USA Hockey Magazine

PHOTOS BY Jim Hibbard; Don Mahras; Patrick Watson ipated. It's indicative of USA Hockey's incredible growth. According to Mark Tabrum, USA Hockey director of youth hockey, the growth at development camps is also qualitative. In the old days, talent tended to be more uneven. "Every player here belongs. They fit in," Tabrum said. "Hockey in the United States has grown tremendously. When you look at the number of players in the National Hockey League, the players at the collegiate levels, the different levels, the American players are very good right now.' The simplest reason for the increase in American hockey talent is the consistent growth of participation for youth players, Tabrum said. "That pyramid at the top just continues to get better and better because we have more players playing each year," Tabrum said. "We're getting good players at the top end now, and that's only going to continue." The young players attending develop- ment camps receive high-level coaching and are supported by professional staff members. "We have quality people here," Tabrum said. "The players, in the end, compete against their peers at that age group. And this is the best of the best. It's not often you get the best players in one setting." As Tabrum pointed out, players mature at different rates, and their games change as they get older. "If they were the big fish in their area, when they get here, now everyone's really good," Tabrum said. "They get to measure themselves up against the best. And they see where they fit and what they need to work on and what they need to continue to improve upon, where their weaknesses and strengths lie. "Their own development lives with each and every one of them. It can be an eye-opening experience, for sure." Kristen Sagaert, USA Hockey director of girls' hockey, noted that the girls' game has experienced explosive growth, which is reflected in the development camps. "On the girls' side, specifically, we have over 400 players at our national camp between the three camps," Sagaert said. "The resources and the coaching available for those athletes have grown every year. We always try to see where we can improve and provide benefits and resources to those players, both on and off the ice. "Now, we have strength and condition- ing coaches, athletic trainers, team coach- es, intern coaches, equipment managers, video coaches." Sagaert said that what athletes see at play- er development camps rivals what happens at national team development camps. "We have nutrition demos where they make a recipe with our nutritionists," Sagaert said. "They have strength and conditioning seminars. They also have strength and conditioning in the weight room. It's a combination of both on- and off-ice development during the week. They play games. They practice." Sagaert said that USA Hockey sends out surveys to players, parents, and staff after development camps each year. "I'll have meetings with our strength coaches, our athletic trainers to see how everything went," said Sagaert, "where can we make improvements, and then we begin planning for the following year right afterwards." Most important, said Sagaert, is bringing players into the USA Hockey family at an early age. "They're provided with some informa- tion and resources on what it will poten- tially take for them to reach their goals in hockey, whether that be collegiately or with one of our national teams," Sagaert said. "They learn about the culture. They learn what it takes. "They get to meet current and former Olympians while they're at camp and just kind of have that first tiptoe into it. Every single one of the athletes that was on our Olympic roster has been at a player devel- opment camp on the girls' side." P SUMMER 2026 USAHOCKEYMAGAZINE.COM // 27

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