Team Canada's Brad Bowden Works with Bear Creek's Academy Students

Brad Bowden works with HCSA students

Brad Bowden works with HCSA students

Brad Bowden works with HCSA students

The Bear Creek Hockey Canada Skills Academy at Bear Creek Secondary School in Barrie, Ontario has had a successful beginning to its' inaugural campaign as a Skills Academy with guest speakers, field trips, ice times three days a week, and an enthusiastic administration and volunteer base providing the opportunity for Academy students to pursue the challenge of improving their hockey skills.

At the beginning of November, the students in Bear Creek's HCSA had the privilege of a visit from Hockey Canada National Sledge Team veteran, three-time world champion, MVP of the 2010 Paralympic Games, 2006 Paralympic Gold Medalist, and 2014 Paralympic Bronze Medalist, Brad Bowden. Bowden led an on-ice session, and afterwards participated in a question-and-answer session with Bear Creek’s Academy students.

Bowden started the ice session with safety tips for using the sledge, followed by teaching students how to maneuver the sledges around the ice and how to stop the sledge – not an easy task! Bowden then had students participate in an introductory game for understanding, followed by some individual skill work, ending the session with a scrimmage in which the students were eager to demonstrate their newly acquired skills.

Following the on-ice session, Bowden made himself available for a question-and-answer session with students. Each student had previously researched Bowden’s background and experiences, and had questions prepared which Bowden graciously answered. In response to student questions, he shared some of his favourite memories in the sport, his training methods, and advice on how to become - and stay - an elite athlete.

Following his experience with the Bear Creek Hockey Canada Skills Academy, Bowden relayed that he was impressed with Bear Creek’s Skills Academy program, particularly the caliber of Academy students and how willing they were to try something new. He said he “[h]ad a blast” and the “[k]ids were a joy to work with, would love to do more with Bear Creek in the near future.”

Edward Garinger, the Program Coordinator and Instructor of the Bear Creek Hockey Canada Skills Academy shared that “Brad is an excellent ambassador for his sport and for Hockey Canada. We are very thankful he took the time to share his knowledge and experiences with us. I really feel that having an athlete of Brad’s caliber share his experiences is beneficial to the improvement of our students, and I’m glad we are able to provide opportunities such as this for them.”

More information on Brad Bowden and his accomplishments can be found here: http://paralympic.ca/brad-bowden

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