A local hockey player will have to wait another two weeks to find out if he has been selected to the Team Saskatchewan U16 squad, but it was still an honour for him in just getting the chance to try out.
Estevan’s Cole Fonstad, 15, said taking part in the July 27 to 31 Saskatchewan Hockey Association (SHA) SaskFirst High Performance Program U16 summer camp, which is held to select the provincial team, was a great learning experience for him. He said the five-day camp that brings together the top 42 players in his age group for on-ice and off-ice testing in a bid to make the 21-man Team Saskatchewan roster was a good opportunity to compete against the best in the province.
“Every day we had a practice and it was basically just like any team would practise in the winter,” said Cole, who will suit up as a forward for the Moose Jaw Generals AAA team in the 2015-16 season. “It was lots of structure, like work on your power play, penalty kill and special teams. It wasn’t much skill development. It was basically just like you’re on a team and in the night you would play a game. It was pretty competitive. There actually wasn’t much scoring. It was just really physical. It was good.”
Cole said the off-ice work began with fitness testing, including maximum pull-up and bench press challenges, a Windgate test on a stationary bike and then agility work, such as vertical jumps and long jumps, on the first day of camp. He said the rest of the week off-ice involved classroom presentations on issues such as mental preparation.
“It was awfully tough,” he said. “They were really long days. (We) probably wouldn’t get to bed until 11:30 p.m. Then we had to get up at 7 a.m. to go eat breakfast and then practice was usually at 9 a.m.”
Players are selected to participate in the summer camps by first making it onto one of the eight provincial zone teams in February and playing for that zone at a SaskFirst Tournament in April. The top 42 players from that tourney are selected to the summer camp, which is held to determine the 21-man roster of the U16 Team Saskatchewan club that will compete against the best of their age group from Western Canada at the U16 Western Branch Challenge tournament in Calgary this October.
Cole said he has been in the gym working out instead of on the ice this summer, but got rid of the rust by the last few days of camp. He said in the last game his speed and playmaking was back, which should hopefully single him out as a good selection for the final roster.
“It would be amazing to play at the tournament in Calgary against all the other provinces in Western Canada,” he said. “That would be pretty cool.”
