Kings Youth Camp: Building Future Hockey Players
- Updated: August 15, 2015
The LA Kings kicked off their annual Youth Camp this Sunday with a warm welcome from camp veteran and Kings alumni Daryl Evans, the Kings Ice Crew, and of course Kings mascot Bailey. The camp is open to kids 5-15 years old who want to train like a King for a week.
Devon Cole, who stands the only girl in a locker room full of boys, is here for her second year at camp. “Last year I was a forward but I liked goalie better. There’s a goalie coach, Brian. He’s awesome.” She gets her inspiration from Kings goalie Jonathan Quick. ” He’s really nice actually. He’s super humble and everything, he’s awesome. We only had Matt Greene skating with us but that was really fun.” Ethan Beane, who’s lacing up his skates, pipes in. Matt Greene is his favorite player. ” I’ve met him a couple of times. Yesterday when we were on the ice I asked him what my name was and he told me. Sometimes he lets us cut to the front of the line at Tip-A-King.” Ethan has been here for six years, and only has one complaint. “I want to be a goalie but my parents won’t let me. It’s too expensive.” Cole, however, wants to take it all the way. “I wanna go to college as a goalie and maybe even farther but we’ll see when we get there. The first time I stepped on the ice I just loved it and I loved watching Jonathan Quick so I wanted to be a goalie and it’s like my favorite thing. I actually just moved to Mammoth two years ago, and there’s not really a hockey team up there so we’re trying to figure out if we can drive up to Tahoe, but that would be really hard because it’s far so practices it’s far so I won’t be able to make them.”
If you think driving from Mammoth to Tahoe is a distance, there are children who’ve come all the way from Korea, Mexico and China just to be at the camp. “Hockey is more developed in the US; we don’t have a camp like this (in China),” says Jean Wang, mother of Troy Mao, who joins the camp for the first time this year. “From the first time he skated on the ice, he loved it. He wanted to understand how the kids here get practiced. The training is not the same. We’re very happy with the camp.” Mao is one of three other boys who came from China; when they got here they discovered tow other boys in a different group from a place just outside of the city where they live. “He and his classmates admire the NHL. It’s very popular in China. The team competition in Ho
ng Kong, their team is also called the Kings.” Mao enjoys the off ice training the best. “The grassland here is better than in China. It’s the most tiring but it’s the most fun.” Wang notices that the dynamic in the locker room is also different here. “Usually kids this age in China the patents will help. Here it’s much more independent.”
The camp consists of three groups of 45 kids each who split their time between off ice training for strength and endurance, puck handling drills, and skating. Daryl Evans makes sure he is the one who trains them in the skating section. “I put a lot of emphasis on the skating part of it,” Evans says. “I feel like if the kids learn what a good foundation skating wise underneath them the game will come easier for them. So I make sure that I do all the power skating sessions and you know I wish I could be on both sheets every time but there’s only one of me but I know they’re in good hands on the other side. I really enjoy teaching the skating element, just the basics, the fundamentals, just to get them a real solid foundation.”
Youth Camp lasts a week and concludes with a day of mock games and an award ceremony.
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