Gary Tan-Hockey Camp-#2….In The Books

Whew…..only 2 days this time. So, was it just as tiring for the parents? YOU BET. I was so exhausted after last night, I could barely see straight. But, it was all worth it when you see a smile on your 9 year old boy from "ear to ear".

Let's go over GT2-2014 (GaryTan Camp #2 for 2014…easier to write).

There were 15 to 21 boys that showed up. 21 in the evening both days. 15-16 for the morning sessions, and slightly more than that for the off ice training.

As the Camp kicked off, I was at home working while Natalie and Andrew made their way from Kuningan to Bintaro at 6am. I didn't get a whole lot of what was being done (by way of sms reports or photos from Natalie), other than saying the camp was 1/2 of last time, and that everyone looks "asleep".

Post by Giovanni Barricelli.

By the afternoon, people looked a little more refreshed. During the "off ice training" Gary did a lot of stick handling drills. VERY much needed. Then around 5:30 the boys were released and Andrew had to run downstairs and get ready for his 1st private lesson with Gary. He worked on controlling his speed by proper body movement. Andrew skates by using so much force…in other words, he works too hard to skate fast. You could see that his drills were helping Andrew. He needs to continue skating like that. A late break for dinner Then back on the ice again as the boys spent a little "fun time" playing on the ice before their 8:30 evening session. Ice time is so important for kids. Friendships are developed, skating is strengthened. It's a wonderful time for the kids. The evening session was ALL drills. By the time 10:30 rolled along we saw 21 tired boys. We raced home to do a double load of wash and to get some sleep. (3 hours for me and 5 hours for Andrew). I returned with Andrew the next day by Taxi. We got to the rink well before 7 am. To my surprise, there were boys there well before 7:30. Very few came late. Only 15 showed up for day 2 early morning session. Skating drills, puck handling and shooting drills. Nothing escaped these kids. Gary,as Andrew so poignantly pointed out, "PUSHED US more than the first camp". He actually liked Camp #2 better than Camp #1. They started camp at 7:30 on this day rather than 8am. So, morning session was over by 9:30. All I could think about was where I could lay down and "crash out" for an hour for I was exhausted. Andrew?…he wanted to skate around with the other boys and play on the iPad with Jeff and Kevin and his new buddies. Perfect opportunity for me to find a corner somewhere to sleep………ahhhhhhh, to close my eyes. When I woke up, I had a brief conversation with Gary and the other parents. What I realized is the parents who had opinions that were voiced to me and Nat, were all of a sudden either not present at the meeting, or they didn't back me up when I spoke. Result? Ideas got "shot down" and "downgraded to…'that's not important'. " You go around telling the parents the past 2-3 week you seek to have a "top 8 forwards…top 15 to go to Malaysia",…and the best we got out of that was there actually is no reward system for doing well….We'll simply bring everybody from Bintaro and Jakarta to make up a team,...and we'll spend millions of Rp so the kids can play 2-4 minutes? Wait,..there's more. Then they are going to seek sponsorship for this event,..and I would have been one of the parents to sponsor this team? I'll have to double think that now. Andrew was so excited,"I made the team". It took a whole lot of nerve for me to keep quiet, for I wanted to say, "Yeah,…so did everybody else." But, I didn't want to crush his excitement. In addition, I had a meeting with Gary. He said that Andrew acts differently when he knows that I am watching. I understand what he means…however, what Gary didn't understand was,…I wasn't watching Andrew primarily. I was watching Gary. What's he teaching? How are the kids responding? I wasn't watching in an over-judgemental manner,…just observing. I even observed his correcting of Andrew's misbehavior. I was actually pleased to see that. However, getting back to the point of Gary and his consultation with me. What did I pick up on that conversation? Gary thinks I'm an overbearing parent? Not sure what else to think. Oh well,… let that roll off my shoulder. NEXT... Afternoon session…..bring on the fog. The fog was gone for 1 1/2 days and it returned in the evening of the final day of practice. Same heavy hitting of drills. By the end of that session, I was more eager to go home. Players were all given notice to be at practice on Wednesday for TEAM practice. The GOOD: All the kids felt wonderful about camp and where their team is heading. The BAD: Not a whole lot. (However, I am exhausted today). The INDIFFERENT: Where's the TEAM heading? WE'll see in the next few weeks to months in order to see how Indonesia (especially Bintaro) responds. More camps? Tournaments?

Post by Giovanni Barricelli.

Camp #2 2014 Starts Saturday

Last Sunday our family made a trip to KL. During this trip, Andrew was able to go to Sunway Pyramid Mall and play at their ice rink. When we first got there, we thought maybe the rink would be like the 2 in Indonesia and be upstairs. But, to our surprise it was on the basement level. As we looked on to the ice, we saw big puddles of water because of the hundreds of people on the ice without a Zamboni running over it. By 8:30, that Zamboni made a good whip around the ice or two,…and presto, the ice was back to normal.

However, I'm getting ahead of myself. Andrew was able to meet a boy there named Austin that he quickly became friends with. It was nice to see that he was making friends with the Malaysian boys.

Andrew with his new buddy Austin just before taking the ice.

Andrew thoroughly enjoyed his experience. What I, as a parent got to see, was just how far behind Andrew was in comparison to the other boys.  This may be near the start of his 9th month of skating, but 7 months of it were simply learning the basics of skating. 

These boys are learning stick handling, cutting moves, toe drags, shooting and carrying the puck in proper body zones…..and much much more.

This Saturday, Andrew will head to Bintaro for his 2nd camp with Gary Tan. We look forward to what  Gary has to bring. Andrew is going to have to do a few changes in his equipment. Shorten the stick, change the T-Blades to the normal runners,….simple things like that. We'll see what else the coaches recommend for Andrew as the two days progress. Plus, Andrew has 2 private sessions with Gary. Skating, skating and more skating. In addition, we know that Andrew has to get better at his stick handling. Even Andrew will tell you it isn't very good. This should be a good weekend.