News

Buffalo, NY Camp

June 9th - 12th, 2011

I (Dave Hinz) have attended the Weekend Warriors camp in Buffalo two years in a row - I highly recommend this camp for ANY adult recreational hockey player - please read below for my personal recommendation!

What is Weekend Warriors?

Weekend Warriors Adult Hockey Academy is an ice hockey camp experience that offers a weekend of fun, learning and camaraderie. The camps are designed exclusively for adult recreational players.
Weekend Warriors is NOT a fantasy camp where you come to meet current or former NHL players, and they make no apologies for this. For you, the player, the fantasy lies in the reality that a man or woman can learn (or re-learn) this game as an adult, and obtain a lifetime of joy from it.

Why Weekend Warriors?

Most hockey camps are for kids. Weekend Warriors is the only camp designed exclusively for adults. How are they different?

The camps are offered in an extended weekend format for the busier schedules of adults.
The curriculum and teaching methods are designed for the different ways that adults learn.
They provide individual attention, with low player to coach ratios, and coaches that are highly focused on providing feedback to you.
The camps are located in destination cities and locations to offer a wide variety of activities off the ice. From dining to nightlife to tours and more, our camps offer the perfect balance of fun, both on and off the ice.

My personal recommendation of the camp:

I had a great time! (And you will too!)
I met lots of other recreational adult players, all of whom, like myself, started playing as an adult.
The coaches were awesome!
Most important - I improved as a hockey player and am having more fun playing the game today as a result!

To start off, the Weekend Warriors camp I went to in Buffalo was everything I hoped for and more!

I think I benefited tremendously from the program; it’s not that I left the camp on Sunday and was instantly a ton better, instead, what I learned at camp I applied and practiced in pickup games and stick times back here in Erie since then and I think any of my teammates will say I’ve really begun to play at a higher level since then.

As far as the camp itself, there’s plenty of on-ice time each day, as well as off-ice classroom sessions. One of the unique things that really helped my skating was the individual video review that they do… you never see yourself skate, so it’s tough to see exactly what you’re doing wrong/where to improve, but having the video and the coaches’ feedback was invaluable and I’ve improved both my backwards and forwards strides.

The coaches are all awesome – none of them are into berating players or skating everyone into the ground. They all kept it extremely fun, and there were plenty of coaches on ice to give individual instruction from time to time (rather than just having a coach or two running drills). I really had fun getting to know some of the other guys on my “team” as well…there were players from all over the country, but everyone had the same background as a hockey player – started as an adult, recreational player, wants to improve and have fun. Of course I highly recommend that if you have the opportunity this season, be it in Buffalo or elsewhere that you give it a try. I plan on attending again this year! For me, it was well worth the money and I could only start to list the areas that my game has improved!

Any questions? I'd be very happy to share any other details or recommendations - email me at dhinz@eriehockey.com.

Website and More Information

Visit http://www.weekendwarriorshockey.com/ for more information, or see their full 2011 camp list at http://www.weekendwarriorshockey.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=46&Itemid=138. You can also email rparisi12@gmail.com for more information.