The Silver Bay Blue Line Club’s annual summer youth hockey camp continued its steady growth this year, drawing over one hundred young players from across the region and giving them a week filled with competition, instruction, tradition, and a whole lot of fun.
“It went great,” said club president Gus Engstrom, who stepped into the role last September. “We had 115 kids, most of them from Silver Bay and Two Harbors, but we had kids also from Ely and as far as Wayzeta and Cloquet.”
The camp included players ranging from mites through high school, creating a mix of familiar faces who return year after year and newcomers who will soon become familiar faces who also return year after year.
One of the highlights was the guest coach tradition that pairs local first responders against one another behind the bench. The Silver Bay Police Department and Lake County Sheriff’s Office coached one day, followed later in the week by the Silver Bay Fire Department and Lake County Rescue Squad.
“The kids really get a kick out of that, and they have a lot of fun. It’s kind of a nice change of pace for everyone,” Engstrom said. “We really enjoy having them out.”
A new feature this year was the use of the newly built trailhead center.
“We did get to utilize the new trailhead center for a chalk talk for the kids this year,” Engstrom said. “It kind of broke up camp for them and they got to watch some highlights and learn about teamwork and stuff like that.”
Nick Bjerken, the club’s vice president, led the session.
“He does an awesome job with it,” Engstrom said. “It’s an awesome space. It’s perfect for that type of thing.”
Highlights of the camp centered on jerseys and competition. With both the men’s and women’s Team USA squads winning gold, the club went with a red, white, and blue USA theme.
“The biggest thing is they love the jerseys,” Engstrom said. “The kids really enjoyed those.”
Games remained the centerpiece of the camp.
“They kind of keep track of which team wins throughout the week,” Engstrom said. “So it gets competitive towards the end to see how many games each team can win.”
Girls’ participation continued to rise, matching the club’s overall registration trends for the upcoming season.
“We almost have the same amount of girls as we do boys that come out for camp,” Engstrom said. “So it’s almost a 50- 50 split, which is awesome to see.”
He noted how much the girls’ game has grown locally.
“Even 10 years ago, a lot of these girls were forced to play with the boys, and now they all have their own teams,” Engstrom said. “They’ve got girls like Berkeley Hoff, who’s one of the superstar players on a high school team to look up to. So she was a counselor at camp, and it’s awesome for these girls to have role models.”
The camp also brought back a strong group of instructors, including players with junior hockey experience and several heading into Division I programs.
“They love coming up,” Engstrom said. “It’s a beautiful area. They golf, they fish, they do all sorts of the things they enjoy about the North Shore while they’re up.”
Registration for the upcoming hockey season opened August 1, and the club hopes to continue building on the momentum from camp.
“We’re excited to hopefully continue to grow the game here in town and get a lot of kids out,” Engstrom said.
Silver Bay Area youth players and parents can go to www.silverbayhockey.com to get their hockey player signed up for the season or learn more about the program. Two Harbors area youth players and parents can go to www.twoharborsyouthhockey.org for more information and registration.
