WESTVILLE ROAD – Some of them skate more tentatively than others – but they’ve all got the heart for hockey.
Almost 40 boys and girls are registered with the Little Simmers skills program this spring, a six-week program run by former NHLer and current Major Bantam Bombers coach Jon Sim, which sees them on the ice twice each week at the Pictou County Wellness Centre.
“I started the Little Simmers program about three years ago, and it grew every year,” said Sim, who has on-ice assistance from local hockey luminaries such as former National Hockey league goaltender and Pictou County native Joey MacDonald.
“The kids are having a blast and I’ve got great workers working for me – they’ve got enthusiasm, they’ve got energy to help the young kids.”
The young players range in age from four to seven and they are encouraged by the instructors to put the work in, while keeping it fun at the same time.
“They work hard, but they’re smiling when they leave the rink,” Sim said.
To making the learning easier and more streamlined, the instructors break the youngsters up into stations for various methods of improving their skills, but the key focus during the high-tempo sessions is on skating.
“We have pucks on the ice before practice, but when we get into the different stations it’s all skating, balance,” said Sim, who will run other hockey teaching programs over the next few months.
“It’s almost all skating – if you can’t skate, you can’t play. And when you work hard and learn the basics of skating, then everything else comes a lot easier.”
