Jocelyn Keinanen
An exchange student from Kierspe, Germany, Laura Toews wanted to experience a little bit more of Canada.
So she enrolled in the Hockey Canada Skills Academy program at Morden Collegiate Institute in Manitoba, getting onto the ice for the first time with the help of her teachers and family, who helped gather all the equipment she needed.
Laura’s positive attitude and eagerness to get better was what made teaching her so much fun. What were her favourite parts of the HCSA experience?
“I’ll never forget the first day finishing a drill, being last, and when I stopped the rest of the class clapped their sticks on the ice for me. My face was red, but I was proud of myself.”
“I won’t forget the first time I tricked the goalie and scored my first goal.” “Looking at my skills test results and seeing huge improvements from the beginning of the year.”
“Discovering that ‘helmet hair’ actually exists.
With a confidence she didn’t have at the start of the program, Laura is eager to get back home to Germany at the end of the school year and share her new-found love for Canada’s game with her family.
And what will her lasting memory of the HCSA be?
“I feel like this is suitable for everyone who wants to learn how to play hockey, but also wants to strengthen their character,” she says. “Someone who is wanting to challenge themselves and build up their patience and confidence. Someone who likes to have fun and likes to feel like you belong to a team. And if you come out learning a few hockey skills, then that is a bonus.”