School was in session this past week at the City Arena for local hockey players who participated in the Albert Lea Summer Hockey School.

The long-running program run by Albert Lea boys’ hockey head coach Roy Nystrom was an opportunity for skaters to get some ice time during the summer months and refine their skills.

The camp is designed for players in mini mites all the way up to the high school level. Around 100 players attended the camp which has been a staple for any hockey player in Albert Lea.

The captains from this year’s Big Nine conference champion team were among the volunteers and the week provided Mike Falk, Grant Stadheim and Jordan Prescher-Smerud an opportunity to bestow their knowledge of the game upon the future varsity players.

“It’s a good way to give back to the program that has given us so much over the years,” Falk said. “We were up here as 4 and 5-year-olds all the way up through skating for Roy and the high school boys. It’s looked at as something you should do if Roy asks you to do it after high school.”

The trio helped with the mini mites, squirts, pee wees and bantams throughout the week and allowed them to reminisce on their time in the camp growing up.

“Roy’s camp was always a yearly deal for us,” Stadheim said.

The three now-former players were working with the young players Friday, helping with their skating skills, turns and playing some small-sided scrimmages as well. Players worked on the fundamentals, the cornerstone of any successful program, especially Nystrom’s, who has often said he can teach a forecheck in five minutes, but in order to do that you have to be adequate in the fundamentals.

The three were there for four sessions a day, helping anywhere from 15 to 45 players a session on their skills.

There was lots of falling and spinning on the ice, but also friendships were being developed that might last long after high school. The school served as the place where Stadheim, Falk and Prescher-Smerud first got on the ice together on a regular basis to play. Little did they know, the skills they learned from those camps would lead them to becoming the first team to win a Big Nine championship in 15 years.

“A lot of these kids come out in the winter and watch us play our games and like to come out and skate with us on the ice,” Prescher-Smerud said.

Stadheim helped coach squirts in-house hockey for the past two years and said the experience helped with trying to teach during the camp.

Their experience with the game largely comes from Nystrom and they became ambassadors of the program.

Of course Nystrom was around to take it all in, greeting and praising the youngsters after they came off the ice.

“If they’re having fun, they’ll want to come back,” Prescher-Smerud said.