A Foothills minor hockey organization and High River-based high school have formed an unlikely affiliation.
The Foothills AA Bisons hockey club and Highwood High School have teamed up to provide student athletes with a unique sports-centric curriculum.
“The partnership is just that we are practising during the day at 2:45 in High River and Nanton during the last period of the day,” said Bisons Midget AA head coach Dan MacDonald, who also happens to be a certified teacher.
With MacDonald’s unique qualifications, the practices will also accommodate Bisons players who don’t attend the High River school, with MacDonald teaching athletic focused classes following the on-ice work.
“For the kids if they’re not going to Highwood High, they would drive in and miss that last period and they would give up that option class and then we would pick up that option class credit afterwards,” MacDonald said. “So we’ll have class starting at 4:30 (p.m.) dealing with athletics, psychology of sport, nutrition, a project course where the kids will help minor hockey, as well as math and fitness.”
MacDonald said the program will not only be more practical for all parties involved, but will also have a positive impact on the athletic development of the students.
The scarcity of available ice-time during the day meant the Bisons players were resigned to late evening practices in Vulcan in 2010-11, making it difficult for the students to balance their academic and athletic responsibilities.
“This is better for everyone; less travel for everyone and also not as late,” he said. “And then the courses we’ve picked out being directly related to athletics, we think the combination of those two things will make them better hockey players eventually.”
Highwood High principal Leah Kingston said the impetus for the program was the arduous schedules some of the Highwood students had to endure last year.
“What happened is we recognized through our student athletes playing Midget AA that they were having a tough time with the long drives and the late nights playing hockey,” said Kingston.
“We also recognized high school kids have a lot of pressure,” Kingston added. “With them arriving back home late at night and trying to do their homework and some of them trying to hold down part-time jobs. The idea came about that we could become more flexible with our timetables.”
The advances in digital technology also opened the doors for this type of arrangement, as the learning through the Moodle program allows Highwood students to access classwork from anywhere.
Kingston said there was no hesitation in the implementation of a curriculum with an increased emphasis on athletics.
“In this day and age, we do our best to accommodate as many students as possible,” she said. “We, as a school community and the Foothills Bisons, believe in the importance of developing student athletes.”
MacDonald said the hockey club’s program director, Rick Valette, was a big part of getting the agreement with Highwood off the ground and in getting the partnership approved by the board members of the Foothills Bisons.
“Rick was also very instrumental,” MacDonald said. “It wasn’t just the school agreeing it was also the Foothills Bisons agreeing that it would be a good program for the players. It was all those people agreeing that it would be just a good thing for everyone.”
The schedule for the Midget AA Bisons’ 2011-12 season has yet to be released. Check the South Alberta Central Hockey League website (www.scahl.com) for results and game schedules.
