Program Profile: Pacific Coast Hockey Academy

Located in Victoria, BC, Pacific Coast Hockey Academy (PCHA) currently competes in all five western male divisions after joining the Canadian Sport School Hockey League (CSSHL) in 2014.

PROGRAM PHILOSOPHY:

“Nurturing today’s student-athlete for tomorrow’s world.”

With this in mind – each day our coaches, staff and educational team focus on supporting our student-athletes to achieve their dreams, both academically and athletically, by challenging them in a supportive and caring environment.

“As a staff we try to have a positive impact on each young man’s life and hope the character development and life lessons learned at PCHA will stay with them well beyond their career on the ice.”

OVERVIEW:

Pacific Coast Hockey Academy is a formally recognized and officially sanctioned Hockey Canada Accredited School (HCAS) and was the first of its kind on Vancouver Island.

PCHA is a high-performance hockey academy that has combined an education-based hockey curriculum focused on individual skill development for today’s elite level player. Our program provides its students with exceptional coaching, training, and skill development, along with a highly competitive path as proud members of the CSSHL.

LOCATION:

Located on scenic Vancouver Island, PCHA calls Langford, British Columbia home. A suburb of Victoria, with its mild climate, breathtaking mountains, forest, beaches and ocean – the local surroundings provide an ideal backdrop for year-round outdoor training and activities. In fact, the City of Langford was just named the “Most Livable” place in Canada -topping the list of more than 150 Communities across the nation.

“PCHA is very proud of our facilities and to call City Centre Park and the state-of-the-art Westhills Arena home.” The City of Langford’s goal is to build a National sports capital and be the home of high-performance sports in Canada. As proud members of the prestigious Canadian Sport School Hockey League (CSSHL), PCHA works hard at combining academic and athletic success’ as “national leaders in education-based hockey” on Vancouver Island.

PCHA uses the Eagle Ridge dry floor and weight room facilities for all their off-ice training and conditioning, and the Westhills Arena for all on-ice practices and home games. The PCHA Sea Devils have their own custom locker rooms and equipment storage with laundry facilities, boardroom for video review, meetings and seminars, as well as head offices all on site at the Westhills Arena.

HISTORY:

Pacific Coast Hockey Academy opened its doors in 2013 and became members of the CSSHL for the 2014-15 season

“From our humble beginnings in 2013 as an independent Elite-15 team, to now operating five high-performance teams in the CSSHL (U15AAA, U15 Prep, U17AAA, U17 Prep, U18 Prep) – PCHA has built a program to support the needs of local high-performance student athletes, as well as the dozens of Out of Province and International students who have moved to Victoria to attend our academy over the years.”

DEVELOPMENT MODEL:

PCHA is a 10-month education-based hockey program with a focus on individual skill development for the elite player. Our doors open following labour Day weekend in Sept and academy closes for exams at the end of the school year in June.

• Teams have daily on ice practices and skill development (5 days a week) as well as off-ice strength and conditioning for ten months. While many programs scale back in the spring, we continue with daily ice and workouts through till the end of the school year.
• There is consistency in development between our teams as we employ a full time Head of Player Development and skills coach who is on the ice with all three teams each day and works closely with our coaching staff.
• Each individual player completes a personalized Long Term Athlete Development Plan (LTADP) to identify strengths and weaknesses and focus on areas of improvement to meet their goals on and off the ice.

PCHA is also excited to have partnered with Power Edge Pro (PEP) – the proven leader in skill development. Used by over 100 of today’s top NHL players, Power Edge Pro is a superior training system that produces noticeable improvements in just a couple of sessions – no other development system in the world has graduated more players to the NHL.

• PCHA players have weekly PEP training sessions throughout the 10-month season.

EDUCATION:

PCHA has enjoyed a successful partnership with School District 62 (Sooke) for 11 years and has always strived to strengthen and build upon this relationship. Over time it has been or goal to work together to continuously improve our educational offering and to exceed the academic guidelines and standards put forth by Hockey Canada as an officially sanctioned Hockey Canada Accredited School.

We have been working hard to provide the best academic experience, while providing the support that is needed for a student-athlete with a rigorous training and travel schedule to succeed. SD62, has identified that there are different needs and demands on high-performance student-athletes in the district, and with this in mind, opened the doors of Qelensen á, Len Secondary (the SD62 Sport School) in 2022.

• Registration is handled by SD62 (Sooke) Sport School, with one counselor assigned for all PCHA students to help streamline the registration and course selection process and improve communication.
• All PCHA students attend Qelensen á, Len Secondary with their teammates and other students from high-performance academies within the school district. There is a dedicated Sports School teaching staff for these student-athletes. This staff is aware of all training and travel, thus, better equipped to support the needs of our students.
• Smaller class sizes – better teacher to student ratio.
• 3 tutorial blocks weekly for academic support Mon-Thurs (times depending on the student’s grade) built into the daily timetable.
• U17/U18 Players transition to School for their afternoon classes, following their daily training and development at PCHA. Classes will end at 3:20 pm, to allow students that commute to still get home at a reasonable hour. Our U15 teams attend school in the morning and transition to gym and on-ice development for the afternoon, with their day ending at 3:40pm
• Students take all their core courses and electives by face-to-face instruction delivered by SD62 teachers and tutorial staff.
• PCHA students can take additional online courses through Distributed Learning (DL) that will be supported by the Sports School academic staff during tutorial blocks.

“I am very excited about the new Sooke Sports School, and academic changes that will better support the educational needs of PCHA’s students, and the demands of today’s high-performance athletes. We are looking forward to the new changes as we continue to support this long-term partnership, and the growth of a dedicated Sports School in the Westshore”   Wayne Kelly – SD62 Principal of Academies

• PCHA is grateful that the Sooke School District (SD62) had identified a unique opportunity that benefits our high-performance student-athletes and creates an environment to learn with like-minded individuals. The new Sport School, and the district’s ability to adapt, will continue to strengthen our partnership with SD62 and improve the academic delivery to PCHA students.

At PCHA we are just as proud of our success’ in the classroom as on the ice – and are proud to claim three (3) CSSHL Scholastic Player of the Year awards in the past few seasons.

RESIDENTIAL LIFE:

PCHA offers a billeting program for our out-of-town players. We have a residential life coordinator that works with families and billets to find the best living situation for our players while attending PCHA.

Billet families provide our players a home away from home while attending PCHA. Along with providing room and board, meals, and transportation when needed, the billet family provides an environment of support and trust for the players. The billet family in many cases feels like they have gained a new member of the family – one whose career they can follow as they move on to play junior, college or even professional hockey.

• Our billet coordinator is responsible for recruiting billet families, coordinating communication and liaising between families, billets and academy staff. There is a comprehensive vetting procedure for prospective billet families which includes criminal record checks and home site visits.

STUDENT ATHLETE HEALTH:

PCHA has developed relationships with program doctors, dentists and medical personnel to support the health and well-being of all our players.

We have a partnership with Victoria Sports Therapy, and Motus Physiotherapy clinic for all our players medical treatment and rehabilitation needs, as well as Parkway Dental Group located a short walk from the Pacific Coast Hockey Academy and City Centre Park.

• Victoria Sports Therapy provides or arranges all Athletic Trainer’s (AT) for PCHA’s games and tournaments.
• Athletic therapists and physio communicate with team coaches, strength and conditioning coaches, and parents regarding player injuries, rehabilitation and return to play protocol.
• PCHA provides an AT for triage on Mondays in-season, to assess injuries that may have occurred in competion over the weekend.

SCHEDULE:

All academics and training happens within the school timetable between 7:30am-3:40pm Monday to Friday, leaving evenings free for family, homework and a social life.

U18 Prep Sample Schedule:

Break down by the numbers:

• Minimum 5hrs on ice development per week – Sept-June (135+ practices)
• Minimum 5hrs Strength and Conditioning per week – Sept-June (150+ workouts)
• PCHA’s teams play an average of 45+ games per year including: CSSHL league play, exhibition, tournaments and playoffs.
• Approximately 3-1 Practice to game ratio

CONTACT:

For inquiries, please contact:

Jason Becker – Manager of Hockey Operations
250-462-5191
Jbecker@pcha.ca

Kelly Shields – Director
778-557-8578
kshields@pcha.ca