This past Friday, Kingston’s École secondaire catholique Marie-Rivier inaugurated its new Hockey Canada Skills Academy (HCSA), offering grade 7 to 10 students the opportunity to participate in hockey-focused training in a school setting.
Forty students from Grades 7 to 10 will have be able to develop their own technical and tactical skills this year by following the HCSA training model while benefiting from the expertise of a Hockey Canada certified coach.
“This partnership with Hockey Canada is a great source of pride for the Conseil des écoles catholique du Centre-Est, which is always committed to providing French-language programs to its school communities that serve the interests of its students,” said Johanne Lacombe, Chair of the CECCE. “In fact, Kingston families have quickly shown their enthusiasm for this program, which is experiencing a record number of registrations this year. Due to this enthusiasm, the program will be offered to students in Grades 6 to 12 as of the start of the 2020/2021 school year.”
“I would also like to remind everyone that the objective of this program is to develop players’ sports skills while developing their confidence, self-esteem and discipline,” added Education Director Réjean Sirois, recalling the foundations of the program. “The skills acquired by students in this program will be useful throughout their lives.”
Hockey Canada likewise expressed its excitement in welcoming Marie-Rivier to the family of Hockey Canada Skills Academy, with Teal Gove, Manager of Hockey Development at Hockey Canada, saying: “The organization recognizes the dedication of school staff to improve the educational experience of their students by offering the HCSA program. Hockey Canada not only celebrates its commitment to developing the individual technical skills of students currently playing hockey, but also offers all students the opportunity to play hockey.”
The new program joins other innovative additions to École secondaire catholique Marie-Rivier, including the UniverSTEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) educational project that launched this school year and a dance program that will be offered to students in Grades 7 to 10 beginning September 2020.
Learn more about Conseil des écoles catholiques du Centre-Est (CECCE) at ecolecatholique.ca.
