Florida Eels 21 Day Training Camp Captures Top News Story in USPHL Newsletter

12 Aug 2016 by Frank Scarpaci

Florida Eels Establish 21 Days of Pre-season Training Camp
07/30/2016, 3:30pm EDT
By Florida Eels Staff
The Florida Eels start their main camp August 21st and will go for 21 days to prepare their players for the upcoming 2016-17 season. Most teams have 1 week or 2 at best for pre season training. This is a major difference in the Eels training format. GM Scarpaci says we stand alone in this concept. We firmly believe it gives our players an opportunity to get into shape after a long summer. Players need time to get accumulated to Junior hockey. We don’t want to rush things. That is how players get hurt and the injuries often can be long term and nag all season.

We have many returning veteran players – say 50% of our players but we have 50% new players. These new players however, are not all are rookies. Many of these players come form top European and Canadian Teams as well as players who are migrating from many Tier II and Tier III USA teams. The 21-day period allows us to do team building. This is a concept that has gotten quite a bit of attention lately in many articles and magazines. “Team Building” But for the Eels it is not a new or novel concept. Team building is the corner stone of any successful sports team and this is especially true in hockey. We have studies the USA Hockey NTPD model for years as well as many of the NCAA Div. 1 & 3 colleges and USHL teams to see what they do. For the Eels we emphasize that “buying into this” will determine 100% how successful we will be as a team. This goes well beyond our sport. We have taken literature, videos and invited servicemen from the Navy Seals and the USA Marines on this instructional format and they have been excellent vehicles for teaching dependency and foundations of a unit. Moreover, as GM Scarpaci often echoes we are teaching life lessons far beyond ice hockey. He has brought in key executives form fortune 500 corporations to talk about the success of these companies depends on the “team” approach and concepts. These learned skill sets is what builds our players character and leadership. So many of our players who have advanced
on ward and have echoed years later that what they learned at the Eels helped them enormously later in their jobs and family.

The Eels spend 3 to 4 hours of training daily. The guys are on the ice for 2-3 hours during this period and another 1 ½ hours training at World Gym and our own sports court off ice training facility. Just look at the success of some of our summer Olympians such as the swim team and gymnast. They have reached their heights by putting in the necessary hours of training. To be successful in Junior hockey and college you no longer can just get by. You need to be 100% dedicated and determined to be the best. This requires putting in the time on the ice, training in the gym each day and developing the right mental game that includes hockey intelligence. To these ends the Eels require extensive video analysis and classroom time. We review game film of NHL; USHL and NCAA Div. 1 players. We look at the positives and review some tapes of inequities by some players. We are firm believers in showing players the right way of doing things. So that is why we video some of our practices and look extensively at our Fasthockey game tapes to exam our games. Indeed, showing the players the right way also involves a critical analysis of showing errors I in their games and practices. This system has proved enormously for the Eels in enhancing players’ development individually and as team.

Another major benefit of the 21-day training camp is acclamation. GM Scarpaci says the guys are getting acquainted with their teammates, the coaches, their billet families and the Fort Myers community. We make it fun. The players are divided in many groups and we do scavenger hunts, car washes, food drives, go to the beach, cook outs, kayak racers, soft ball games, 3 on 3 competition, pool parties and fishing.

With a 21-day program we can take plenty of time to access and evaluate the players, to determine where they fit and attend to their needs. There is so much they need to work on. Quite frankly it gives us a real edge. This is why the Eels are November ready in mid September. The Eels also manage to set up a series of scrimmages during this time period to give the coaches an opportunity to evaluate certain players with other players. To test line combinations and strategies Test power players, penalty kill units and systems.

One really gets to appreciate how important this concept is when you see us in action. The coaches actually can take all our defenseman exclusively on the ice and work Defense only. I mean for an hour each day. The same for forwards. These are special ice sessions. While the forwards are being trained on the ice, the forwards are working on shooting in the sports court area or doing other “forward” specific activities. This is incredible. Where else can you garner this individualized training? The NHL, KHL, USA NTPD, The USHL, NCAA Div. 1 colleges and the QMJHL, The WHL, and the OHL. The Eels have set and raised the bar in Tier III Junior hockey.

We are very excited about this year’s Eels teams. We have some very talented young men joining an already talented group of players. The Eels are expected to be right back to where they were last season. It all starts April 15th and the momentum and excitement mounts for 21 straight days.

Comments --

Loading...