Advanced Development Program U13/U15

Our history:

In 1937, sports-minded community league members recognized the need to give athletes from schools and community leagues a more competitive environment in which to develop their athletic talents. It was from this idea that the Canadian Athletic Club was founded. Today, the Canadian Athletic Club ices 8 teams from U13 through U18 in a variety of leagues sanctioned by Hockey Alberta and Hockey Canada.

Our mission:

To offer an elite hockey program providing players the opportunity and environment to enhance their hockey and interpersonal skills. Above all, we value Character, Attitude, and Community. 

Our arena:

The Canadian Athletic Club is very fortunate to own and operate our own arena. This facility allows us to combine ice allocated to the club by Hockey Edmonton with prime time ice at the CAC arena (inclusive of pre-scheduled time slots for improved consistency in weekly team schedules). The CAC arena also features classroom space and a large hall to allow for club meetings, team meetings, fitness sessions, and extended CAC family gatherings.

Our new Advanced Development Program (23/24):

Coaches - we are committed to securing the best coaching staff to run our new advanced development program. Coaches will be hired or retained much earlier in the program cycle to ensure we’re ahead of our competitors. CAC will go to market in February 2023 for coach recruitment with the intention of fulfilling positions ahead of 23/24 March/April ID skates. 

Player Identification - players are strongly encouraged to attend March and April/May ID skates as an opportunity to be identified, evaluated, and committed to by our coaching staff. The ID skates are also an opportunity to learn more about our program and facility. The initial set of ID skates are now open for registration and they are scheduled for the evenings of March 21-24. A follow-up ID series will be scheduled in April/May. 

Games / Competition - our U13/15 ADP program offers the best access to team level competition in the market. Teams will play 30 scheduled league games and 4+ playoff games. Beyond that, teams have unlimited access to tournament play across Canada, Edmonton Minor Hockey Week, Provincials, and the Hockey Alberta elite stream which includes both the Prospect’s Cup and Alberta Cup showcases. Gameplay summary: 67.5 hours (~3hrs / week) of prime-time gameplay at U13 and 90 hours (~4 hrs/week) of prime-time gameplay at U15. 

Player development model - our player development program is underpinned utilizing two highly successful frameworks: A) The Hockey Alberta Elite Model: Alberta Built and B) The Canadian Way Principles as outlined in the Canadian National Team Program technical curriculum. 

On-ice development - our players receive 4-5 hours of development ice per week. This includes 2-3 team practices per week, 1-2 player development sessions per week, and 1-2 goaltender specific sessions per week across a set schedule for the season.  We’re currently closing negotiations with Perfect Skating (player development) and Ian Gordon (goaltender development) for the 2023/2024 season. On-ice development summary: ~90 hours (4.5 hrs/week) of on-ice development across the course of the season. 

Off-ice development - this encompasses our commitment to long term athletic development and includes team sessions specific to strength, speed, agility, mental performance, elite athlete nutrition, and video training sessions. Off-ice vendors are TBD for the 2023/2024 season. Off-ice development summary: ~25 hours (1.25 hrs/week) of off-ice development per season. 

Player experience - with our ADP model we’re looking to heighten the player experience within CAC. This includes embracing innovative technology that will further enable our ability to market our players and track their development online and within our organization. 

Off-season development - our facility is open year round, hence, we have the ability to offer our players customized year round development opportunities. We’re looking to expand our on-ice programming to include spring sessions, breakfast skates, and position specific development. 

Estimated program cost - the estimated cost per player for the U13 is $4000-5000, while U15 is estimated at $6000 (AA) - $8000 (AAA). Unfortunately, this is standard for programs of this caliber in today’s market and CAC is looking at sponsorship and other fundraising mechanisms as means to offset costs for our families. 

Program Summary: 

We’ve thoughtfully designed our new Advanced Development Program by prioritizing the player experience. After carefully researching several successful sanctioned and non-sanctioned clubs we’re increasing our value proposition in a highly competitive market. With the combination of our own facility, top-level coaching, defined development model, set schedule, value based cost model, and volume of competitive gameplay we’re set to deliver a high-quality, differentiated program for the 23/24 season.  

Should you have any questions about our new program please feel free to contact our organization directly: programconsultant@cac-hockey.com