After a one-year hiatus, the Warner Hockey School is back up and running for the 2017-18 school year. In 2016, the program was unable to ice a team, when it failed to secure the commitments necessary.
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Now under a new regime, the once proud program is returning as the Southern Alberta Xtreme. It will operate as a sister school to a hockey academy out of Devon, Alta. called Northern Alberta Xtreme Hockey. The team plans to open up play in October, but the work is just beginning.
“Just putting together the right roster we have in… this short timeframe. We’re drawing on every resource that we have to find the right girls that’ll put the product on the ice that we want,” program director Mike Carlsen said.
The team was formed in June and is three months behind in recruiting compared to other academies. In an effort to entice new talent, the group hosted 15 players this weekend for an evaluation camp.
“You see it on a website or I can tell you about it, but you walk in that dressing room or the dorm or the rink, it’s a whole different thing,” Carlsen said.
As of July 30, the team had five players officially committed but it’s confident it will gain the 15 needed to field a team. The team will not play in a league in 2017, instead playing in showcase games against academies across western Canada. The goal is to show off the team’s talent and hopefully generate scholarship opportunities.
“We want to showcase the girls. We have two exposure tournaments — one out in Chicago and another in Montreal — skating for CIS (Canadian Interuniversity Sport) schools out there and then going across the border and skating with NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) schools,” Carlsen said. “We’ll also play other academies from Vancouver Island, all the way out to the Winnipeg area.”
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Southern Alberta Xtreme is still working on getting the players, but it already has a head coach in place. Like many good relationships, it started with a cup of coffee.
“We ended up meeting up at Starbucks and I just said: ‘You know what? I’m willing to help in any way you guys want,’” Joel Dyck said. “Then next thing you know Mike said: ‘Would you be interested in being head coach?’ And I (said): ‘Of course.’”
Dyck, of Lethbridge, is the head coach and brings a wealth of pro hockey experience in Japan to the team.
“There’s a lot of girls that want to play female hockey and want to excel and want to get scholarships and go to the next level and we just want to be a part of it,” Dyck said.
The Warner Hockey School made its name putting all its focus on the female game, something camp attendee Emily Straw appreciates.
“I think it’s incredible that they’re giving this opportunity to girls and not guys, because I normally see guys taking the main light at hockey schools,” Straw said. “To see that a girls’ team is what they focus on — and that the whole town is pretty excited about it — is pretty cool.”
The team still has a long way to go but with strong community backing, the hope is the storied program is back for good.
“It’s just something that they (the community) want to do for someone else and it’s always: ‘How can we help you?’ Or: ‘What do you need from us?’ It’s just special,” Carlsen said.
The head coach and program director of the Southern Alberta Xtreme are not employed by the Horizon School Division.
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