simon Hudson, in cooperation with B.C. Dynamo Hockey Development, will lead the CMA hockey academy, with Quest women's head coach Martina Franko running the soccer academy. Melissa Braun from the Squamish Academy of Music (SAM) and Shalimar Blanchard from the Howe Sound Dance Academy (HSDA) will lead the music and dance academies, respectively.
Boguski said Hudson has experience running a hockey academy in Whistler and has a strong background in coaching. He said he's honoured to be working with a quality athlete like Franko and pointed out that he hopes to strengthen students and both of the organizations in the dance and music academies.
One of the things we have at CMA is a strong focus on giving back to the community and developing strong citizens, he said. In the dance and music programs we could encourage our students to get involved in any of their performances or even help out with younger students.
Baird pointed out that CMA can work with any type of athlete and can accommodate the often challenging schedule of a young athlete. He said student Nicky Klimchuk-Brown, who is a top young luge athlete for his age, has been able to keep up with school work despite being away from the classroom for weeks at a time.
For more information on CMA and its programs, visit www.coastmountainacademy.ca.
