FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
1) What is the Spring League in Canada?
The Spring League in Canada is actually additional after-season training with tournaments. There are no common summer preparations overseas. In September the competitions begin. They end in February or March. Children can then do anything else. This is why the “Spring League” were launched. They provide the players with the opportunity of personal development and improvement even after the season.
2) How many children take part in the Spring League and what awaits them?
These days about 50 children take part in our camp in Canada. The camp lasts for about four weeks. Formerly, we used to go there for six weeks, but we found out over the time that the boys used to be less focused in the last two weeks. We responded to this and shortened the time.
The camp has a training plan prepared for the boys. The training plans include on-ice trainings and off-ice preparation, as well as English classes. The children stay with Canadian families, which greatly benefits them not only in terms of the language, but also from a social aspect.
3) What do parents need to do to sign up their children for the Spring League in Calgary?
It’s not complicated. Just sign up using the form on our website, then sign the contract, arrange for a visa – this only takes a few minutes and several clicks on your computer. We just want to point out that the passport must be valid for at least half a year after returning to the Czech Republic.
Parents can then choose whether they want our agency to arrange for airline tickets, or whether they arrange for the trip by themselves. As soon as the airline ticket is arranged for, we take over the child on the airport and leave to Canada. It should be noted that it is really important for you and your child to settle all school matters, because the event takes place during the school year – roughly from mid-May to mid-June.
4) Are the families players stay with well-checked?
Of course. We hire an agency that selects the families and signs contracts with them. The families are examined in all possible aspects to avoid any problems. This is a group of ice-hockey families, as well as families that have nothing to do with ice hockey.
The families provide the players with maximum service. If your child suffers from an allergy, the family satisfies his needs. Food is prepared for the children. They take it with them so they can eat all day.
Strong ties are established with a lot of families over several weeks. It has happened that some Canadian families were invited to the Czech Republic in return, and the families still maintain in a very friendly and close contact.
5) What if a child cannot attend the entire camp from the first to the last day for some reason?
That is not a problem at all. If this happens, we always arrange an individual arrival or departure. Everything can be resolved.
6) How would you describe the course of training units and match nominations?
The principle is very simple: we divide the players into two groups, a younger group and a older group, and we train together in these groups. As far as matches and tournaments are concerned, our teams are divided according to age. If there is a lack of players in the respective age category, Canadian boys from our collaborating teams join the group.
During the day, players train on ice once or twice. There is an off-ice preparation with a fitness coach twice a day. Then there is a Czech school lesson and English lesson, followed by a lunch break. Older players who have already completed their school studies do not have such a strict program.
7) What happens if a child is injured or gets sick during the camp?
This situation is immediately dealt with by visiting a private clinic. Each of the boys has travel insurance. The terms and conditions of the travel insurance includes ice hockey insurance. This means that we pay the fee for the visit to a doctor, send the bill to the parents and they apply for reimbursement with the insurance company.
8) What about school classes during the camp?
Frankly, we can say that the boys spend their time in the ice rink from 08:30 am to 4:30 pm. This is why they cannot cover as much education as they could if they were sitting in school. However, we have a consultant at our disposal. The consultant discusses the curriculum and the educational material the boys brought from their own schools. However, we are not able to catch up on the curriculum or stand in for teachers during the camp fully.
There is one hour per day devoted to education, and we try to focus on the main subjects – Czech language and mathematics, and sometimes biology, geography, physics and chemistry. The sooner the parents decide to sign up their child for our camp, the easier it is to communicate with the school and discuss the year-round plan so that the child can travel with us without any problems and with as little school homeworks as possible.
A special part of education is devoted to English. English is taught by native speaker. The boys improve their language skills even in the families they stay with and spend their free time with. This is a great advantage of our camp. In addition to the language, the children learn to be more independent, which is appreciated by parents.
9) As far as money is concerned: how much pocket money should they have? How much do you recommend?
We do not want to take responsibility for the money of the children on ourselfs, and we cannot do this for you. It is not our place to explain what the children spent their money on and why. Ideally, you can open a bank account for your child. This will give you an absolute and immediate overview of what your children is spending money on and how much money they have on their bank accounts.
10) Can I come and see my children in Canada?
Of course you can. We also recommend and welcome your visits, because the parents can see the ice-hockey education in Canada and they can learn about the stay with the families and the local life in general. We can arrange the hotel accommodation and help with car rentals.
11) Why should the parents sign up their children for this project? What are the benefits?
In addition to the already-mentioned ice-hockey, the projects include involving the boys in activities of local families. The boys will become more independent, learn self-reliance in everyday life and find out how to manage money in their lives. They will meet new lifetime friends and, last but not least, they will improve their English. They will see a piece of the world, try to live in a foreign country and get to know life in a million city. And there is much more.