http://www.turcottehockey.com/
Camp attended: Complete Approach to Stickhandling August 15-19, 2011 (Novice/Atom in Prince George, BC)
Camp attended: Complete Approach to Stickhandling August 15-19, 2011 (Novice/Atom in Prince George, BC)
Overall - OK, but a bit of a disappointment
(All ratings go from 1 = worst to 5 = best)
Quality of Coach - 3
Quality of Assistant coaches - 4
Coach to Student ratio - 2
Quality of Drills - 3
Age vs. Skill flexibility - 2
Organization - 3
Off-ice session - No
Jersey - No
Website - 4
Game day or scrimmage - 2
Value for money - 3
Would we go back? Probably not
To be frank, I had high hopes for this camp. We had just come out of Pacific Elite, which was very physical and my son was looking forward to a more technical stickhandling school. Unfortunately, what we found was that there was a cookie-cutter, franchise like approach to this camp. Not as much connection to the coaching staff as in other camps. This may be because they travel all over the country and have little connection to the communities in which they put on the camps.
The coach was Ok, but time & ice management was not great, with a lot of waiting in line, and one-on-one drills that matched kids of very different abilities against each other. The kids were generally divided up by age & size, not by skill. However when it came to the scrimmage at the end of the camp, the kids were put out by skill level, which normally would be good, however at this camp the age ranges were quite wide which meant my son ended up playing against some kids who were 4-5 years older and significantly bigger than him, and he got pushed around a lot, which wasn't a lot of fun for him, however it was a good learning experience.
The assistant coaches, however were quite good, and spent a lot of time helping out the kids and showing them how to do drills properly. One assistant coach in particular took a liking to my son's passion for the game and was very good in helping him out. However, overall the coach to student ratio was low, and there was a lot of standing around.
The organization was OK, but not great. The rink was hard to find, and not marked at all. No signage, and no idea if you were in the right place or not.
No off-ice and no jersey, which was unfortunate, as jerseys should be considered by most camps as not just a giveaway that costs money, but as a prized souvenir that also acts as advertising, and reminds kids every time they wear it to come back to the same camp the next year...
They do a good job of taking the kids through some basic moves, and you get a report card at the end of camp with some basic scores, however there's not enough chances to actually use these moves and practice them during the class, and most of the kids had very little clue as to how to actually apply these moves in the game, although points were awarded in the scrimmage for using the moves as well as scoring. We also bought the DVDs, which were good for practicing at home, but again too much theory and not quite enough assistance as to how to use the moves during games.
Their website at the time was not great, but they have recently launched a new website that is better, but still not great. They have some testimonials up now, and a decent explanation of what the class content will be, with a basic video on the homepage.
Overall, it was OK, but not as good as I was expecting, given the online reviews I had read. Also, possibly it suffered in comparison to Pacific Elite, as had we done this camp before Pacific Elite, we might not have been as disappointed.
Please note: The review posted here is for informational purposes only and is not designed to promote any specific camp. The information posted is specifically for the camp that my son attended and that I viewed. Your experience may be different. Also, please be aware that some camps may change their format over time and make improvements, or have other issues come up. I am not responsible for any differences in what is posted here and what you may experience.
To be frank, I had high hopes for this camp. We had just come out of Pacific Elite, which was very physical and my son was looking forward to a more technical stickhandling school. Unfortunately, what we found was that there was a cookie-cutter, franchise like approach to this camp. Not as much connection to the coaching staff as in other camps. This may be because they travel all over the country and have little connection to the communities in which they put on the camps.
The coach was Ok, but time & ice management was not great, with a lot of waiting in line, and one-on-one drills that matched kids of very different abilities against each other. The kids were generally divided up by age & size, not by skill. However when it came to the scrimmage at the end of the camp, the kids were put out by skill level, which normally would be good, however at this camp the age ranges were quite wide which meant my son ended up playing against some kids who were 4-5 years older and significantly bigger than him, and he got pushed around a lot, which wasn't a lot of fun for him, however it was a good learning experience.
The assistant coaches, however were quite good, and spent a lot of time helping out the kids and showing them how to do drills properly. One assistant coach in particular took a liking to my son's passion for the game and was very good in helping him out. However, overall the coach to student ratio was low, and there was a lot of standing around.
The organization was OK, but not great. The rink was hard to find, and not marked at all. No signage, and no idea if you were in the right place or not.
No off-ice and no jersey, which was unfortunate, as jerseys should be considered by most camps as not just a giveaway that costs money, but as a prized souvenir that also acts as advertising, and reminds kids every time they wear it to come back to the same camp the next year...
They do a good job of taking the kids through some basic moves, and you get a report card at the end of camp with some basic scores, however there's not enough chances to actually use these moves and practice them during the class, and most of the kids had very little clue as to how to actually apply these moves in the game, although points were awarded in the scrimmage for using the moves as well as scoring. We also bought the DVDs, which were good for practicing at home, but again too much theory and not quite enough assistance as to how to use the moves during games.
Their website at the time was not great, but they have recently launched a new website that is better, but still not great. They have some testimonials up now, and a decent explanation of what the class content will be, with a basic video on the homepage.
Overall, it was OK, but not as good as I was expecting, given the online reviews I had read. Also, possibly it suffered in comparison to Pacific Elite, as had we done this camp before Pacific Elite, we might not have been as disappointed.
Please note: The review posted here is for informational purposes only and is not designed to promote any specific camp. The information posted is specifically for the camp that my son attended and that I viewed. Your experience may be different. Also, please be aware that some camps may change their format over time and make improvements, or have other issues come up. I am not responsible for any differences in what is posted here and what you may experience.
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