Nicholas Skelton 
At Hat Trick Training Academy, we have embraced a new culture of learning. We have left the tradition brick and mortar school behind and have moved to a new style of immersion, hands on, ownership, being creative and learning from trial and error. Proper instruction is needed in certain aspects (direction on using training tools such as the SenseArena and how to set up certain equipment and technology) and specific movements. After the specific instruction’s players are left up to their own creativity as individuals or small groups. Players will be assessed on their skill and accuracy via a baseline test and then in real life game play and game time situations. With all of the tools in place and executed correctly, there will be significant gains in schooling, knowledge of both on the ice and off the ice education. This is a rough outline of what we have planned for the future of Hat Trick Training Academy.
Why we are moving this way of a new culture of learning? It is apparent when watching hockey today the players are taught by the traditional means from just going to the hockey rink once or twice a week and learning the same stuff and not being challenged or allowed to be creative. We want to make it to where hockey players are around their passion as much as they can be. We will embrace the non-traditional means of training and incorporate new technology with systems like SenseArena, a virtual reality immersion system that helps the players understand the game while being able to recreate the same scenarios over and over again. We will incorporate a “traditional” education in a way with a hybrid of online education and hands on learning in the facility and around the area. Real world problems and solutions will be discussed and debated so the students will be able to make up their own mind of the situation and learn how to work with others who might have a different opinion or thoughts. Instructors will be facilitators and monitors so the students can create and think for themselves instead of teachers telling them what they think they should know.
Stimulation starts with the actual physical environment as soon as a person enters the academy. The academy will be surrounded by videos from hockey games and skill competition, posters and photos of ground breaking players and local players who have made impacts in the game to help boost players creative minds and keep them encouraged to keep pushing the boundaries of traditional learning. When visiting Pittsburg last year, I went into the Mario Lemieux Sports Complex in Cranberry Township. It is a new state of the art facility that houses the NHL’s Pittsburgh Penguins and their youth teams. When you enter the facility you are surrounded by hockey pictures and Pittsburgh Penguins merchandise. There is a healthy eatery with fresh food and fruit. Rapidshot training system and other training and skill progression activities. When walking to the locker rooms or upstairs to the off-ice training facility there are images of players who have played the game with their history and contributions. From locals to legends, there are pictures everywhere. A big display case with memorabilia from Mario Lemieux is in the center where people who are there for public skating see and understand who Mario Lemieux is. By the time I left the facility I wanted to be a Penguins fans. That says a lot since I am a die-hard Dallas Stars fan. But being in that environment got my creative mind going. Imagine what an environment like that would do for a young up and coming hockey player. This is the type of environment and atmosphere we want to create and embrace.
Learning takes place at HTT all the time. From schooling to training, we pride ourselves in helping mold the best a student/player can be. Students will be held to a very high standard in professionalism and work. An example of what we expect: Students will be responsible for editing their own videos and breaking down their movements on what they can do better, after they have learned the basics on how to use the equipment. Another aspect that we will be looking into is collaborating with SenseArena on what the players would like to see or utilize in the future with SA. Having a player’s perspective or a young players perspective only helps with enabling the students/players to help others. With the collaboration with SA, this will allow players to give and receive feedback from the programmers at SA and them program their future skills for players across the world.
The biggest challenge that HTT faces is a facility to incorporate all that is required. Ideally HTT would like to have an ice rink, school area, editing suite, off ice area, shooting area, roller hockey rink and synthetic ice rink to house the SenseArena system. To achieve our ideal location and prosper, HTT will have to relocate to an area where it is possible to succeed. Currently in Northwest Florida it is highly impropable if not impossible to achieve success here. The population does not support hockey. It is a very small percentage of people who participate in hockey. HTT would need to relocate to an area where in theory at least 0.01-1% of the population participates in hockey regularly and at least 1% of participants are able to train at HTT.
To make a new culture of learning a lot will have to change and a lot of embracing. Student who don’t succeed in a traditional school setting might succeed in a setting like this. While some students learn great from lectures, some learn better from interacting. We want to embrace a new style. A style of learning that is really a culture of learning all the time without the students losing interest. This would be a gift instilled with them for the rest of their life.
Take a look a look at the SenseArena implementation plan for HTT
Here is a look at SenseArena and the future of hockey training.
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