The programme was run in a joint effort by three youth organisations; The Bridge Youth Club (Belfast), Finglas Youth Service and Corpus Christi Youth Club (Belfast) in partnership with the very successful Canadian H.E.R.O.S. (Hockey Education Reaching Out Society) and the Belfast Giants, with tremendous support from the George Best Foundation, Co-operation Ireland, Castlereagh Borough Council, Dr Peter Ting and even some help from the Irish Ice Hockey Association.

The preparations for the camp have been ongoing for months and months culminating with the week long ice hockey camp. After a brief meet, greet and covering all the rules for the week, the participants were able to enjoy a BBQ on the Sunday evening before getting to work the next day.

From there, the participants were on the ice twice every day as all the volunteers thought them the finer skills of ice hockey before playing a Final Game on the Friday evening. The progression the children made in their ice hockey skills was tremendous and Norm Flynn (H.E.R.O.S. Executive Director) said “there were a small group of about five children who couldn’t stand at the beginning of the week but they played like Crosby (Sidney) in the Final Game.”

However, the camp is not just about what happens on ice but “is as much about their personal development off the ice as their hockey skills on the ice. They will develop real friendships with each other, face and overcome some big challenges together, and learn how to work more effectively with their differences as well as what they have in common” said Todd Kelman (General Manager, Belfast Giants) before the camp.

The IIHA were very fortunate to be able to assist in this programme, albeit in a very small way, but nevertheless the IIHA was delighted to help in anyway possible. Not too long before the camp was due to start, the organisers realised they were short some of the equipment needed. Contact was made with the IIHA and luckily enough, the association was able to provide the missing equipment.

This is a terrific programme and a fantastic week that will hopefully last long into the future. All those who organised and support the programme should be immensely proud of themselves as should each of the players and the many volunteers who helped out throughout the week. Well done to all!

More information can be found here:

H.E.R.O.S. - http://www.heroshockey.com
Belfast Giants - http://www.belfastgiants.com
Co-operation Ireland - http://www.cooperationireland.org
George Best Foundation - http://www.georgebest.com

Author: Dean Kelly

We had the choice of a lie in this morning, but we all made the decision to make the most of our trip and get on the ice for some fun games. We got to put our hands on sticks for the 1st time, much to the delight of some including me. We had some obstacle courses and I recall rolling along the ice between the red and blue line. Then a few times with the sticks. We then took our daily game of handball to the extreme… and added sticks!!! It was good fun and everyone enjoyed it. Nobody got seriously hurt by the way!

Back to the classroom again for the 6th day; it was a shorter session as the games were held earlier in the afternoon than usual since the closing ceremony was being held that night. We discussed things which we were not completely certain about: we talked about game winning penalties again as it was causing confusion for some. One thing we learned was that you have to switch the order of taker after the first 3 shots are taken. Now we know for sure, right girls :)

We also talked about how if your helmet comes off you cannot put it on and continue play; you must come off even if you do have it on again. We also spoke about throwing the stick and having 2 sticks in your hand, which caused major confusion, but is clear now! You can have 2 sticks, just as long as you don’t take part or try to take part in the play of the game. We were also shown where to find the game officials handbook on the IIHF website (www.iihf.com).

The closing ceremony was then held later on that night. We had a lovely meal and all the teams including ourselves, equipment managers and team leaders all had our little party pieces to show off. It started off with the teams and then to us. We all stood up at the top of the hall with our jerseys on us and our hands behind our backs. Karolin (Sweden) introduced us to the rest of the teams / personnel there and our conductor Jacqui raised her arms, and we all raised our whistles to our lips. The reaction by the audience was amazing, even before we blew our whistles!!! Then we started into our fantastic song. We played ‘Mary had a little lamb’ with our whistles, of course recorded by the teams and can currently be found on YouTube if you fancy it.

All in all, it was a fantastic week had by all and I really enjoyed it. The girls, the instructors, the IIHF staff, everyone was amazing. I can’t wait to meet everyone again and hopefully sooner rather then later.

A week I will never forget and never want to forget.

Author: Elaine McCann

We had more of the skating tests today. We did the figure -8 and GPS/4-man test. Again we warmed up very well before hand and had a good cool down afterwards.

Once we had finished up there, it was to the ‘Bubble’ again for our 5th day in the class; we went through the changes to the rule book as it just changed over to the new 2010-2014 version. We also went through coincidental penalties in depth, trying out loads of different ways it could happen and what to do.

We also discussed mental training - preparing for the game and the concentration that is needed for the game. We also talk about being in control - preparing, fitness, presentation, tone of your whistle. We even discussed steering your mind - breathing, listening to music, progressive muscle relaxation training. The last topic area was relaxation- imagination, self-coaching and positive thinking.

Later that evening, I had my 3rd game…

Author: Elaine McCann

Much to our delight as you can imagine, we had some skating tests on ice today, so we had a very good warm up outside, using all the helpful hints we had been given earlier in the week. The tests today were 40m forward, 40m backward and the pylon test. More tests tomorrow…

Back to the ‘Bubble’ again for our 4th day in the class; we discussed working with media, how to use it as a good tool to communicate, about spectators, and about openness and having nothing to hide. After games the referee should be available to talk but not a press conference, but the referee should be allowed to cool down and shower first.

We spoke about qualities of an official including, skating, rules, positioning, body image, fitness, confidence, understanding of the game, behaviour, teamwork, signals, self control. Also how you need to practice well and hard, learn all the time, take responsibility for your actions, have discussions with more experienced persons.

We spoke about how to communicate; whether verbally or non verbally, like using your body language, facial expressions, gestures, physical appearance. When speaking with the coach; go to the bench on your own terms and not when waved to, be on the same level as the coach. We then had a guest speaker/doctor in to talk to us about fitness and nutrition.

Author: Elaine McCann

Wednesday was technically our day-off but we had to get up even earlier!!!!!!

We were up and about very early so we could get all the team and group photos taken on the ice. If I remember right we were on the ice at 7am getting the photos taken, so had to be at the rink at 6.45am.

Afterwards we headed up to the hotel for breakfast, although at this stage everyone was worried because we had been told we had a test before we headed off to Helsinki at 12. We knew the teams were having skills tests so we were wondering what was in store for us!

We met with Jacqui outside the ‘Bubble’ but to our utmost delight we were then told we were playing some Frisbee golf. We had seen the baskets when we were out for our little walks but for most of us we had never seen or played the game before so it was very good.

We just had to avoid the people and the trees, and at one point we had to avoid the red team who were having some lessons in stick handling and shooting just to the side of where our basket/target was. Although according to Jacqui, if we hit one of their coaches we got 100 points, so it was tempting!!!

When the game finished, everyone rounded up and we counted our scores. In 1st place was Jacqui with the help of Jukka (one of the coaches) who had clearly played ALOT before, and in 2nd was us, Myself ,Martha (Poland) and Genevieve (Canada).

After that we headed off to Helsinki with our tour guide Jukka. We had a bus tour round the city and stopped in the city centre to explore. We headed to the market and then through the city for a walk towards a lovely big shopping centre, to everyone’s delight.

Author: Elaine McCann

We started off today with our warm up BUT this time it was conducted by Danielle Goyette. Danielle who won Olympic gold twice as well as 7 gold medals in the world championships for Canada, fairly put us through our paces.

Danielle took our ice session as well; it really was amazing to have this opportunity. She thought us how to skate properly using the flat of our blades, proper stance, using the inside and outside of our blades while skating and took each of us one by one to help us and to show us what we could improve on and what to do. I didn’t want to leave the ice.

Again we finished our ice session off with a game of hand ball, which, as everyday passed seemed to be getting more and more competitive and rough Then we headed all tired after our good ice session to the 3rd day in the class. In teams of 3 we got together and discussed different game procedures and presented them to the rest of the class and supervisors.

These were:
•Line changing procedure
•Assessing penalties
•Disputed goal
•Calling delayed penalties
•Penalty shot procedure
•Writing a game report (which was mine)

We also discussed altercations and whether it was verbal, direct or whether to stand back and also about equipment measurement. We spoke about situations were the linesman CAN stop play, which include, net out of position, offside, icings, high-sticking, injury, hand pass, puck out of field, interference with fans, wrong face-off.

We then again in groups of 3 discussed linesmen duties:
•Pre-game / between periods / after-game
•Face off procedure encroachment
•Were face off are taken !!!
•Off sides and positioning
•Icing and positioning
•Fights

Tonight I had my second game which went well and even managed to go to a penalty shootout which we thought would never end!!!

That night we (the officials) got to go down to the sauna and the lake, 2 of the girls Senowva and Katie, took up the courage to jump off the 10ft diving board. We then headed up to the hotel and gathered together to watch the world cup game…

Author: Elaine McCann

Early start again, to be on the ice all warmed up for 8am. Our on-ice session consisted of; wave offs, direct offside calls, calling offside, goalie stopping play, dropping the puck some hard skating and then a game of handball on-ice.

Then we headed to the ‘bubble’ for our 2nd day in the class; We had a quick run through the Officiating procedures manual, the new 2010-2014 rule book, and the case book. We checked IIHF.com to see were all the documents we could need would be. We also looked through the game officials hand book, which has things like the nomination process and what to do before you travel and at the event.

The referees remained inside to practice referees procedures, but luckily we (the linesmen) went outside again to the glorious sunshine to do our linesmen procedures. Some of the linesmen procedures were; when the goalie stops play, both linesmen go in quickly, then the closer person picks the puck up and the second stays between the players and goes back towards the benches with the players. Not skating behind the net after marking off sides – go direct because it is quicker – working the line and penalty shot procedure.

When we went back inside it was explained to us why game and officiating supervision is necessary. My favourite line to come from that session was “YOU NEVER GET A CHANCE TO MAKE A 1ST IMPRSESSION.” We spoke about acceptance and successfulness of officiating games, like being decisive, your mechanics and procedures, how you cope under pressure, making ‘tough calls’, good appearance, people skills, taking charge, body language, mannerisms and maturity.

Also we spoke about what makes an official and what would be on your check list, some include; body language, consistency, respect, choosing your words carefully, admitting when your wrong, every game is as important as the next, accept teaching, listen and learn, ask for help, read rule book regularly, do not even up games, respecting your part of the game.

Lastly, I was on the ice for a game tonight and had my 1st supervision assessment.

Author: Elaine McCann

The IIHA supports this event and is encouraging everyone to take advantage of this once and a life time opportunity to see ice hockey at its best. This is the first time an NHL team has ever played a team from the Elite Ice Hockey League and the first time an Elite League All-Star team has been assembled to take on one of the best teams in the world.

Tickets for the game between the Boston Bruins & the Giants Elite League Selects on October 2nd 2010 are on sale now and can be purchased from the Odyssey Arena Box Office, telephone number 028 9073 9074, or from Ticketmaster by calling 0844 2774455 or by logging onto www.ticketmaster.ie.

PLANNING TO COME AS A GROUP?
Group Booking enquiries for Travelling Supporters can be made through the Giants office by speaking directly to Shauna on 07547 163627 or by emailing office@belfastgiants.com. The Giants are happy to offer assistance for your group including assistance with hotel bookings, ferry travel and group ticket information.

VIP PACKAGES & CORPORATE SUITES
There are a limited number of VIP packages available, including the best seats in the house, access to the Bruins training session on the morning of the game, two course fork buffet and welcome drink in the private VIP Bar before and during the match. VIP Experience Tickets are £150 each.

Corporate Suites are nearly all booked, but if you or your company are interested in booking a suite, including food and drink, please get in touch with the Giants. Corporate Suite enquiries and VIP Package enquires should be made directly to the Belfast Giants Office by emailing office@belfastgiants.com or by calling 07547 163627.

Author: Martin Grant

We were up nice and early at 6.30am for breakfast. We were the 1st group on the ice each day, before any of the teams, so we headed down to the rink to warm up at 7.30am and be on the ice for 8am.

Unfortunately as my gear/bag had not arrived I couldn’t take part on the on-ice session.
The on-ice session involved, forward skating, backward skating, signals (arm-up/washout), puck drops and some hard skating.

Then we headed up to the ‘bubble’ for our 1st day in the class;
We spoke about our goals - Improve our skills
Evaluate our performances
How to use IIHF tools and materials
Finding new names for future tournaments
Making new friends

We also discussed and watched a video about “Officiating standards” and what is needed in the female game.

We discussed penalty assessment, what we felt were penalties and what were not, also about being alert for any pulls and tugs in games.
We went through all the calls and what decisions should be made, and then went outside to the lovely sunshine for some penalty demos.

We discussed in depth - ‘Women’s body checking’, whether there were accidental or intentional hits, intent to play the puck or play the body, players stepping into oncoming players, being illegal to skate through or over a player, fighting for the puck, levels of contact and how it must not escalate.

The game protocol was explained to us and what they wanted from us during the games we were officiating at the camp.

We spoke about our ‘Career path program’ , how they monitor the progress of everyone involved, preparing development for high and lower levels, and about how they make nominations fair and consistent to all involved.

We then quickly looked through the off ice officials handbook before we got ready for the games later that day.

Later that day the games were held, the 1st game, and then the 2nd two games were held at the same time in the 2 ice surfaces.

That night we had the opening ceremony down by the lake in the marquee. We had several guest speakers, including the IIHF president and vice president. When all the teams headed back up towards the rooms, we stayed behind and had the pleasure of meeting the IIHF President Mr Rene Fasel.

Thankfully our bags arrived late that night :)

Author: Elaine McCann

While at the camp, the players (Cherise McCaughley and Clara O’Reilly) experienced world class coaching and had an opportunity to play with the best players from all over the world. The coach, Vytautas Lukosevicius of the Dundalk Bulls Ladies, learned the most modern coaching techniques from Canada’s Danielle Goyette as he looked after Team Blue for the week. The IIHA’s Women’s Development Officer, Ashley Moore, attended the Women’s Leadership Seminar which discussed all the different aspects of the women’s game. Ashley now brings back all the different ideas and programmes used to develop the game all throughout the world.

While one of the IIHA’s up and coming on ice officials, Elaine McCann, was put through her paces as she learned what it is that the world’s top officials do to make it to the top and stay there. Below Elaine gives a day by day account of her experiences at the camp in her blog ''Vierumaki - The Officials’ Experience.'' You can follow Elaine’s blog every day here on iiha.org over the next week.

Day 1 - Saturday, 3rd July 2010
(Arrival Day)

We arrived safe and well in Vierumaki after our long flights, were we were met at the airport by the IIHF staff, which was very willing to help us out with our lost luggage. Unfortunately it didn’t have a safe journey like we had. As soon as a few other flights arrived in, we headed off to the bus to take us to the camp.

As we all arrived we were given our name tags and room keys. Then when all the officials received our tags and keys we were brought over to where our classroom was to be given our tracksuits, t-shirts, base ball cap and computer bag. We then dropped our stuff in our rooms and went to the dining room to eat.

After dinner, we (the officials) had our 1st meeting down in the ‘Bubble’, as it is called were our classroom sessions were held. There we met up with all of our instructors and with one another. We all discussed about what we wanted to get out of the camp, and got to know one another, and were we were all from.

After our session, we all headed off as a group to wander around the area to see what we could find and see. Then as most of us had a long trip over we headed to bed nice and early.

Author: Elaine McCann