Ryan Weber is more like a teacher than a hockey coach this week, providing a crash course to his students for an upcoming big exam.
The Richmond native has taken a week off from his job as Youth Development Coordinator at the South Arm Community Centre to serve as head coach of Team B.C. for the Western Canada U16 Challenge Cup in Calgary.
A two-day training camp was held at the Richmond Olympic Oval in preparation for the tournament, which started on Thursday and concludes Sunday. The event features teams from B.C., Alberta, Sakatchewan and Manitoba.
The B.C. line-up is loaded with players who were top picks in last spring's Western Hockey League Bantam Draft, including Seafair Minor graduate Glenn Gawdin (fifth overall to Swift Current). It's the first time these players have come together to represent their province in a Hockey Canada tournament.
"They play on different associations across the province but the thing we are lucky with now a days is the kids have already played a lot together at different levels, whether it's spring hockey, the major midget league or all-star teams," explained Weber.
"The biggest thing is getting them on the same page of what we want to teach them. This (camp) is kind of like a hockey school for elite players. We're trying to achieve a goal of getting them to play the same way. The systems we are teaching them are all Hockey Canada driven. They are learning stuff that World Junior and NHL teams teach their players."
The Team B.C. stint is the latest addition to Weber's growing coaching resumé. At the age of 30, he has already been involved in B.C. Hockey's High Performance Program for the past 10 years. He has his Advance Two Hockey Canada coaching certification and has been a head coach in the B.C. Major Midget Hockey League for three seasons.
Weber doesn't have to look far for advice either.
His father Russ Weber has had plenty of success as a Team B.C. coach, including winning gold at the 2011 Canada Winter Games. He is currently serving as B.C. Hockey's High Performance Male Coordinator.
The Webers are also coaching Seafair's Bantam A1 team as Ryan has somewhat eased his coaching load since the birth of his daughter 18 months ago.
"I was coaching Major Midget when my wife was pregnant," said Ryan. "Doing Bantam is a little less time commitment but once the family settles down I will be going back to Major Midget."
Weber said his long term coaching goals is to establish a powerhouse Major Midget program and then possibly coach in the B.C. Hockey League one day.
