Classes of the Vladislav Tretiak and Sergey Naumov International School of Goaltending will be held in Riga and Jurmala for the ninth time, and, as always, with the support of Rietumu Bank.
Every year the Latvian master classes are attended by several dozens of very young promising goaltenders, as well as their more experienced colleagues from Europe, the CIS countries and other regions of the world. This year, about 40 boys from Latvia, Finland, Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Spain will train here.
For the first time in the history of the school, the arrival of Chinese hockey players is expected as well. The Chinese, who recently joined the CHL, take the development of this sport very seriously. In the last year, they have already had several training series in Latvia and have managed to evaluate the advantages of local training sites and the professionalism of Latvian trainers.
Apart from the boys, during recent years, girls have also been training at the school. This time, four sportsmen from Russia, who are playing women’s ice hockey professionally, have declared their participation.
As always the guys will be trained by Vladislav Tretiak personally, the famous Latvian goaltenders Sergey Naumov and Andrejs Žagars, as well as a number of high-class professionals.
“We are happily getting ready for the new season,” said the trainer of Tretiak School Andrejs Žagars. “And although we have considerable experience in organising such master classes, every year is like first one for us. We are preparing for the summer school very thoroughly and we are also excited. We are aiming to develop the optimal programme, in order for the guys to train both puck related methods and skating skills to the maximum. We try to help everyone to improve their personal play and eliminate possible errors, and we give valuable advice.”
He adds that at the end everything always turns out to be excellent and the participants are very satisfied both with the knowledge they have received and the friendly atmosphere of the training. Thus, it is not surprising that many of them attend the summer school in Latvia several years in succession; there are even “veterans” of the school who practically do not miss a single season. “We have worked very hard to ensure everything will be held at the highest level this time as well. I think that we have succeeded in selecting a very good coaching staff and preparing the most efficient training programme,” said Andrejs Žagars.
Training at Tretiak School will be conducted in two age groups - junior and senior. Training on ice and on the ground will take place in the Inbox Ice Hall in Riga (Pinki).
As usual, a trip to Jurmala is planned for one day, where the trainees will work on their technique in the open air, right on the beach. “Such trips have become a great tradition and everyone always looks forward to them. This is training that also gives new impressions, especially considering some of our guests have never seen the sea; it also provides a possibility to make friends and maintain a very warm atmosphere in the team. After all, sport is much more than just physical training and professional skills. Here one’s character and a positive mood is very important, as well as the general atmosphere. This is what we are also trying to work on,” said Andrejs Žagars.
It is worth noting that master classes of the Tretiak School have been conducted exclusively in Latvia for a number of years. For young hockey players, this is a unique opportunity to attend individual classes from our famous trainers and from the legendary Vladislav Tretiak.
Eleonora Gailisha Mass Media and Public Relations
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