Crowther Memorial Junior High School (CMJHS) and Westmount Elementary School's hockey programs are hosting their first annual Strathmore Hockey Summit.

The event is happening on January 17 and 18, and is running from 8:45 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. on both days. There are four participating groups which includes Westmount grade 5, Westmount grade 6, CMJHS grade 7-8, and CMJHS grade 8-9.

Each group will receive two on-ice sessions, which is at the Strathmore Family Centre, and two off-ice sessions, which will take place at the Strathmore Civic Centre.

During the on-ice sessions, students will receive skating-focused instruction from Vanessa Hettinger, who is one of two instructors to ever receive Hockey Canada’s title of 'Master Skating Instructor', and from other members from her company Quantum Speed. Students will also be taught from Dean Seymour and Tanner House on shooting and scoring. Participants will learn from Fisher Goaltending, and Dylan Sutton is also teaching by shadowing the goalies throughout the summit.

The off-ice sessions will have Pier-Alexandre Poulin and Teal Grove, who are managers of school programming within Hockey Canada. They will be teaching floorball, as it is considered an ideal off-ice training activity for hockey players. Meanwhile Justin Schmidt from APEX MMA in Strathmore, who has six years of professional hockey under his belt, will be giving an MMA training experience to the students.

Brad Huntley, athletic director and hockey program coordinator for CMJHS, thinks it is a pretty cool opportunity for students from the hockey programs to improve their hockey skills. Huntley said he has wanted to bring something special to the kids, so he wanted to take some of the funding and spend it on something fun for the kids. Huntley said he is excited to host the Strathmore Hockey Summit, he also mentioned that even coaches from minor hockey and teachers are attending the summit as well as over 100 kids.

The school is even having Rebecca Johnston as a guest speaker on January 17 over the lunch break. Johnston plays for the National Women’s Hockey Team, as well as the Calgary Inferno. She is a three-time Olympic Medalist and two-time World Champion.