A swelling cohort of new hockey players has the Inuvik Minor Hockey Association buzzing this season.

SA国际影视传媒淏usy,SA国际影视传媒� said Mark Sommerfeld, coach of the novice group, about the first day Saturday, Oct. 7.

SA国际影视传媒淟ot more kids than we had the last two years. But (itSA国际影视传媒檚 been) good so far. EverybodySA国际影视传媒檚 really excited to be out there.SA国际影视传媒�

By the second day of hockey, 142 players had signed up, with growth especially among the younger tiers.

SA国际影视传媒淚tSA国际影视传媒檚 bigger than last year,SA国际影视传媒� said Marsha Branigan, the associationSA国际影视传媒檚 secretary, who was taking care of sign-ups during the weekend.

SA国际影视传媒淚 think it might be one of our largest groups. We have lots of new players coming in, which is nice to see, especially at the younger age.SA国际影视传媒�

Sommerfeld has children at the initiation, novice and atom levels. His son Jaxon was looking forward to his new season in novice, where his father is the coach.

SA国际影视传媒淢y dadSA国际影视传媒檚 the coach, so he said that we were just going to have a fun day for the first day of hockey, just skate around and play some games,SA国际影视传媒� said Jaxon.

HeSA国际影视传媒檚 been playing hockey for five years, preferring to play goalie or forward. His favourite team is the Toronto Maple Leafs.

JaxonSA国际影视传媒檚 goal for this season: SA国际影视传媒淧laying my best and being a good hockey player.SA国际影视传媒�

For coach Sommerfeld, leading the novice players means balancing practices so all skill sets are accommodated.

SA国际影视传媒淲e focus primarily on skating (and) just the basics of hockey SA国际影视传媒� skating, stopping,SA国际影视传媒� he said. SA国际影视传媒淲eSA国际影视传媒檝e got skill ranges from never skated before all the way up to being able to start learning positional play, but we have to focus on a middle ground so we donSA国际影视传媒檛 leave anybody behind.SA国际影视传媒�

Because there arenSA国际影视传媒檛 enough players in the Inuvik hockey system to hold a league, players usually practice all week with one game on the weekends. Sommerfeld divides the players into two teams with separate dressing rooms and jerseys, so the experience mimics a real game feeling.

When players come in from the surrounding communities for the larger tournaments, they are integrated into the Inuvik rosters and teams are divided up evenly.

Despite it being busy, Sommerfeld said the new season was going well so far.

SA国际影视传媒淓verybodySA国际影视传媒檚 really excited to be out there,SA国际影视传媒� he said.