Glen's back is healing after a sprain strain last week, still a ways to go though. Still planning for the Jan. 18th camp in China. Feel really bad that we had to cancel the Russian portion of the camps. Our friends in Russia were very understanding.
Please keep praying! Thanks.

YWAM Hockey RUSSIAN OUTREACH 2013
Dates: Dec 27-Jan10
Cost: contact Glen

We have 4-5 players who are interested!
Still need another 5-6 players and 2 goalies.
Send me an email at hockey@ywamhockey.com
Contact me by Oct 25/13 if you are interested.

I am looking to recruit 10-12 players and 1-2 goalies for a 14 day hockey outreach to Russia (Perm, Zelonodolsk, Nishny Tagil).
This opportunity is open to YWAM Hockey Alumni and your friends.
Your friend(s) must have excellent hockey skills.

Note: This is a hockey outreach so tax receipts are available.
Let me know ASAP if you have any interest.
God bless!

Glen Bueckert
Director/ Head Coach
YWAM Hockey
778-228-1283
ywamhockey.com

ANNOUNCEMENT

We have just been invited to NE Asia for 2 hockey camps this August.
Now we need to recruit hockey camp instructors. Must be at least 18 years old.
Hockey players in Asia love hockey and our team will have the privilege of building relationships through teaching hockey skills.
It's a once in a lifetime opportunity.
Contact me at hockey@ywamhockey.com for more info.

                                                      Glen coaching in SE Asia

New article about YWAM Hockey on NHL.com have a look:
Hockey is for Everyone
By Deborah Francisco

Bueckert, YWAM bring hockey to kids around globe

http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=654513&navid=nhl%3Atopheads

2013 YWAM HOCKEY CAMPS - for Boys and Girls age 8-16

Calgary July 15-19
Prince George 21-26
Kelowna Advanced Camp July 29-Aug 2
Kelowna Main Camp Aug 4-9

•Quality Hockey Instruction 
•Power Skating
•Goaltenders Program
•Dry-Land
•10 Ice Sessions
•Biblical Values
•Daily Chapel
•Ball Hockey Tournament
•Max. 28 Players and 4 Goaltenders per Group

FOR MORE INFO OR TO REGISTER: ywamhockey.com

Coming Soon...
Dates and Arena locations for 2013 YWAM Hockey Camps for Boys & Girls, ages 8-16:
Calgary
Prince George
Kelowna Advanced Camp- for rep players
Kelowna Main Camp

NEW this summer:
Power Skating Camps for Boys & Girls aged 5-7 at our Prince George & Kelowna Main Camps.

Also coming soon is more info on our Hockey Summer of Service and Hockey DTS

Check our website at ywamhockey.com for more info.

A Look Back at YWAM Hockey's Summer in China

By Debs Francisco, NHL.com staff writer

Debs Francisco is a staff writer and producer for NHL.com where she writes about the draft and youth hockey skills as well as coordinating content with all 30 NHL clubs on a nightly basis. She resides in New York City where she is a head coach with Ice Hockey in Harlem, part of the NHL's diversity hockey program. She also volunteers with YWAM Hockey's summer camps every summer. 

It was a crisp and cool summer evening as I sat to dinner with Glen and Lorrain Bueckert at a restaurant with a stunning view of Stanley Park and Vancouver Harbor. As the sun set over the bay, casting garish orange and yellow hues across the horizon, Glen shared his vision with me to bring an HSOS team to China the following summer to put on a week-long North American style hockey camp there. It would be YWAM Hockey's first ever attempt to replicate its Canadian summer camp format in a foreign setting. As he explained his hopes for the possible venture, my heart started pounding in my chest and knew that somehow, I would be a part of it.

Twelve months and one week later I arrived at the Vancouver International Airport with Glen and two other coaches to begin our venture to China. Glen and I were joined by Hannah Goossen, 24, a goalie and alumnus of the 2012 Hockey DTS and Jen Derksen, 19, a Winkler, MB native and defenseman extraordinaire. We would fly 13 hours to Guangzhou and connect to our final destination, Harbin, where we would meet up with fellow YWAM Hockey Coaches Art and his son Evan Kung and Shaun Cormier.

However, our journey was delayed six hours thanks to Tropical Storm Vicente meaning we would miss our connection in Guangzhou and have to stay the night in a hotel there before connecting to Harbin. All in all the delays meant we arrived in Harbin just 40 minutes before the start of hockey camp.

The local coaches lined the kids up for a debrief lecture at the end of each day.

Dryland was always a challenge with no translator.

A representative of the Zun Guan Ice Hockey Club greeted us at the airport and managed to stuff us and all of our luggage (including all of Hannah's goalie pads) into a small SUV - although he did have to tie down the back hatch with a shoelace. Forty-minutes later we spilled out of the SUV onto the pavement in front of the rink and were greeted by a gaggle of hockey-stick-waving young boys. The rest of that day is just a blur in my memory, thanks to the lack of sleep and the jet lag from our travels. I just know there were a ton of kids on both ice sessions, and way more goalies than we expected. Once we finally wrapped up our ice sessions and walked to a nearby hotel for our supper I was doing everything in my power to keep my eyes open while I shoveled cold Chinese food into my mouth. But before bed we had to pick up some breakfast food from the grocery store across the street from our hotel.

That simple task was much more complicated than it sounds. Everything was so foreign. All we wanted was something vaguely familiar to our Western senses to tide us over in the morning until our hot lunch. We wandered aisle after aisle not finding muffins or cereal or oatmeal or any sort of pastries.. We settled on some pears, some chocolate moon pies, and some vanilla wafer crackers.

Glen and Jordan address a group of kids on the ice.

We had to be on the ice at 6:30 a.m. for each day of camp, meaning we left our hotel at 5:45 a.m. sharp to walk to the rink. Jen and I led the younger group of kids. We had about 30 kids in our group from age 6 to 11. Art and Shaun led the older group with the help of Art's 11-year-old son, Evan. Hannah, and Glen stayed on the ice for all four ice sessions. Hannah had to work with 6 to 10 goalies each session, usually without the help of a fluent translator. Glen led all of the ice sessions along with our awesome translator, Jordan.

Both age groups rotated through two ice sessions, dryland, ball hockey and coaches talk each day. At the end of each day the head coach of the Zun Guan ice hockey program, Yin-Bin, would take us to dinner. At first we just ate at a hotel near the rink, but on one of the last nights Yin-Bin treated us to a dinner at his Uncle's famous Korean Barbeque restaurant. It was one of my highlights of the trip. We had no translator at that meal, but you don't need one when you're speaking primarily in laughter. Seriously, we laughed more than we talked at that dinner. The waiters brought out dish after dish of meats and spices and textures that I had never tasted before but each new one was better than the one that came before it. Yin-Bin's hospitality was over-the-top and when he realized we liked the flavor of the iced-tea he offered us he had one of the waiters run to the market on the corner and buy more for us. That meal was just the spark we needed to finish the camp strong.

Eating was the constant adventure but we smiled our way through

The last day of camp was unforgettable. Jordan had to return to his home city for work the next day and we were afraid we wouldn't have a translator for the last coaches talk but thank the Lord one of our local coaches, an American named Mark, was able to find a replacement translator.

At the last coaches talk I shared my story with the kids, telling them about how I ended up at the NHL and also what I'm all about. Shaun also shared his story and then Art wrapped up his week of talks with the theme of character.

Coach Glen

The last coaches talk was followed by final ice times. They were light-hearted but also fast paced. It was clear that the kids had improved over the week and they were able to keep up the quick pace of our final practice. We wrapped it up with shoot outs. First the kids, and then the coaches. They lauded us along as we took turns trying our flashiest moves. Everyone was most impressed with Jens' bar-down shot I think.

Saying goodbye to the kids was harder than I thought it would be. From teaching them how to high-five and say "Wussup?" to reminding them to bend their knees and keep their heads up on the ice, we had formed relationships with the 30 kids in our group and I hoped that we had somehow made a difference in their lives.

Jen, Debs, Hannah and Shaun on the last day in China.

Although camp had wrapped up our adventure in China was far from over.

We spent one day in Harbin as tourists, we all got sick, we took an 8-hour train ride to Beijing short one seat, and we spent three days seeing the sites in Beijing. Those things were fun and definitely part of the adventure, but the camp itself was the reason we had come to China and by far the best part of the trip for all of us. But don't take my word for it, check out what the other coaches had to say:

Our team (minus Art & Evan) at the Great Wall.

Art Kung -- Calgary, Alberta

Evan Kung and An Dong Zhu exchanged jerseys.

It was a really rewarding time to do a hockey camp trip with my 12 year old son to China. we've done 6 camps with YWAM Hockey over the years and each one has been a delight. but this one to China touched us both tremendously in new ways. my son enjoyed the special friends he made though he doesn't speak the language. in fact he felt a bit like a celebrity as other kids would cling to him both on ice and even at the dinner table. apparently silliness and laughter is an international language. he also enjoyed how much the other kids respected his authority as a dryland and ball hockey coach. he even had the pleasure of exchanging sweaters with one of his favourite peers on the ice - his CHCI sweater for the other boy's yellow and red China sweater. very cool.

Art using a helmet to explain
a concept at coaches corner.

For me, the greatest highlight from this adventure was the opportunity to speak out on "character" during Coaches Corner. I've done similar talks on other camps, but this one was especially moving for me as the local coaches and even parents listened in as we explored the idea of encouraging others, the act of enlarging someone's heart. I know it seems like a basic concept to most of us, but really seemed like a foreign and counter-cultural concept to the Chinese. we reinforced this idea with the value of playing for the crest on the front of our sweaters and representing our organization well. Glen was very eloquent in linking that to where our team of coaches get our inspiration from: the Bible. it was truly the most moving Coaches Corner talk I've ever been a part of. Would we do this trip again? in a heart beat!

Jordan translates Art's coaches talk to the kids.

Shaun at the Great Wall.

Shaun Cormier -- Rovaniemi, Finland via Prince George, BC

My highlight of the trip was walking to the rink at 5:30 every morning in the lovely sun and showing up to the rink where we'd see all the gear lying out in the parking lot and the parents sitting on the steps (some with their shirts up haha). As we rolled in they were all saying, "hi!" And the lady behind the counter was cooking weird sausages and other goodies. They all greeted us with high-fives as we walked into the rink, and they were just excited to see you another day! Also, it was great when they would say things to me in English, and I would try to reply back in the Mandarin that I picked up from our translators along the way. Each day, just seeing them in the morning from that first smile and their "Ni Hao" just wakes you up and gets you ready to have fun with the kids on the ice.

The kids would usually dress out in the courtyard in front of the rink, where they greeted us each morning.

Jen Dersken -- Winkler, Manitoba

The trip really showed me how we can connect with kids, even though we don't speak the same language. Just for being there for them on and off the ice, shows God's love through us. The Chinese coaches even caught on after a while that encouraging the kids, and being a little more fun and laid back on the ice really does help the kids grow in their hockey character, skills, etc.
Also, it was really moving when Deb's and I hugged our group at the end of the last session, they didn't know how to take it at first, then a little while later, they were running back for more hugs. That was so cute.
There's a lot more I could add, but those are the couple of little things that stuck out.

Jen and Debs posing with their group on the last day of camp.

Hannah Goossen -- Vancouver, BC

The trip overall was pretty exhausting for me, but definitely unforgettable. I was really pushed in the camp, because I started out feeling totally unprepared for what was ahead of me. As we progressed I learned that I have more to offer than I thought I did, and by the end I felt like I could do it again (obviously not right away though, some days I still feel like I'm recovering!). It was funny because I know Glen was kind of annoyed with my group because they were goofing off but that was actually where I got the chance to bond with the goalies more; laughter is one of those universal things, as Evan also learned.

AND my proudest moment: I had been trying to get them to work on stuff on their own while they were waiting for their turn in the net during drills and it was just not happening. But on one of the last ice sessions I was standing at one end and I looked across to the other and saw Toto (the chubby red goalie) practicing his skating in the corner by himself! All week he had seemed so lazy, I was totally shocked and so happy.

Hannah working with SEVEN goalies at once! With no translator.

YWAM Hockey Summer 2012 Recap

We had our busiest summer yet as YWAM Hockey; week long hockey camps in Calgary, Campbell River, Prince George, 2 weeks in Kelowna , 12 days in NE Asia and 1 week in Homer, Alaska. Many stories!!

We had a terrific Hockey Summer of Service team of 6 (1 Russian, 1 American & 4 Canadians). The HSOS group serves as counselors and on ice assistants for all of our camps. In addition to the HSOS we also have many local coaches and counselors in each location who also do an amazing job for us. It is so cool to see such commitment and sacrifice of all who work with us. No one, including us, receives a paycheque from YWAM Hockey; we are all volunteers!

Hard economic times in Prince George, Campbell River & Kelowna affected our camps. The enrollment for these camps were definitely lower this year. We have never turned away a kid who wants to come to camp and this year and we supplied more scholarships than we ever had to before.

Northeast Asia; what an opportunity!

Last winter as we were preparing for our summer camps I began to think,” wouldn’t it be cool if the kids in NE Asia could experience a Canadian style hockey camp”.  We have been there during their hockey season in the winter 3 or 4 times and we have built up a good relationship with the coaches there and so I contacted them and they were very excited about us coming. 

So, three days after our Canadian camps finished Glen & 6 others flew over arriving one hour before the camp started. We proceeded to do a full 5 day hockey camp with twice daily ice sessions, dryland, our famous ball hockey tournament and a Coach’s Corner where the kids received Bibles and learned about biblical principles & character from Art Kung who is with YWAM Calgary and has worked at our hockey camps over the past 3 years.

We receive many encouraging comments & notes from staff, campers & their parents. Here is an excerpt from one of our staff in Alaska:

“Homer Hockey Camp started Thursday, Sept. 20th at 4:45pm. Following a dry land training session the campers headed to the locker room for a quick snack, chapel and then on ice instruction. During chapel, Glen Bueckert and Scott Smith spoke to the campers about the reliability and truth of scripture, the real presence Jesus can have in their lives and Godly living through integrity, respect and character. Glen gave each camper a YWAM Hockey Bible that had been donated by the Canadian Bible Society and encouraged them to keep it in their hockey bag and bring to chapel during camp...

The YWAM Hockey Bible is a fabulous outreach and evangelistic tool!”

Camps Update

YWAM Hockey is excited to announce two new camps for this summer!

We are pleased to offer a new camp in Campbell River, BC and also an Advanced Camp for rep players in our Kelowna location. These will run in addition to our current camps in Calgary, Prince George, and Kelowna.

Check out our website for more information.

www.ywamhockey.com

CHECK OUT OUR NEW YWAM HOCKEY DTS PROMO VIDEO

We are really enjoying our time in Russia with our Hockey DTS team. Life is super busy here ... please check out YWAM Hockey on Facebook for brief updates and more photos.

It's so good to hang out with Russian children - on and off the ice.

We are currently in Russia with our Hockey DTS team. Please check out YWAM Hockey on Facebook for current updates and photos.

The pyramid is up so it must be time to go. Today is our last day of class and we leave for Russia on Monday, December 5. We are ready! We are excited!

We are excited! Our visas are here, our jerseys are here and we leave for Russia in one week!

A Life Long Hockey Player

By Mikaela Meyerink

I still remember getting dressed to go on the ice for the first time. I was finally going to be a hockey player, little did I know I would fall in love with the game. Some people call it crazy, some people say it's just a game, but hockey has been my life. It has taught me so much more than just how to skate, shoot or to remember: always to take your skate guards off before stepping on the ice. Hockey has taught me how to be a team member both on and off the ice. Hockey has taught me to be confident in who I am and most of all to never give up. One of my favourite quotes, "shoot for the moon even if you miss you will land among the stars'' (Brian Litrell).

I played the majority of minor hockey with a co-ed association, Sunshine Coast Minor Hockey. I enjoyed playing with the boys because it always provided a challange, in which I could push myself. Although as the boys became men, I realized I was missing out on the whole team aspect of things. I struggled with relating to the guys which made it difficult to enjoy the game. For my second year Bantam I tried out for an all girls "AAA" rep team with the North Shore Female Avalanche.

I had the best season of my life. It was my first experience of truly being a part of the team, we went all the way to the B.C provincials, coming home with silver. I met some amazing friends in hockey but was still faced with, the love of my life, hockey, coming to an end.

In preparing for this, I'd begun planning life after high school. I came in contact with a missions based hockey organization, that does a three month training phase followed by a two month outreach phase in Russia where you play against men's teams and teach young kids the game.

I applied and was accepted. I came then to the realization that "if you shoot for the moon you will land among the stars". Even though hockey had not gone according to my plan for a scholarship, it had defined who I am. It is so much more than making that next team or getting that top shelf goal. Hockey is about life lessons.

I am heading to Russia to teach kids and give back to the game I view as a gift and a blessing to play. I am now playing with some of the most skilled players I have ever played with. I am on the most unified team I have ever played on. Our team lives in housing together, we train together, we go to class together and support each other always on and off the ice. In two weeks we will fly over to Russia and spread love through the game.

Photo: Mikaela at the rink after her Grade 12 graduation with tea mates Samantha Rogers (left) and Breana Keats (right)

Article as seen in BC Female Hockey News

Russia in 3 weeks!

Deborah Francisco, who has served on our Hockey Summer of Service for the last 2 summers, works full-time for NHL.com in New York City as a writer.

The NHL.com asked her to do a series of stories on their Hockey Skills section, sponsored by Canadian Tire.

Her first story, along with a bunch of photos in the "photo gallery", in the series, titled,"Coaching's life-altering" was about her experience with YWAM Hockey Summer Camps and was put on the front page of their website!

Debs did a great job in writing the article, enjoy!

Here is the link to the story: http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=597446

HOCKEY DTS 2011 ...

is well underway. Check out YWAM Hockey on Facebook for more photos.