Having a tough time waiting for the Seattle Thunderbird games this weekend? While you wait, you may want to check out the details for the Birds Scoring, Stick Handling and Skating Camp! If you have any youngsters in your life, whether they be family, friends, your own kids or your neighbors, they may want to find out more about this incredible opportunity to learn key hockey skills from the Birds. Adults can even sign up for a cool Thunderbird skills camp experience. Camp will of course take place at the ShoWare Center.

Kids of all ages will be able to learn about advanced skills and techniques on the ice and practice those skills in a safe, monitored environment with real coaches and players, both current and former from the team, assisting in training. Many parents wait for these dates to be announced every year, and so here they are: Monday, August 8, 2016 through Friday, August 12, 2016. Another camp will be held from Monday, August  15 through Friday, August 19. Each camp lasts for two hours per day, with skills and drills occurring from 7:00 to 7:50 in the adult group. From 7:50 to 8:00 there will be an ice cut followed by a game (a controlled scrimmage) from 8:00 to 9:00. Other times vary according to age group. All campers will also receive a t-shirt to commemorate the experience! Participants who enjoy both camps can take half off the price of the second camp for a significantly reduced rate.

The cost of camp varies per age group. For adults, camp costs $300 per person for the entire week.  For kids ages 12 and up, the cost is $239. The same cost is charged for campers aged 9 to 11 and 6 to 8, which are the other age groups offered this year.

Some skills that participants can look forward to learning this year include defensive and offensive positioning and theory, puck handling in the open ice and traffic, body protection, checking, safety, shooting techniques, power skating and much more. Participants will also be able to play various games on the ice for fun! Players do need to bring all of their own gear. Wearing the gear is mandatory to participate in the camp. Water will be provided on location.

If you are looking for more information or want to print out details for a friend, check out this camp flyer.

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia