First-timers relish Skills Development Camp experience

Nearly 40 athletes from six different countries took part in the third edition of the World Para Ice Hockey (WPIH) Skills Development camp last weekend (7-11 November) in Dolny Kubin, Slovakia, including first-timers Hungary, Ukraine and the Netherlands.

World Para Ice Hockey, the International Federation of the fastest-paced Paralympic winter sport, is working to grow the game and athlete development pipeline and also brought in participants to the camp from Slovakia, France and Finland. Seven of them were women, enhancing the development pipeline to grow the female game as well.

“The interest in World Para Ice Hockey is growing every year, and this was showcased by the number of future athletes who expressed interest in coming to Slovakia to participate in our Skills Development Camp,” said Michelle Laflamme, World Para Ice Hockey Manager. 

“Hosting camps such as these are vital to the future of our sport — both for athletes and coaches — and what help nations in aspiring to compete for Paralympic medals one day to either build or better their foundational base for their national programme.”

“We learned a lot of individual skills and also a lot of exercises to set a decent training to improve the skill level in the whole of the Netherlands,” said Dutch player Roelof Burghoorn. “This knowledge and information are welcome and very much needed as the sport needs a lot of growth and professionalization in a small ice hockey country like the Netherlands. And of course, we had al lot of fun and enjoyed the interaction with the other teams.”

The third and final day of the Skills Development Camp here in Dolný Kubín has concluded and it was a blast! 🏒#ParaIceHockey #BreakTheIceBreakBarriers @Citi @ParaSport pic.twitter.com/554kvPwS09

— Para Ice Hockey (@paraicehockey) November 10, 2024

The camp was hosted by the National Paralympic Committee (NPC) of Slovakia and presented by Citi, a founding partner of the International Paralympic Committee’s (IPC) PARA SPORT grassroots to high performance programme. Slovakia’s Para ice hockey programme provided the Ukrainian participants with equipment at the camp to ensure their participation with the proper accommodations needed.

“It was a pleasure to host the Skills Development Camp in Slovakia and it’s wonderful to know we’ve made an impact on advancing Para ice hockey in the region,” said Tomas Varga, Executive Director of Sports for NPC Slovakia.

Espen Hedge of Norway, Emma Poynton of Australia and Jiri Briza of Czechia were the three coaches who led the camp, which included both on and off-ice training, along with video analysis sessions.

Since its debut at the Lillehammer 1994 Winter Games, Para ice hockey has grown exponentially and is now played in 20 different countries around the world. The last two iterations of the World Para Ice Hockey Skills Development Camp were held in Thailand in 2023 and Czechia in 2021.