Skating is like anything else — the more you practice, the better you’ll be. If you’re not that great a skater, there are drills and exercises that can help you improve. When I was a kid, I had a rink in my backyard, so I skated all the time. That had a lot to do with my development.
Tip #1
There is a difference between quickness and speed. I’ve heard it said that quickness is first gear but speed is the second, third and fourth gears. Quickness is that first few steps, speed is for the long haul. There are drills you can do to practice both.
Tip #2
Improve your skating technique and you’ll improve your speed. That means learning proper use of edges, staying low with knees bent and getting the full extension in each stride for maximum power.
Tip #3
When you’re doing on-ice skating drills, start slow and work your way up. Doing drills right is more important than doing them quickly. Using an improper technique quickly means you’ll go nowhere faster.
Tip #4
Off-ice plyometric drills like squats, jumps and sprints are equally important for improving your overall speed. Once again, remember to start slow and work your way up. Don’t be afraid to challenge and push yourself.
Remember This …
Some people think that speed is a God-given talent, and they may be right. But you can definitely improve on your speed with hard work and practice. As pros, we try to improve on our skills each and every day, but especially in the summer months by working out with teammates or personal trainers.
The Bruins will be hosting the first-ever “Boston Bruins AT&T Legends Classic” on January 2, 2010 at Fenway Park at 2:00 p.m. The “Boston Bruins AT&T Legends Classic” will feature Bruins greats and celebrities participating in a special outdoor hockey game on the outdoor rink at Fenway Park with the net proceeds benefiting the Boston Bruins Foundation, the NHL and NHLPA’s Hockey Fights Cancer and the Red Sox Foundation. Bruins fans will have the opportunity to watch as Bruins legend and current Vice President Cam Neely returns to the ice to skate with actor and comedian Denis Leary, actor Tim Robbins, movie director Bobby Farrelly, musician Ken Casey, NHL greats Brian Leetch and Pat LaFontaine and a number of Boston’s most famous alumni including Bob Beers, Andy Brickley, Lyndon Byers, Gary Doak, Ken Hodge, Ken Linseman, Rick Middleton, Terry O’Reilly, Brad Park, Johnny ‘Pie’ McKenzie, Bob Sweeney and Don Sweeney. Legendary Bruins John Bucyk, Milt Schmidt, and Derek Sanderson as well as actor Lenny Clarke will also be participating in the game in an off-ice capacity. A number of other notable alumni, former NHL players, and celebrities have been invited to participate and will be confirmed in the coming weeks. Tickets for this unique game will go on sale November 20 at 10:00 a.m. and will cost $10, $15, $20 or $25. Tickets can be purchased online at BostonBruins.com, by calling 617-624-BEAR (2327) and in-person at all Ticketmaster outlets or the TD Garden Box Office. All of the net proceeds raised will benefit the Boston Bruins Foundation, the NHL and NHLPA’s Hockey Fights Cancer and the Red Sox Foundation.
All of Weymouth’s short season teams made the playoffs, the Midget A's finished second, Midget B Maroon finished first and Midget B White finished in third in their respective divisions. Not to be forgotten the Girls Under 19 finished in a tie for fourth and will play a wild card game on Wednesday night. The girls did this even though they played one less game than the teams above them in the standings.
No other program had all of their short season teams make the playoffs!
Congratulations to the Bantam A team who captured the Distrct 3 Tier 2 Mass State playdown championship. They beat Braintree 5-0 on Monday night(11/16/2009). The team will now go to the state tournament in March.
Congratulations to the Bantam B White team who captured the Distrct 3 Tier 3 Mass State playdown championship. They beat Norwood 2-0 on Tuesday night(11/12/2009). The team will now go to the state tournament in February.
On November 7, 2009 Weymouth Youth Hockey participated in the state wide event called Massachusetts Hockey Day which took place in 15 rinks across the state. This event invited kids to take part in a free hockey clinic. In Weymouth we had 28 players come out and try hockey for the first time, based on feedback from parents and the smiles on the kid’s faces it was a huge success. All the kids received free hockey sticks and other goodies from the Boston Bruins. We would like to thank Coach Dan McGlone for running the on ice part of the clinic and a group of helpers from Weymouth Youth Hockey.
Congratulations to the Midget A team who captured the Distrct 3 Tier 2 Large Mass State playdown championship. They beat Norwood 3-0 on Tuesday night(10/27/2009). The Midget A team will now move on to play in the state tournament in November.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - USA Hockey, with the counsel of Dr. Michael Stuart, its chief medical officer, today issued the following information regarding the H1N1 infection, including recommendations to reduce the likelihood of spreading the infection.
USA Hockey recommends:
- Providing individual water bottles for players and not sharing water bottles.
- Regularly washing hands.
- Cleaning workout gear for each practice/competition.
- Keeping gloves on during the traditional handshake with opponents.
Individuals with influenza may develop typical signs or symptoms, including: fever (102 degrees fahrenheit or greater), cough, muscle aches, runny nose, headache or sore threat, with the potential for more serious complications, including pneumonia.
This year's influenza virus strain has particularly affected children and young adults. Transmission of the influenza virus may occur from the day before the onset of symptoms and during the five-to-seven days that the symptoms are present.
Infected individuals should stay home until signs and symptoms have resolved, with no fever present for at least 24 hours. The 24-hour no-fever timeline should be achieved naturally, without the aid of fever reducing medications.
We wanted to notify players/parents to be careful with your valuables (cell phones I-Pods and Money) at ALL rinks. There have been numerous robberies at local rinks recently.
Please do not leave ANY valuables in ANY locker room, coaches please have a parent watch the locker room or collect the valuables and hold them during the games.
As you all may know we recently had an incident during a game between WYH and Plymouth where a player from the Plymouth team sustained a serious cut to the neck by a skate. While this player is currently doing better, he was extremely fortunate to have had a medical professional in the stands who literally saved his life.
Last year the WYH Board of Directors mandated that all players up to the Peewee level wear neck guards. For the 2009-2010 season the Board had it on their agenda to discuss making neck guards mandatory for ALL levels, and during an emergency vote the motion was passed.
As of November 1, 2009 neck guards will be mandatory for all players in the WYH organization for both games and practices. We feel a November 1 deadline will give ample time to those who currently do not own neck guards to obtain one. It is, however, recommended that all players begin wearing neck guards immediately.
Coaches have been asked to keep any of their players, who do not have or refuse to wear a neck guard, off the ice. The dilemma that Weymouth Youth Hockey faces as an organization is that USA hockey currently does not require neck guards at the Bantam and Midget levels, and as such referrees will not enforce this rule. It will be up to our coaches, board members, players and the parents of our players to ensure neck guards are worn. As a parent if you see that your child is on the ice without a neck guard please take it upon yourself to pull your child from the ice until they put one on. We've asked our coaches to enforce this rule, but games can keep a coach quite busy and if a player removes their neck guard during the game, it may go unnoticed.
Until such time that USA hockey makes neck guards mandatory, we all need to work together to enforce this rule at the WYH level. Other towns have taken note of our action and are starting to follow suit. Neck guards may not prevent a player from being injured, but they may provide a level of protection that makes the difference between an injury and a fatality.
Thank you in advance for helping us to enforce this rule in an effort to further protect our children from accidental harm.
Weymouth Youth Hockey wants you to check out Responsible Sports!
Help Weymouth Youth Hockey earn our piece of the $50,000 to be awarded this fall from Liberty Mutual! Youth sports organizations organizations across the country are competing for one of twenty $2,500 Responsible Sports Community Grants by demonstrating their commitment to responsibility. And you can help us win!
The Responsible Sports Community Grant program is part of the Liberty Mutual Responsible Sports community outreach initiative designed to help ensure that our kids experience the best that sports have to offer in environments that promote and display responsibility. By partnering with the most respected players in youth sports, Liberty Mutual helps champion and celebrate positive outcomes in sports and in life.
POWER PLAY SPORTS & APPAREL
TEAM WEAR -- EQUIPMENT -- SKATE SHARPENING -- REPAIR
Weymouth Youth Hockey: Parents, Coaches and Players,
I would like to take this opportunity to introduce Power Play Sports & Apparel located at 2 Garden Park in Braintree, across the street from the Registry of Motor Vehicles. Power Play Sports and Apparel is pleased to provide all of the latest equipment from a variety of brands including Easton, Bauer and Warrior, as well as custom apparel, skate sharpening and repairs.
Having coached hockey myself for the last 13 years, I recognize the need for personalized attention and convenient sharpening and repairs that has been lacking in the Weymouth area.
Power Play is proud to be teaming up with The Source, a local business well known for its high profile clients, custom designing and creative marketing. Through our partnership with the Source we will be able to provide custom embroidery, screen printing and sublimation, most of which is done on site, always at unbeatable rates.
Beginning August 1st, Power Play Sports kicked off the EDGE card, a new program to provide savings to the families of WYH players while generating revenue for WYH. For a one-time fee of $95 your membership includes:
- 1 year of unlimited skate sharpening
- 10% of all non-sale items at the shop
- Multi-player family discounts
- Special pricing on custom orders and equipment packages
- $10 from every card goes directly to WYH
- 5% of all WYH apparel sales will be donated to the program
I look forward to providing you with outstanding service and great pricing while contributing to an important program with dedicated coaches, parents and players.
Weymouth Youth Hockey is pleased to announce the return of Learn to Skate !!!! Please spread the word to folks you know who might have a little one interested.
Ages: 4 years old by September 1, 2009 or older .
When: Every Friday at 6pm(except for holidays) beginning November 6, 2009 - February 2010(exact date tbd)
Where: The DCR Connell Rink, Broad Street, Weymouth
Registration Fee: $35 Can be done online or at the rink
Cost: $5 per person, per session OR $60 at time of registration(save 20%)
Tuition
• Skaters
o The 2009/2010 tuition for full season players at all levels is $900.00
• $800 tuition
• $100 fundraising fee (see Fundraising Fee section below for details)
o Short season teams (Midgets, Girls U16 and Girls U19) is $450.00.
o Instructional tuition is $500.00.
• Goalies with their own equipment
o The 2009/2010 tuition for full season goalies at all levels is $350.
• $250 tuition
• $100 fundraising fee (see Fundraising Fee section below for details)
o The tuition for goalies for short season teams will be $125.
If your child is already registered in Weymouth Youth Hockey and you forgot your password please go here and enter your email address and your password will be emailed to you. You dont have to re-enter all the information new ever year.
New this year - You can only use credit cards for online sign up - if you do not enter a credit card at the time of sign up your registration will be DELETED after about 30 minutes. If you wish to pay by check please download the registration package and bring it to the walk in session on March 2.
New this year - Online registration for USA / Mass hockey will begin May 1st, 2009 a link and instructions will be emailed out to everyone and you will have to register online with USA/MAss hockey. The cost is $35 and NOT included in your tuition.
Fundraising Fee Weymouth Youth Hockey recognizes that we are all affected by our current economic situation. In order to continue to offer a quality and affordable program, while simultaneously giving our families an opportunity to reduce their individual overhead, we are introducing a mandatory fundraising event. Each full season player is required to pre-pay $100.00 (one hundred) for this event. The player will receive $100.00 (one hundred) worth of raffle tickets which they will sell for $10.00 (ten) each as a means of “reimbursement” for the upfront fundraising fee paid at registration. Families are not restricted to the number of raffle tickets they can sell. All funds collected from the first book are retained by the player’s family, subsequent books can be purchased for $50, providing an opportunity to significantly reduce or eliminate your tuition cost for the season.
Prizes and other details are still being considered. We will post those details on the website as soon as possible.
