Hockey Day in Bancroft

Jan. 7, 2020

By Kristena Schutt-Moore

The ice rink at the North Hastings Community Centre was a flurry of activity on Thursday, Jan. 2 and a roar of voices could be heard cheering on the hockey students who came out to train under Toronto Maple Leaf Alumni Rob Pearson. 
The fifth annual Boyer's Hockey Day in Bancroft was a free event for the Bancroft hockey community. Young hockey players who signed up were divided up into three age groups, the under seven, age eight to 10, and the age 11 to 12.  
Pearson is now the coach for the Pickering Panthers Junior A Team and Brandon Boyer coaches in the minor hockey league. Both used their experiences on the ice to tailor the training to the different age groups and each age group was taught training drills that they could take home and practice themselves throughout the year. 
Each routine worked on improving skills from stickhandling, skating, making goals and even how to improve teamwork. The workshops ended with a mini-game where the students were challenged to put their new training to the test. At the end of the day, Boyer opened the ice for a free skate where anyone in the community could come out and just enjoy skating with their friends or family.
Bancroft Boyer hopes that this annual event helps build the game of hockey in the community and helps to keep it alive and accessible and gets more people out on the ice.