Ninety-two locals kids are taking to the Enerplex ice this week for the Best Performance Hockey Camp.

The camp is open to all ages of and concentrates on mastering skating.

“You can’t play hockey if you can’t skate,” said coach Phil Hiscocks, adding that many coaches say that it’s important to teach systems.

“If they can’t be there to be in position through skating, then they’re not going to be able to play systems. You gotta be able to skate.”

There is also a specialized goaltending camp this week.

The first year atoms took to the ice Tuesday morning, where they set about learning acceleration and starting. They learned stopping on Monday.

"Just working on getting the most amount of blade applied to the ice and then work some full stride stuff as well," said Hisocks.

The atom players were already lined up at the ice before the coaches were anywhere to be seen. They were excited to learn some more.

“Phil is skating us like mules,” said first-year atom player Seth Sutherland, noting his legs were getting in shape.

“They’re getting more exercise, they’re getting better.”

Hiscocks wants to make sure the kids master the skills they learn at the camp.

“A lot of kids have heard the saying 'practice makes perfect,' so they go out there and practice all the wrong things, whereas we make sure that we do perfect practice,” he said.

“We really try to make sure that they really understand how the skill works and kind of discover to make that skill better for themselves instead of just constantly telling them... it just makes it more intriguing for them, especially at the upper ages it’s more a technical thing where we just try to tweak little things and their skating is starting to make it more effective.”

Nine-year-old Lane Braun said he’s having fun at the camp and learning new stuff.

“How to keep our balance and how to fall down and get up right away and how to keep the puck on our stick.”

All the campers said they were having a lot of fun.

"I learned how to do lots of 360 spin arounds and get back to the puck," said eight-year-old Gavin Swanson.

Added nine-year-old Thomas Taylor: “I like this hockey school because we’re learning how to skate better and will make us a better hockey player so we can tryout for the rep teams.”

It already looks like Fort St. John and Taylor are going to have some good players this season.

“We’re see a lot of good groups starting to come out of the lower levels as well, so it’s going good,” said Hiscocks.

"The biggest thing that we always say is that we want them to have a lot of fun and enjoy the game of hockey and learn some skill along the way."