Head Instructor – Rebecca Russell

Rebecca Russell started playing girls ice hockey in Clarenville, Newfoundland at the age of seven. She started playing for team Newfoundland at the age of twelve at the Canada Games in 1995 and again in 1999. At the age of sixteen she left home to attend Berkshire High School in Massachusetts, USA. She then played four years of Division 1 university hockey at St. Lawrence University in Upstate, NY. There, Rebecca was nominated as a top ten Patty Kazmaier finalist (Top female player in college hockey, 2005); played for the U-22 Canadian National Team in 2004 and Attended senior national team camps in 2005/2007. She has played four seasons for the Calgary Oval X-treme in the WWHL, winning the National Championship in the 2006/2007 season. Most recently Rebecca has worked as Assistant Coach for the University of Calgary women’s team and Team Canada’s National U-22 women’s team.

Gina Kingsbury

Born in Saskatchewan but raised in Quebec, women’s ice hockey forward Gina Kingsbury quickly discovered that she had an aptitude not only for bilingualism, but for hockey as well. She joined Team Canada in the under-22 division in 1999 and played for Sst. Lawrence University’s Skating Saints from 2000-2004. She attended her first international championship in 2001, where the women’s Canadian Team won gold, and has since won gold twice more (2004 and 2007) and silver three times (2005, 2008 and 2009). In 2004, after graduating with a degree in psychology, she joined the Montreal Axion of the National Women’s Hockey League and played one season with them before her 2006 Olympic debut, where the Canadian women’s team won the gold medal. After the tournament, she joined the Western Women’s Hockey League with the Calgary Oval X-Treme and won the National Women’s Championships with the team at the end of the 2006-2007 season. In 2010, Gina returned to the Olympics where the Canadian women took home the gold once again.

Female Prep Program

The main objective of the Female Prep Camp is to increase the players' pace of play while developing the execution of individual skill mechanics.

Focus

• Skating
• Timing
• Skills
• Puck Protection
• Ice Awareness
• Conditioning
• Pace of Play
• Hockey IQ

Female Prep Program Highlights

• 2.5 hours ice time daily includes power skating and skill development (two sessions of 1 hour 15 minutes each)
• Daily off ice skills training
• 1 hour strength and conditioning/agility training
• Daily lectures
• Camp size limited to 15 forwards / 8 defense / 3 goalies
• Female dorming available
• Program runs Monday - Friday with Registration on Sunday
• Indivudual evaluations
• Professional Instruction
• $599.99 plus applicable taxes

Sessions Offered

• July 11 - 17: Birth years 1995 and older
• Aug 22 - 28: Birth years 1996 - 1997

Female Prep Program Objectives

Our main objective for the Female Prep Program is to put together a group of players who have reached a high level of the basic skills for their age, and are thus prepared to undertake a more rigorous program with regard to skating, passing and shooting, puck control, checking and team play.

Players accepted into this program will be exposed to the best instruction available. Each group will have a qualified, experienced instructors. The instructors will be the same staff hired to coach the Female Academy Team for the 2010-2011 season. It should also be recognized that this specialized program is not for average female athletes, and can only be as “Elite” as the attitude, ability, performance and desire of each individual who makes up the group.

Off-Ice Training

In addition to 2.5 hours of daily on-ice instruction, students participate in an extensive off-ice program which focuses on conditioning and agility training, specifically designed for the needs of young hockey players. Players also participate in motivational seminars that key into important off-ice skills such as visualization and goal setting. A nutritional seminar is also given so young hockey players understand the importance of a healthy diet and hydration.

Off-Ice Training

The Okanagan Hockey School Skill Center focuses on shooting and is used daily by all groups at the OHS. Players work on their shooting and puck handling skills at the Okanagan Skill Center on our synthetic plastic surface. Nets, radar guns, shooter tooters, pucks, targets, stick handlers, slide boards and ball machines for the goaltenders are all teaching tools and equipment used in the Skills Center.

Leading Edge Instruction

The Okanagan Hockey School has provided leading edge instruction since 1963, currently in its 47th year of operation. Okanagan Hockey School has recognized that the new rules have significantly altered hockey at all levels to a game of unprecedented speed and skill. Collectively, with over 50 years of NHL playing experience, our full time hockey staff has designed comprehensive hockey specific programs to address these changes.