Myra Kettles Training on the Synthetic Ice Treadmilll at G and G in Kitchener, Ontario

 

There are a lot of different training opportunities available for ice sport athletes in this day and age allowing them to play their sport year-round. Synthetic ice tiles and treadmills never melt.

 

Other opportunities include developing reflexes through Virtual Reality (VR), small ice rinks, outdoor rinks, and specialized coaches providing training and technique development specific to the player. All of these opportunities are available to athletes right here in Waterloo Region.

 

To learn more about training opportunities during the off season for skate sports, I sat down with the owner of G and G Skate Training, Larry Gable, and Rocco, the owner of Cambridge Crease.

 

G and G Skate Training has many different training opportunities, from synthetic ice treadmills, to a sense arena. There is a tool with a purpose behind every training opportunity, but most importantly, there is an achievement goal for those athletes. I asked Larry and Rocco: “What is the goal for their athletes?”

 

Larry responded: “The main goal I strive for my students to accomplish is to be [a] better all around player, and person. The workouts that are done can be strenuous at times, and the goal setting teaches the players about hard work and determination which stays with them throughout life--life skills”.

 

Rocco shared similar feedback: “Get better at what you do, and own your skills to get to the next level. Some [players] come to us to sharpen their skills, others come to learn, and some come for distraction from life.”

 

Hard work and determination are great lessons to learn. When a workout gets hard, you want to give up, and not continue pushing yourself. If you're determined to get through it and finish, the hard work, and discipline that has been developed at a young age is going to be super beneficial for you in the future--not just as an athlete.

 

Behind the scenes of all these training facilities there is always an origin story, so I asked Larry: “Why did you decide to open G and G”?

He answered: “I had been teaching fundamentals for twelve years, and found out about the skating treadmill through a friend. I thought this would be a great opportunity to serve the community. My thinking was if I didn’t do this someone else [would].”

 

I asked Rocco a similar question about Cambridge Crease:

“That was a long time ago.”, he reminisced. “As you know, Jake [my son] is 24 years old, and I finished at the higher levels of hockey.. It’s one of those things where my friend asked me if I wanted to help my kid on the ice?” .

 

“I got my own synthetic ice, my own boards, and it was actually in an arena. It was thirty-three feet long, and eighteen feet wide. I would train goalies on the side while practices were going on. A friend had built a rink in his backyard, and asked if I wanted to use it--that’s where we took off. I’ve been coaching Junior Hockey for twelve years now."

 

New training technology recently introduced includes a sense arena. The space uses virtual reality to better improve athletes’ skills. This unique approach to training for ice sports piqued my interest, so I had to ask about the technology behind the arena.

Larry explained: “The technology is much the same as training to become an airplane pilot. [Athletes] train in virtual [game] settings to be ready for the real thing. Sense arena trains your brain through reaction and quick thinking, which can also prepare a player more effectively for the ice.”

 

There is a lot of really cool ways in our community for goalies, and ice-athletes to improve their skills year-round.