A group of Lancer hockey players is getting a head start on their ambitions to be teachers and coaches, working with local youths to pass on the techniques they have developed in their athletic training.

Captain Brett Vandehogen, assistant captain DJ Turner, goaltender Parker Van Buskirk, and forwards Brett Oliphant and Spencer Pommells will mentor young boys and girls on the ice, working with teacher candidates under education professors Kara Smith and Chris Greig to experiment with ways of teaching hockey skills.

“Each person has a skill, a superpower if you will, that they do really, really well,” says Dr. Smith. “Our Lancers have spent years of hard work and training to develop their athletic gifts and each of them is at a stage in their careers where they will now learn how to pass those skills on to future students and players.”

She adds that being a teacher is “a wonderful way to give back to our community—and these players are learning how to do just that!”

The students have already conducted a one-hour session at Windsor Arena and will hold a follow-up in early December.