In March of last year PHN ran a feature story about a youth hockey camp that would soon be seeing its third season. Founded by Brett Beebe in El Segundo, CA, The Beebe Hockey Camp has seen great success and will be available this year to kids in 7 cities across the country beginning the last week of June.
“This is a pretty big expansion, said Beebe. “Our youth development camps are in Park City UT (2 weeks), Kalamazoo, Nashville, Waterloo, Pelham, and Lakewood. And then we’re also doing a pro development camp in Simi Valley for midget AAA/junior players. We had 110 kids last year in the 3 camps we hosted. We’re expecting 300+ this year.”
A native of Redondo Beach, CA, Beebe has traded playing for coaching after four seasons as a pro wingman. “I’ll be the head coach of the California Titans 16 AAA team this season,” Beebe told PHN. Brett spent this last season in Wedemark, Germany, where he posted 38 goals and 46 assists in 41 games with the Germany 3 league team.
This year the Beebe Hockey Camp has teamed up with a new partner and coach that also has a significant background in the game; Troy Bodie.
“Troy has played over 150 NHL games, mostly with the Anaheim Ducks and Toronto Maple Leafs,” said Beebe. “He is currently a West Coast scout for the Maple Leafs.”
“After playing several years of hockey at the highest levels I feel I have a duty to teach kids the game that has given me so much,” says Bodie. “I get excited reaching out to kids in the smaller markets and giving them the same opportunities to succeed as I did growing up in Canada.”
The primary goal of the camp is to bring world class coaching to non-traditional hockey markets. “We’re especially excited to continue working with players in the Southern US,” said Beebe. “We had great success in Alabama last year. We’re excited about doing the Pelham camp again this year on August 6 and 7; expecting a great turnout. We are also thrilled to be expanding to Nashville. The hockey community is growing so quickly and we want to help foster that growth.”
Beebe has such an attachment to the kids and a love for coaching that after just 4 seasons he has decided to retire from playing.
Brett encourages anyone who would like to sponsor a camp, stating that all the funds go directly to lowering the costs for families. For registration information, to find more about the camps, or to find out how to sponsor, visit the website:
http://www.beebehockeycamp.com
Photos courtesy of Brett Beebe
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