March 30, 2010

THE SEASON IS OVER.   THANKS ATOM SANDSTORMS!

Last night's fun "Parent/Kid" game was the official end to the Dubai SandStorms hockey season.  I think a good time was had by all participants, and despite the lack of proper sound, I hope you enjoyed the 'Atom Year End 2010' video.  I have a few extra copies if anyone wishes to have one.

As mentioned, this season there were 26 formal practices, 16 league games along with 3 UAE/District tournaments, the Pre-Season Hockey Camp, and the Year End 4 on 4 Tournament.  All together that amounts to over 60 on-ice sessions and that's not including the Switzerland tournament and associated TT sessions.  All told, that's a fair amount of hockey for desert based kids!

Special thanks to all the coaches, Jonnie, Ray, Darryn, Jim, Steve, Franck and Dan as well as our dedicated team managers, Tracey, Stephanie and Lynda. 

Congratulations to Simon Delden for earning the right to keep the Yellow Jersey by consistently being the hardest working player in practice.

I have enjoyed coaching the SandStorms for the past 4 seasons and will very much miss the players.  I have believed for a long time that the most important parts of the hockey program are the life lessons learnt along the way;  The importance of team play, the rewards achieved through hard work and the necessity for fair play.   We coaches have been very proud of the kid's performance at the various tournaments and in the house league.  All the parents should be very proud of their players.

Sharon, Mika and I will leave the SandStorms with a life time of fond memories while we will quickly forget the few bumps along the way.  We will continue to follow the kids from abroad and hope to keep in touch.  Who knows, maybe one of Mika's future teams can come to Dubai for a hockey challenge, or visa versa?

Please continue to support the organization through your volunteer work.  While it's a time consuming challenge, it's more than worth it in the end.

Here's hoping to see you at the rink in the future,

Coach Tim

Skating Clinic - I am very excited to introduce Ms. Georgie Hallat who is a professional figure skater from the UK who recently moved to Dubai.  She is not only an excellent skater, but she is a trained and experienced skating coach.  Mika has taken a few private lessons from her and I can tell you that she is absolutely fantastic.  Having a good skating coach in Dubai is probably the best chance to improve the kid's hockey that we've ever had.  Along those lines, I will be organizing 3 skating clinics on Monday's at Al Nasr at what was our usual time, 1730.  These clinics will start Monday April 19th and end May 3rd.  The format will be 40 minutes of "Power Skating" followed by a 20 minute scrimmage.  I will be offering spots first to our Atom group and will take a maximum of 20 skaters on a first come, first served basis.  With 20 skaters, the cost will be 180 dhs.  Please let me know early as once again I expect these spots to fill up.

UPDATE (April 27th) - The clinic is now full.  Thanks again for your support! Tim

Lost and Found

Lost - Coach's Clipboard - Hockey rink on one side and important notes attached.

Adult Hockey stick - Easton, Left

Found -

-In Qatar - March 20, 2010 - 1 black skate guard, 1 yellow skate guard.

-Skate Guards - Black "Source for Sports"

-one solid black hockey sock

-large roll of clear tape