Ice options

Public Hockey

Many Valley rinks—including Palmer, Brett, and Menard—offer Public Hockey during the day. Parents are responsible for covering the coach’s ice fee, which is typically $7–$10.

During these sessions, we’ll grab a spare net and usually work with the goalie around center ice. No crease? No problem! We bring our own crease markers so we can create a proper training area wherever we set up.

School Holiday Notice:
We do not offer coaching during Public Hockey sessions on school holidays. We’ve tried this in the past, but these sessions are typically very crowded and noisy, making it difficult to provide the focused, one-on-one instruction that goalies need.

For the best coaching experience, Public Hockey lessons should be scheduled during regular school days when the rink is quieter and there is more room to work.

Personal Outdoor Ice

If you have a personal outdoor rink or backyard ice setup, we may also be able to come directly to you for goalie training.

Outdoor ice can be a great option for private, focused coaching without needing to rent rink ice. Sessions can be customized around the goalie’s needs and the amount of usable ice available.

Parents are responsible for providing a safe, properly maintained skating surface with enough space for the planned training session. Weather, ice conditions, lighting, and temperature may affect whether a session can take place.

If you have access to personal outdoor ice and would like to schedule training, reach out with the location and rink size so we can determine what type of session will work best.

Team Practice Ice

Before joining an association’s team practice, we ask that the head coach be contacted and approval be arranged in advance. Associations have credentialing requirements, and as a courtesy to the coaching staff, we never want to simply show up and step onto the ice without prior communication.

When a goalie coaching session is scheduled during a team practice, the goalie is dedicated to their goalie coach for the full scheduled hour. During that time, we ask that the goalie not be pulled into team drills. We typically set up near center ice and stay out of the way, leaving the team approximately half of the ice to run its normal practice.

Once the scheduled goalie session is complete, the goalie returns to the team for the remainder of practice. For example, if the team has a 1 hour 15 minute or 1 hour 30 minute practice, we work with the goalie for the first hour, and the team coach has them back for the remaining 15–30 minutes.

If an association requires coaching credentials—including USA Hockey registration information, SafeSport certification, or other required documentation—we are happy to provide them.

Synthetic Goalie Training Center

(Coming Soon!)

Our Synthetic Goalie Training Center is currently in development!

This dedicated training space will give goalies additional opportunities to work on technique, movement, positioning, and other goaltending-specific skills away from traditional ice sessions.

Please stay tuned for updates, opening information, and training opportunities as development continues.

(Check out the Synthetic ice we will be using in the video below)

Private Ice

Parents also have the option to rent a full sheet of ice for private goalie training. This provides the most flexibility and gives us plenty of room to build a session around the goalies attending.

Families can also share the ice and coaching costs by organizing multiple goalies for the same session. This can significantly reduce the cost per goalie while still providing plenty of individual instruction and repetitions.

When additional staff members are available, we can bring in multiple goalie coaches, allowing more goalies to participate while maintaining a strong coach-to-goalie ratio.

We limit each coach to a maximum of 3 goalies to ensure every goalie receives quality instruction, repetitions, and individual feedback.

Examples:

• 1–3 goalies → 1 coach

• 4–6 goalies → 2 coaches

• 7–9 goalies → 3 coaches

So, for example, if 6 goalies split a full sheet of ice, we would ideally have 2 coaches with 3 goalies each. This allows families to split the ice cost while still keeping the training groups small and productive.

Clinics

We plan to offer a few goalie clinics throughout the year, depending on staff availability, ice availability, and interest.

Just like our private ice sessions, we maintain a maximum ratio of 3 goalies per coach. Keeping groups small allows each goalie to receive plenty of repetitions, individual feedback, and hands-on coaching throughout the clinic.

Clinics will most likely begin popping up around November–December, depending on interest and staff availability.

Want to hear about clinic openings as soon as they become available? Join our Clinic Text List!

Text “Clinic List” to 509-822-1521 and include:

• Goalie’s name

• Age

• Skill level — Beginner, Intermediate, or Advanced

Clinic opportunities may have limited spots, so the text list will be the best way to receive information when new sessions become available.