The Warsaw International School of Hockey (W.I.S.H.)

John F. Krotzer, President

COMING SOON - PICTURES FROM THE 1996-1997 SEASON

The Warsaw International School of Hockey was an enormous success in 1996-1997! Thanks to the help of a lot of parents, we were able to teach hockey and figure skating to over 110 children from 21 different countries, as follows:

Country	Percentage of Players
USA	35.6%
Scandinavia	23.0%
Poland	10.3%
Korea	10.3%
Canada	4.0%
France	4.0%
Other Western Europe	3.2%
Other Central & Eastern Europe	3.2%
South America	3.2%
India	3.2%

History of the School
The school was originally started by Canadian English-teacher Ed Top in 1992, who simply spread the word through various international schools and churches that he was renting the ice for a few hours on Saturdays in the winter. Soon, Ed had his hands full of about two dozen Polish and ex-pat kids excited to learn hockey. The school was born. Since then, the school has grown to over 100 kids, and has also included figure skating lessons. Ed left Poland in the summer of 1996 to go to Seminary School in Canada (who says hockey only attracts the unholy!?!), but the school, newly named the Warsaw International School of Hockey, lives on.

Goals of W.I.S.H.
The goals of W.I.S.H. are very simple:

· To teach beginning hockey players the basics of skating, passing, stopping and shooting, as well as the rules of the game;

· To teach intermediate hockey players better skating, passing, and shooting, as well as backwards skating, positioning, and hockey strategy in game situations;

· To bring together participants from as many different countries as possible;

· To have fun!

When & Where
The school is roughly 20 weeks long, meeting every Saturday at the Torwar II ice rink at ul. Lazienkowska 6 in Warsaw. Three groups - beginning hockey, advanced hockey, and figure skating - meet for one hour each. The exact times for the 1997-1998 season have not yet been announced, but you can bet it will be some time in the early afternoon on Saturday.

What's Required:
· Each player must provide, at a minimum, hockey skates, a stick, a helmet, and some form of gloves (preferably hockey gloves).
· It is recommended that players also purchase elbow pads. Shin guards, a protective cup, and hockey pants may also be worn.

Figure Skating
Figure skating is more popular as ice hockey in Poland, and the figure skaters have not been forgotten! The school employed three paid teachers during the 1996-1997 season, and will do so again in 1997-1998.

I WANNA PLAY!!!!
If you'd like to play, email us at the address below, or call me (John F. Krotzer) at +48 (22) 25-18-81.

Good Hockey Links
The following links really helped us run this league in 1996-1997:

Amateur Hockey Online Letter to Coaches
The WWW Hockey Guide
Coaching Youth Hockey - A GREAT Book!!!!

Go to John Krotzer's WedPage!

Email W.I.S.H.