The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

49 CANLAN ICE SPORTS Teaching Canada's game to all ages from beginner to expert By Catarina Muia Twenty years ago, Canlan Ice Sports opened its doors in Oakville. The response from Oakville and surrounding communities was overwhelming, and Canlan is now the biggest instructional skating and hockey fa­ cility in the area. The academy's main focus is to teach people how to skate and play hockey on ev­ ery level. That goes for beginners who have never stepped on the ice before, to players who are trying to make it into an elite level like the NHL. All of the programs were created 20 years ago by Sarah Leckie, the national di­ rector of programs at Canlan Ice Sports, as well as George McDonald, head of athlete development at Canlan Oakville. "Canlan has a system that we've put in all of our facilities, but it all started here in Oakville 20 years ago," McDonald said. The academy sees more than 5,000 people in the instructional programs and camps annually. The programming is very focused on the beginner level, which is the Learn to Skate program, and then leads into the Funda­ mentals of Hockey. "Over time, we implemented programs that would let that player who started from the very beginning, evolve, so we have our own progression system," Leckie ex­ plained. "Someone can start at any age and skill level, even as an adult; start at the grassroots, then move to an elite level." McDonald, who has been a coach and GM for various leagues and teams in the area, including the Oakville Blades, ex­ plained that he has seen people go right from the beginning, and end up becoming part of the adult hockey league. "There's a lot of hard work that goes into learning and playing the sport, but there's a lot of fun as well, because if it's not fun, people won't keep coming back," McDon­ ald said. "But I always try to push for a good balance between school and hockey, school comes first, the players need to know that." Alongside him, McDonald has his son Brad who also has great passion for the sport, and is the head instructor at the fa­ cility. Brad teaches a variety of age groups, and explained; "I have different personalities when I teach each one. When I'm teaching the younger kids, I need to be more fun. With the teenagers, I need to be a bit more challenging and push them. As for the adults; I teach an adult women's class on Thursday mornings and I don't really have to be a certain way, they really want to be there, they want to learn and they ask a lot of questions." Brad explained that by knowing how to teach each age group, as well as having the player development system, it has proven to be a successful way to teach and play hockey. For the instructors and staff at Canlan, it's important for them to see the kids grow up and reach their goals, "They go from just learning how to stop, to being the best on their team, then the best at their level," Brad explained. "Some kids want to move up and grow as a skater or player, some of them even end up going through our sys­ tem and working here." Canlan sees more than a million people per year and hosts tournaments for schools and hockey associations. It also hosts the biggest three-on-three league, which is now being sponsored by Bauer. The program is offered during the summer for those who want to keep up with the sport during the warmer months. Through offering these various programs, those at Canlan hope that there's something for everyone. New Canadians in the community have shown they want to embrace and become part of the culture by learning how to play the country's most popular sport. "New Canadians are wanting to learn. Whether it's just skating, or fi rst learning how to skate and then eventually bridge over to hockey," Leckie explained. "And in order to do that, we had to learn how to teach not only these kids, but also their par­ ents, how to play hockey." Parents who have an interest in the sport are always encouraged to take part and learn, as Canlan is also known for having the biggest adult hockey league with more than 500 Adult Safe Hockey League (ASHL) teams in the GTA. It hosts both men's and women's divisions from recreational to competitive. Having put her daughter through Canlan's programs, and going through the classes herself, Leckie explained that what Canlan strives to do is much more than just teach, it's about giving confidence to those who have passion, "Teaching them as a begin­ ner, so they can become great, as anyone has the potential to be a great hockey play­ er-." Canlan is located at 2300 Cornwall Rd. in Oakville but has various locations through­ out Canada and the U.S. For more information call 905-845-6989, or visit www.icesports.com/oakville. At right, George McDonald, head of athlete development at Canlan Oakville, and his son Brad who is the head instructor at the facility. Photos by Nikki Wesley, Metroland | O akville B eaver | Thursday, February 15,2018 insidehalton.com http://www.icesports.com/oakville