Sarnia "new" program

[RecKing]

This is a press release issued by the Sarnia Legionnaires about a "new program" ...well actually it may be packaged something new, but in reality, many West Conference teams have been doing these thing for many, many years, they just don't roll it into one entity and raise hoopla about it:

The Sarnia Legionnaires have launched two new programs that head coach Mark Davis says should help the club recruit top-flight talent.

Davis said the Program of Excellence, along with the Empower Play SAT Preparation Program, will give the Jr. 'B' hockey club a leg up when it comes to attracting players.te

"I've coached a couple of teams,” Davis joked (he's actually coached half a dozen junior clubs) “and there's nobody around who's got this. Both programs are amazing. Once parents take a look at this, you're going to see a lot of kids wanting to come to Sarnia...This is awesome. This is huge for the Sarnia Legionnaires.”

Noeleen Tyczynski, who developed the Program of Excellence, said it will provide opportunities both on and off the ice for quality training time and coaching instruction.
Among other things, the program will do the following:
Provide players with exposure to college and/or university recruiters and will assist individual players with the appropriate skill set to explore opportunities to play at a higher level. All players will have personalized hockey resumes developed, along with a video reel that will capture their highlight moments throughout the season.
The Legionnaires will offer, in partnership with Empower Play, the opportunity for players to enroll in SAT (the scholastic aptitude test or scholastic assessment test) academic prep classes and complete SAT testing. Based on test results, academic supports will be implemented to assist players to improve further testing results.
The team will engage with academic advisers to track and support players' scholastic progress both at the high school and college level for players enrolled in schools within Sarnia-Lambton.
The Legionnaires will offer players access to a full complement of health and wellness professionals from the team kinesiologist, dentist, chiropractor, conditioning specialist, career counsellors, life coach, academic advisers and public health educators.
The team will ensure each player will have a personal assessment at the beginning of the season to develop a life plan.
Each player will also be provided with access to a gym membership and a personal trainer.
The Legionnaires will also provide opportunities for players with respect to social development, which may include opportunities to participate in community events, charitable fundraisers and fan appreciation activities.
The team will also introduce a speakers series which will bring in guest speakers to talk about such things as health, nutrition, self-care and dealing with the pressure of playing a competitive sport.


Empower Play
The Empower Play program will be led by Sarnia Collegiate student services curriculum leader Ryan Bedard.
It will consist of three phases designed to prepare elite athletes (as well as other youth) for writing their SATS successfully.
The program will be available to Legionnaire players at no charge.
Among other things, information will be provided on writing SATS and tips and will be based on the curriculum provided by the the US Colleges Board.
These sessions will be held at SCITS, just down the street from Sarnia Arena.
There will also be official practice test sessions and tutoring sessions.


New sponsorship
The Legionnaires also announced Stokes Bay will be a sponsor of the club. Fans are encouraged to come to the restaurant on game nights, where a bus will take them to and from the games. There will also be specials offered.[/b][/b]

As for preparing player for life - many young players have absolutely no idea what profession they want to enter or at least have narrowed occupations down to a few. The only way to prepare these players for heading out into the world is provide them with positive influences and guide them into making choices which will lead them to better lives.