Reference

I’m glad I had a chance to participate in Hockey Talent Academy camps as a guest. I would like to come again in the future. I had a chance to help a little bit but also to learn something because I think that Hockey Talent Academy is a very good school not only for young players but also for prospective coaches. The project is managed at the highest level as far as the view of the players and coaches goes. The trainings are perfectly prepared. They train for all situations which can come in hockey. I think that it’s important for every player to get better in each skill and to improve with the help of these special exercises.

Marek Malík
NHL player, player for Czech National Team

I saw 3 trainings in 3 different categories from the youth players to juniors. The coaches are trying to give them different trainings and to train in several groups. It’s good that each group focuses on a different thing. If the training, especially in skating, is more creative then it will have a bigger impact on the player because skating is the main skill in hockey. You can see that the players here are very well coached and the trainings are of a high quality. It would be good if players have an opportunity to be here for a few days to try something different. They can work on their weaker skills for when they return to their home teams.

Radek Dvořák
NHL player, player for Czech National Team

I enjoyed the Hockey Talent Academy camp. I had never been on such a hockey camp before as a player. I just saw a few things on video. I think it’s a great thing for young players. Here are a lot of good players and it can help them before the season. The season starts in August so if someone comes 5 times during the summer to this camp it can improve them a lot. I can see here that the coaches dedicate themselves a lot to the players, correcting them, and this must help them in the future. I think we should have more hockey schools in Czech like this one and the boys should visit them. Then our hockey youth could move forward.

Michal Řepík
NHL, KHL, SM league player, player for Czech National Team

I don’t see any difference between HTA and academies overseas. I think it’s an important thing that they are doing that with the same methodology. When I was looking for something similar and searching for a partner in Czech Republic who would have similar ideas and really care about the player and his individual preparation and how to teach them hockey, I found Jaromir Pytlik. Our aims are very similar in some points because the idea is similar and that is the important thing. Honestly I can’t tell if the academy here or those in Canada are different; we do it specifically and they do it also specifically. I’m glad when I come here and can help them and I was also glad when they came to Canada for 10-days training - in fact we’re helping each other. I’m glad to see other training groups and like to educate myself as a coach; it’s very important for me.

Yogi Svejkovsky
Canadian Skill’s Coach, Assistant Coach for WHL, former NHL player

Jaromir introduced a very good skating program for our team which leads to better effectiveness in movement, especially slides. I’m happy to see Jaromir’s own skating ability; it’s always better when the instructor impresses the players with his own presentation so much that they want to improve and skate as he does. I liked how Jaromir separated his own moves to shorter and basic elements of the skating which he then put back together in a most effective move. Even the best skaters from our team had a challenge with the difficult skating exercises which Jaromir first showed them before helping even our best skaters to get better. As a head coach I was really pleased with this cooperation and was really glad that Jaromir worked with our players in such a way. The players improved their skating thanks to the skating exercises he showed them and then they started work on their skating improvement by themselves when Jaromir was absent. It’s proof of a well done job.

Jeff Tomlinson
Canadian professional coach, Assistant Coach of German National Team

Thanks to my friends I got know the HTA camps. I looked at some videos on the internet and must say that I liked their work very much. That was the reason to bring my son here. I saw that the kids who were here already last year had got better and I hope that my son will like to come here as well. Today was the second day of the camp and he was really excited. HTA does a very good job with young players and pushes them forward in their career. The trainings are perfect, with all the things you’re not able to do during the season in your club and you can see how the players are getting better. I believe that this academy will continue to run well and will create some of the best players not only for Czech Republic and Slovakia but also for neighbouring countries.

Milan Bartovič
NHL, KHL player, player for Slovakia National Team

I’ve been coming to the Hockey Talent Academy for 3 years now and the camps always have a high quality. A lot of top players, not just from Czech Republic but also from Slovakia, Slovenia, Germany and Austria, are coming here which gives to the camps a high level. I think this project is very interesting for the players, they can compare themselves with others and can learn a lot. I wouldn’t be coming here if I didn’t like it; I think it has a big impact for every player. That is the reason why I have both of my sons here. I think the improvement is visible. HTA focus especially on skating technique which I think is a little neglected in hockey clubs. Here it is made more interesting, giving something extra to make it better, something more that helps the players. Personally I must say that it helped both of my sons a lot. It’s clearly visible that they improved in skating a great deal. This project makes sense.

Michal Rozsíval
NHL player, double winner of STANLEY CUP