Athletic Mentors

D1 Hockey Champ Tessa Ward Brings Ladies’ Hockey Home This Summer!

April 3rd, 2018 by Athletic Mentors

What do the Winter Olympics, the KOHA, and Athletic Mentors have in common? They’re scoring awareness for the sport of Girls & Women’s hockey.

This summer, Division I Northeastern Husky Forward Tessa Ward will suit up to help coach Mark Olson lead Athletic Mentors’ first Ladies Dryland Summer Training Camp. The freshman and her team earned the Hockey East Championship this season before being sidelined on the way to the NCAA’s Final Four.

For Ward, growing up with a dad in the NHL (Eddie Ward) and four brothers who vied for ice time in their backyard hockey rink, playing came naturally. The basement of her childhood home is still riddled with holes in the wall from their games of competitive mini-stick. Dad was in the mix, much to her mom’s chagrin.

Ward’s older brother, Keegan, now plays for Northern Michigan University. When they were younger, watching him play inspired her.

“I was so jealous. I saw him having fun on the ice, and thought I could do it better than him…” Ward recalls. She’s played since she was four years old, entirely on boys’ teams until Bantam major level. Then she switched over to girls hockey, playing on the Lansing Spartans.

“That’s when I really realized this was something I can do and want to do at the collegiate level.”

For Ward, the dryland camp is the kind of thing she wished she would have had growing up.

“I think it would have been motivating to see girls my age working, getting stronger, growing in the game. I had to travel to play on a girls’ team. It’s great they’re building a program. I’m really looking forward to mentoring young girls.”

Ward credits in part the Team USA Women’s Olympic win this year with the surge in popularity experienced in women’s hockey. “I think it’s shown a lot of girls that hockey is a sport was can all play. It’s not just for boys anymore.”

Earlier this year, the Kalamazoo Optimist Hockey Association teamed up with Athletic Mentors to offer 40 girls, ages 8U to 16U, an opportunity to train both on and off the ice. The program turned heads at USA Hockey.

“The excitement and buzz that is surrounding girls and women’s hockey right now is contagious,” said Emily West, USA Hockey’s ADM manager. “The staff in Kalamazoo is continuing to go above and beyond for these girls and it’s an awesome thing to see how much those girls enjoyed the event.”

That trend will continue this summer in Richland under the tutelage of Coach Mark Olson, former D1 player and national champion, and Tessa Ward. In Dryland training, Athletic Mentor’s unique blend of performance-powered mental and physical conditioning with precise skill development will help serious players ratchet up their level of play. On-Ice skills and conditioning will also be available for those who want to hone their stride strength, power and explosive stops and starts. The coaching team includes former NHL Pro Eddie Ward; pro power skating coach Stacey Barber, and new team member, Nicole Reitz. For Ward, it’s a pleasure to work alongside one of her most influential coaches.

“I’ve worked with Mark since I was ten years old. I trust him as a trainer more than anybody else. He’s honest, works hard, and keeps you working towards a goal. He’s been wonderful to me and my brothers, and has taken me to the next level as a hockey player and a person.”

She hopes she can give some of that back to the program.

“My advice to younger girls is to keep working hard. Keep your head up, and have fun playing hockey. Make a goal and stick to it and don’t let anybody tell you no. Hockey is not just for boys anymore.”

For more information about Athletic Mentors’ program, visit Ladies Summer Dryland Camp or call 269.743.2277.

Athletic Mentors Coaches K-Wings for Strength and Conditioning

March 17th, 2016 by Athletic Mentors

Coach Mark Olson working with the K-Wings pro hockey team during a pre-season testing session. Athletic Mentors is the team's strength and conditioning trainer.

Coach Mark Olson working with the K-Wings pro hockey team during a pre-season testing session. Athletic Mentors has been named as the team’s professional strength and conditioning coaching staff.

Athletic Mentors’ slogan is Train Like a Pro. The slogan has taken on a new dimension for up and coming hockey players now that AM is the professional strength and conditioning coaching staff for the Kalamazoo K-Wings of the ECHL.

This summer, athletes in the popular Dryland and Ultimate Ice hockey camps at Athletic Mentors might also have a chance to train alongside some of those pros.

Named the K-Wings strength and conditioning coaching staff in the fall of 2015, Coach Mark Olson says the designation has helped strengthen the Athletic Mentors hockey program beyond its already robust, national reputation. This year, the Ultimate On-Ice Skills and Power Skating Package has expanded to offer a straight Power Skating option.

How K-Wings Training Helps Campers

“Working with the K-Wings is of tremendous benefit for our hockey kids in a couple of ways. First of all, coaching a greater number of high level, pro players in-season elevates the skill level of our own coaching team,” said Olson. “We love being part of the team and helping the coaching staff focus on running the team.”

“Secondly, it’s inspiring for younger, amateur players to train in the same place, with similar programs, as the pros.”

Olson expects some of the in-state K-Wings players will continue their strength and conditioning training throughout the summer. Others will return in-season, and some may even move up to the NHL.

Olson has his trainer’s eye on one passionate, driven player he expects has the work ethic to make it to the next level: Anton Cederholm, the Vancouver Canucks draft pick. He describes the Sweden native as one of the “more driven” players in terms of being consistent with his off-ice training.

While there are many similarities between the K-Wings training and the Dryland hockey summer camps, the pros net a higher training volume using more advanced techniques and higher overall intensity, Olson says.

“We’re dealing with very seasoned athletes on the K-Wings. We love working with them, and making a positive impact.”

Registration Open for Summer Hockey Dryland Training and Ultimate On-Ice and Power Skating Camps

Olson says he’s excited to open registration on this summer’s Hockey Camp and Ultimate On-Ice packages for Young Elite, Elite, and aspiring Pros.

“Our Ultimate Skills & Power Skating package was so popular last year, we’ve expanded the program to include stand-alone Power Skating packages for all age groups,” Olson said.

Since skating is the key to skill development, even the youngest players can benefit from working with Pro Power Skating coach Stacy Barber and Olson’s all-star coaching team. NHL agent and pro, Eddie Ward and first-round NHL draft pick and rising star, Stefan Noeson round out the team.

“The combination of our intense Dryland off-season camp with our Ultimate On-Ice skills and Power Skating package will enhance our athletes’ stride, strength and power for explosive stops and starts on ice,” said Olson. “Players will learn new skills that can only be taught by coaches that have played or are playing at the highest level.”

Also back this year is an attractive all-inclusive accommodation package for athletes who hail from afar or who just want the full camp experience. This year’s residence is a well-appointed Gull Lake home that will provide a resort-style experience.
Visit our Hockey Registration Center to learn more.

Athletic Mentors Hockey Camp Coach Suits Up As NHL Duck

April 14th, 2015 by Athletic Mentors

noesen_resized You might find Athletic Mentors hockey camp alumni Stefan Noesen suited up for the Anaheim Ducks this spring, or wearing an Athletic Mentors Coaching Jersey, depending on the day. It’s been a long strange trip from Plano, Texas to the NHL, but for unstoppable two-way right-winger with the “high hockey IQ,” the ride is worth the fare.

Noesen was called up from the AHL’s Norfolk Admirals to log ice time in the bigs with the Anaheim Ducks earlier this month.

“I definitely had a little bit of jitters in the beginning,” said the 22-year-old.
“As the game went on, it starts to be hockey and those feelings go away. It was a dream come true.”

Noesen’s NHL agent, Eddie Ward, predicts his April debut won’t be his last time in suit, and credits Athletic Mentor’s Pro Hockey Camp with Noeson’s ongoing development and steady progress toward the top of his game.

“Training with coach Mark Olson has given Stefan the edge to up his game and get the call,” said Ward. “He has made outstanding gains in terms of strength and conditioning in the two years he’s trained with Athletic Mentors. The program’s pro-style focus on speed, strength, skills and diet is unparalleled,” Ward said.

Noesen, at 6’2” and 205 lbs, was a first-round draft pick in 2011 for the Ottawa Senators and remains in the NHL’s top 35 prospects in central scouting rank. His proving ground in the OHL and AHL was protracted when he was sidelined by injuries, including a torn ACL that had him sit out the 2013 season, and an Achilles tendon injury last fall. But Noesen has battled back to top form, a feat Ward calls “inspiring.”

“It’s been amazing what he’s gone through. I’m really proud of Stef. There are two ways a story like this can go. Instead of sitting around feeling sorry for himself, Stef’s continued to get himself in phenomenal shape, trained really hard in the summer, had a great training camp…It is just amazing how he’s persevered,” said Ward.

Ward is teaming up with coach Olson this summer to unveil the Athletic Mentor’s On-Ice Ultimate Skills & Conditioning program. Noesen is joining the team as an assistant coach, a role for which Ward says he was made.

“Stefan pays attention to detail and knows all about focusing on the little things to ratchet up his play. I think our young athletes will really benefit from his experience and his incredible attitude. He’s a smart, competitive player with a high-energy, two-way game.”

The team’s excited to provide something different that hasn’t been available to serious players who want to get to the next level.

“This is a camp that’s going to be focused on attention to details; a high-end program that’s really going to push the athletes. In other words: not your typical camp,” Ward said.

As an agent, he feels serious pro contenders need to train year-round to remain competitive players. Increasingly, those who make the pro circuit are one-sport athletes from an early age and are committed to hard work at strong summer programs.

But quantity does not beat quality, he warns.

Even those players who’ve trained year-round from an early age — like Noesen — can use a boost with elite strength and conditioning training and the kind of on-ice skills best mentored by those who’ve played pro or at elite levels.

Noesen is the product of early Dryland training as a former 10-year member of Dallas’s Ice Jets hockey program, where he helped lead his team to a U-12 Tier 1 national championship.

Dryland training has historically been an innovative approach to training all aspects of an athlete, from nutritional counseling to explosive power through strength conditioning. A handful of programs across the US have been pioneers, Athletic Mentors among them.

Noesen, the son of two college basketball athletes, fell in love with hockey at the age of 3 when his grandfather taught him the “motions” of ice skating in the living room. Since then, he’s been driven for ice time.

Despite the hot, humid climate in Dallas, Noesen trained year-round since he was 8 years old. He moved to Northville, Michigan to spend two seasons in the Compuware Under-16 Team, winning a national championship in 2009. After his first-round draft selection, he played with the OHL Plymouth Whalers until traded to Anaheim.

His advice for young athletes who want to make the play to go pro is “don’t stop believing – or improving!”

“Every game I push myself to be better and better, and the more I push myself, the higher I go in the standings,” Noesen said. “Play big and train hard.”