In his nearly two decades coaching and running youth hockey programs,
Feldman has seen it all from little ones just learning the game to the most
elite athletes taking the ice.
Throughout his career, he noticed a growing number of girls who were eager
to learn and wanted to play a higher level of hockey. At the same time, he
realized the lack of training programs built specifically for women.
“I saw how hungry the girls were for knowledge, and how there weren’t
many opportunities for them to advance,” Feldman said. “We hope they
take the opportunity to get to know us and our programs.”
This desire to make high-quality hockey training available to girls of all
ages has fueled the mission of HTI to offer full-time, year-round player
development and has recently expanded their programs on both the
Tier I and Tier II levels of youth hockey. To date, HTI’s Girls’ U19 is the
largest team, and the Institute looks forward to continually expanding their
programs to offer the most advanced and effective training every year.
As a part of their development, HTI players participate in numerous
showcases and exhibitions each season and post-season. While many of
these showcases tend to remain in the northern United States and Canada,
Feldman and his team will be taking part in the annual spring College
Hockey Showcase in Fort Myers this April.
Feldman said that this Florida camp is meant to introduce players to HTI’s
innovative training. This April will be the second year that Feldman and the
HTI staff travel to the Sunshine State for the CHS Spring Showcase.
These showcases offer a great experience to not only play with and against
other talented hockey players, but to also have the opportunity to be noticed
by college coaches and scouts. For many of these young men and women,
earning a spot on a college roster is the accomplishment that they have
been striving for since they started playing hockey.
Feldman knows this yearning and excitement to take one’s personal skills
to the next level, having played in both Russian and Canadian junior
hockey leagues, as well as enjoying
a successful career in American and
German amateur leagues.
When he started coaching junior
hockey in 2000, Feldman didn’t
think that he would be running one of
the top training academies in North
America, or that he would be such a
force for advancement in women’s
hockey.
“Girls’ hockey has been different in
a positive way, and very rewarding,”
Feldman said when comparing his
previous experience coaching young
men.
Each year, larger numbers of young
women make their way to the rural
training facility in Mulmur, and
each year, the HTI team strives to provide the highest quality training and
development for players from all over the world. Both players and staff
alike identify as a “hockey family” that builds each other up and challenges
each other to achieve higher goals on and off the ice.
In addition to in-house player development at HTI, the seasonal showcases
and exhibition games open the door for many players to reach these goals.
Other showcases available for players to participate in through HTI include
the upcoming summer training camp and showcase in Boston, as well as
both preseason and post-season training camps that are open to young
men and women.
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