For the second time, PENNY and the Deutscher Eishockey-Bund (DEB) an ice hockey camp for girls only. In Düsseldorf's PSD Bank Dome, 24 participants born between 2013 and 2015 had the unique opportunity to DEBnational coaches and current national team players. For an entire weekend, the young talented athletes had professional support in further developing their ice hockey skills. Participation in the PENNY Ice Hockey Girls Camp was free of charge and included three on-ice sessions, daily off-ice training, and various presentations.
In addition to U18 women's national coach Sebastian Jones accompanied Jennifer Harss (Goalkeeper coach/athletic coach) and Julia Zorn (assistant trainer) the daily training. The participants received further valuable input from the DEB-national players Ronja Hark, Nicola Hadraschek-Eisenschmid, Chiara Schultes and Mathilda Heine. The way food is DEB-Competitive Sports Officer Women Ronja Jenike was there the entire time and was also on the ice.
As an additional bonus, the girls were allowed to interview the national players present, take photos together and take a quick look into the prepared locker room of the men's national team.
Photos: City-Press
Voices about the PENNY Girls Camp:
Competitive sports representative for women Ronja Jenike: "The girls were in a very professional environment here at the PENNY Girls Camp. They were coached by national team coaches, got to share the ice with national team players, had a well-equipped locker room, and completed their ice sessions in Düsseldorf's PSD Bank Dome – that was a fantastic experience for our participants. Professional photos were also taken on and off the ice – all things that, of course, such young ice hockey players don't normally experience. This provides the girls with positive memories and motivation for their future careers. Therefore, we would like to take this opportunity to express our sincere thanks to PENNY, whose tremendous support made the Girls Camp possible in the first place. The positive feedback from parents and participants themselves confirms that we are on the right track together."
Bundeswehr trainer Jennifer Harss: "We were on the ice with the girls every day and did a warm-up and cool-down before and after practice, as well as additional athletic training sessions. It was basically the complete program a female ice hockey player needs. The entire training session here was very professional and valuable, and you could tell the girls were having a great time together and also enjoyed being on the ice with just other girls. We had three different age groups – it was difficult for us to know exactly what to expect beforehand, but the level was really good. The girls were always very motivated, listened carefully, and implemented the input immediately. It was a very pleasant group, and we coaches also really enjoyed training with them."
National player Ronja Hark"It was a joy to see how much fun the girls had here at camp. I still remember how it was for me when players from the first team were on the ice with me. They're simply role models; you train completely differently and push yourself even harder. You could tell that the girls here really enjoyed the whole camp atmosphere. They laughed a lot and were happy to be just among girls for once – something like that didn't happen at all for us back then, for example. We national players are therefore delighted to be able to play our part in a successful PENNY Girls Camp."