Our family-oriented hockey school starting in 1996 at Parksville Arena with only 40 kids on the ice as parks and rec summer camp. Today, Heath Dennison Power Skating & Hockey Skills runs programs during the Summer, Fall, Winter and Spring offering camps in Nanaimo and Parksville. Our programs help boys and girls ages 6 to 14 improve their skating and puck skills for ice hockey. We combine highly effective training practices, athletic off-ice activities and lots of fun.
- Our philosophy
- Our instructors
- Our locations
Our philosophy
We emphasize the importance of keeping the shoulders, knees and toes in line as this is the 1st step ( posture ). Once the player understands how to move their weight correctly to be in that proper alignment, 2nd step. The 3rd step is to apply the skating technique ( stride, crossover, quick start etc ). The 4th step is to RECOVER properly ensuring you can repeat steps 1,2,3 again. This ensures that your child is activating the potential power in their body to skate with confidence.
We also emphasize fun. It’s a critical element in learning for kids. If they’re enjoying themselves during drills, they’re better able to stay focused.
Our power skating and hockey instruction uses an “explain, demonstrate, experience” model to teach fundamentals. We explain the techniques to participants, demonstrate the skill, and then have them try it for themselves. Your child gets personal attention and supervision to help them master the skill.
To ensure your child has the best experience possible. Instructor/Student ratio is important to me and I like keep it 1/5 . We group the participants by their ability level, so your child gains confidence by being with peers.
Our instructors
School founder and head instructor Heath Dennison has helped thousands of kids improve their skating stride and skills. He’s passionate about teaching and hockey. Dennison started teaching power skating in Nanaimo because “he realized he had a passion for teaching and possessed an ability to explain skating in simple language to people of all ages and abilities.” He worked for five years in the public school system with special needs kids, giving him experience with a variety of learning styles.
He started playing hockey at age 2, skating on outdoor frozen ponds until it was dark. His natural ability with skating and goal scoring led to a successful hockey career. He played minor hockey in Parksville and Nanaimo on Vancouver Island, and at Notre Dame in Wilcox, Saskatchewan, where his leadership skills were nurtured and flourished.
At age 16 Dennison played for the Powell River Paper Kings in the B.C. Junior Hockey League. The team recently honored his five-year career there by retiring his jersey. At 21 he moved on to the Powell River Regals and played 4 years for the club and now enjoys playing weekly as an old-timer.
A hand-picked team of other instructors is also on the ice at Heath Dennison Power Skating & Hockey Skills. Many of them are past participates of his programs and now have become the main Instructors. We also have some young volunteers, many of them past particpates as well plus local minor hockey players.
Our locations
Heath Dennison Power Skating & Hockey Skills camps and programs run in central Vancouver Island. We use rinks in Nanaimo and Parksville. Check our Programs & Registration page for details.
The Central Island is one of Canada’s most popular family destinations thanks to its beaches and endless things to do. If you want to holiday here while your child is in our school, be sure to check out the tourism guides for Parksville Qualicum Beach, Nanaimo and Chemainus
“Thank you for another great skating camp. Evan and Colby enjoyed your instruction and the feedback from your team, as always. Les and I also continue to appreciate how you break down the essential skills and provide such intensive intervention when problematic mistakes are being made. I was glad to see my boys offering non-prompted thank you handshakes at the end…”
– Erica and Les B.