The NZIHF is pleased to announce that two coaches from USA Hockey will be joining the NZIHF Youth Development Camp in Auckland, to be held between 25-28 October.
Players and coaches who attend the camp will be joined by Ken Martel – Senior Director of Player & Coach Development – and Heather Mannix – Manager of Education & Player Development.
These camps are available to all male and female players, born from 2006 through to 2017. Coaches will group players by appropriate age and level of experience.
Our aim is to provide New Zealand’s youth players with a FUN and age-appropriate on and off-ice training. Training in the camp is largely based off of USA Hockey’s use of small area skills and station work.
Limited places are remaining, and this is the last youth development camp in Auckland – don’t miss out!
Find out more and register here: https://www.nzicehockey.co.nz/2024-youth-development-camp-registrations-open/
With over 25 years of experience in player development and a long history as a coach with USA Hockey, Ken Martel was named senior director of player and coach development in November 2022. He is charged with helping provide a framework for associations nationwide to follow for optimal athlete development.
From 2009-22 Martel served as the technical director of USA Hockey’s American Development Model after spending two years (2006-08) at USA Hockey’s national office in Colorado Springs, Colo., working on coaching education and player development initiatives. For his efforts using science to advance sport, Martel received the USOC “Doc” Councilman Award for Ice Hockey in 2004.
Heather Mannix joined USA Hockey in November, 2019 as ADM manager of female hockey. She specifically works with local hockey associations and programs nationwide to support age-appropriate training, competition and long-term athlete development.
Growing up playing hockey in the Detroit metro area with both the Michigan Capitals and Little Caesars programs, Mannix comes to USA Hockey with a background in sport and exercise psychology and has spent the past six years working on federally funded research focused on what makes playing sports fun for children, in an effort to sustain youth sports participation.
