Welcome to the third year of Spring Warrior Academy! Our programs will feature a curriculum designed and led by our new Hockey Director Jimmy Warrick and Assistant Hockey Director Charlie Widmar, which strongly emphasizes skill development and application in competitive situations. Warrior Academy will run from April 3 through May 24, 2024.

We will offer two distinct seven week programs suited for the needs of youth hockey players:

Approach

Warrior Academy will, once again, focus heavily on individual skill acquisition and application in competitive situations to develop better hockey players. For optimal player development USA hockey recommends a practice/skill session-to-game ratio of 3:1 for most of our levels. Because our regular season schedule makes this ratio nearly impossible, we believe we can use the spring season to accelerate the development of our players.

This year, each birth year will have one skills session per week and we will run one team practice per week, which will feature shared ice for Mites and Squirts and a full ice practice for each PeeWee team. We recognize that the winter season is demanding of both our players and parents time, and we appreciate your continued commitment to our hockey club.

In the spring, we encourage our players to pursue other athletic interests. With the exception of Friday night optional drop in skates and tournaments, we have limited all Warrior Academy ice slots this spring to Monday - Thursday in an effort to create more time for our players to pursue outside interests during the spring season.

We will still offer a minimum of 8 games/scrimmages per team this spring, but the emphasis will be on skill development. Development will be guided by our programs Green Line Characteristics (see below).

“The best way to improve is not by playing more games than an NHLer, but through station-based practices. The number of puck touches and constant activity that take place in a well-run 50-minute practice far outweigh what transpires in a game. One properly run practice is the equivalent of 11 games when it comes to puck touches” - USA Hockey

Skill Session Curriculum

• Skills Sessions: Age-appropriate skills will be introduced (e.g., skating technique, shooting, etc.)
• Position Specific Clinics: Select skills sessions will separate defensemen and forwards to work on position specific skills (less position specific emphasis will exist at Mite level). 
• Scrimmages & Small Area Games: Competitive games designed to test and apply new skills.
• Teams/Groups: Skills session groups will contain similarly skilled players (e.g., top 2 team candidates grouped together) and be on the ice together 2-3 times a week. 
• Goalie Clinics: Led by Stu Gould and Good as Gould Goalie School staff.

Teams and Skill Session Group Selection

Teams and skill session groups will be determined based on regular season performance and / or an on-ice evaluation during the week of March 11th. Players in one group can be moved between groups during spring based on performance. Our objective is to group similarly skilled players together. 

Games & Tournaments Teams

• Each player will play in a minimum of 8 games through either local tournaments and/or local games/scrimmages.
• Tournament participation will depend on the strength of team per level but will likely include tournaments such as The Glacier Invitational, Battle on the Border, Windy City Rumble, and Chi-Town Shuffle. 
• Games and tournament teams will be formed based on evaluation in March. That being said, players can earn a spot on a higher team’s roster for a tournament or game and those changes will be made directly with families. While games/tournament team rosters will largely stay the same, we want to offer kids “on the bubble” the chance to work hard and have the opportunity to be pushed in game situations. 

Participation

• This program will be offered for the following levels / birth years: Mites (2016-17), Squirts (2014-15), and PeeWees (2012-13).
• Programs for Bantams (2010-11) are available through North Shore Hockey Club, our joint program with Wilmette Hockey Association.
• Players are welcome from inside and outside of the New Trier Township. 

Dates

Evaluations: Week of March 11^th, 2024

Season: Monday, April 1– May 24, 2024. Skills sessions days will depend on level and team assignment.

Fee

$975 (goalies are $475).

Warrior Academy Group and Team Selection

Team Selection

Warrior Academy teams will be determined by the club’s coaching staff. Groups will be determined based on fall/winter season performance and the March evaluation period. Input to this performance will come from working directly with players during skills sessions throughout the year and consulting with coaches. Player’s placement will be emailed and posted on or before March 18^th. We anticipate these groups/teams to largely remain consistent throughout the spring, but our program will review “bubble kids” throughout the spring and invite them individually to join another group as appropriate.

Game & Tournament Selection

We expect every team to play a minimum of 8 games and/or scrimmages and participate in two local tournaments, though this is subject to change based on tournament bracket availability.

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