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Goalie camp teaches new netminders values
BY ALEX GALLAGHER Progress Staff Writer
Being a goaltender on a hockey team can be isolating.
Most teams only have two goalies on a team, and most do not have a coach specializing in goaltending.
However, for one week each summer for the past 26 years, Behind The Mask hockey shop owner Randy Exelby has saved a sheet of ice so that goaltenders from around the state can receive two hours of goalie-specific instruction.
“I’ve been to several camps in Arizona and out and this is definitely the best one for goalies,” said Henry Stratton, 14, who will tend the twine for Notre Dame Preparatory High School as a freshman this year.
“The coaches really make you feel like you’re one of them,” Henry said, “and they don’t make you feel like you’re an outsider. They make sure that every person gets better and not just specifically a few people.” For five days, goaltenders started their
Randy Exelby talks to attendees in between rotations at the Behind the Mask Goalie
School in Scottsdale. (David Minton/Progress Staff Photographer)
mornings by lacing up their skates, strapping on their pads, sliding their carbon fiber or plastic masks over their heads and taking the ice for 30-minutes of goalie-specific power skating – which some goalies have attributed to sharpening their game while ironically dulling their blades.
“I think the power skating is an important part of the position that a lot of goalie instructors don’t really go over,” said 14-year-old Aidan Mullarkey, who plans to patrol the crease for Mountain Ridge High School this upcoming season.
“I like that this camp focused on that for at least 30 minutes of each ice time and I think working hard, getting gassed and learning better edge work is a good part of this camp,” Aidan added.
After carving the ice by making c-cuts with their feet, skating to lines on the ice where they would drop to their stomachs and recover and partaking in myriad skating drills, the goaltenders would head off to stations where they would face pucks slung by skilled shooters from and by a machine that shoots pucks as fast as 100 mph at one station. That was unanimously a favorite drill among the campers. “I definitely liked the puck shooting machine drill because it gave us a chance to react to some strong rebounds and make some nice saves,” Henry said.
Although the puck machine station was a camp favorite, Exelby noted two things about the campers he saw stonewalling shooters this year.
“We had a lot of younger goalies this year.
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Scottsdale women’s group helps meals program
BY ANGELA SIMS
Progress Guest Writer
In Arizona, 231,429 seniors (14.5%) are threatened by or experiencing hunger.
Arizona ranks 15th in the U.S. for food insecurity for seniors. Nationwide, 63% of seniors visiting food banks say they must choose between food and medical care, according to Meals on Wheels and Feeding America.
Seniors’ mental and physical health are impacted when they face hunger and food insecurity. Food-insecure seniors are more likely to suffer from diabetes, depression, high blood pressure, heart attacks, asthma, and more.
These statistics are troubling and heartMeals of Joy, a local nonprofit founded in 2014 by Larry Cervarich of Goodyear, is committed to addressing this need.
It provides quality meals at a reasonable cost (or no cost, depending on income level) to seniors in the West Valley. These meals are delivered hot and fresh, directly to the homes of seniors, five days a week!
Each month a menu is provided, and the clients can choose exactly which days and meals they would like to receive hot, to their doorstep, every week day. There is also an option to order a “Weekender Meal” that is delivered on Friday.
Volunteers pick up the meals and deliver them to the seniors, providing a personal
Three unidentified Meals of Joy members hold an out-sized check and are flanked by, from left, Lauryn Wingate, Larry Cervarich, Stephanie Millner and Kim Tarnopolski.
25 10-week-old falcon nesting nicely at Medieval Times
BY ALEX GALLAGHER Progress Staff Writer
Medieval Times recently welcomed a new falcon to its flock with the addition of an 11-week-old Saker Falcon named Orion.
Orion is the third bird to take his perch at Medieval Times in Scottsdale and, according to Medieval Times Falconer, Sir Anthony “Tony” Amodt, Orion is adjusting nicely to his new home.
“When the birds get here, they’re just nervous. They’re so nervous that they don’t even want to eat,” Amodt said. “Sometimes it takes a week for them to start eating, but he started eating on day two.”
Since Amodt already has Orion taking food out of the palm of his hand, the real task has begun getting Orion show ready. To accomplish the feat, Amodt’s first step will be to acclimate Orion to being around
people – which he admits is the hardest part of the process. “The biggest challenge is just getting them used to people. So, flying in an empty arena is one thing, but then flying in an arena full of 900 to 1,000 people that are all cheering and waving flags is the hardest part,” Amodt said. Sir Anthony “Tony” Amodt said Orion has a pretty big learning curve as the falcon adjusts to being around people and learning “Before I ever fly a bird in a show, I’ll bring to fl y right. (David Minton/Progress Staff Photographer) them out to our Hall of Arms where everybody hangs out and congregates before showtime to hang out, take pictures and take questions. Once they’re comfortable once there, that’s when I know that when I throw them into a show, they’re going to be OK with it.”
Once his birds are comfortable with being around people, Amodt proceeds with the ancient training of “lure flying” where the falcon chases a leather beanbag that resembles a bird and oftentimes has a snack tied to it.
Although Amodt relies on traditional ways to train his falcons, there has been one scientific innovation that aids his job: a scale. Before the invention of the scale, Amodt demonstrated that falconers would brush their fingers along the chest, or keel, of the falcon to feel if it is becoming too heavy to fly.
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So, we had 13 goalies that were ages 7 to 9 and 23 of our goalies were under 11,” Exelby said. “So, we had a new generation of young goalies, which was great and I’m really impressed with how hard they worked, how well they listened and how much they improved.
It’s almost like we’re cultivating a new generation of goalies, which is great.”
Although some goalies could be seen redfaced and dousing themselves with water after each drill, it is because of one lesson that Exelby hoped to impart to the young netminders.
“It’s easier to do a drill once 100% than three times at 80%,” Exelby said.
“Just work hard because when you’re not working hard, somebody is,” added 15-year-old Joaquin Keelor, who plans to keep the goal for Corona Del Sol high school next season.
Those two nuggets of advice were not the only lessons Exelby and his team of coaches — many of whom attended the camp as students before — imparted to this year’s students.
“We just try and get goalies to move out and challenge the shooters to make themselves look big and then just to stay up on their feet and react to the puck,” Exelby said.
As a former journeyman of pro hockey who appeared in two NHL games — once for the Montreal Canadians and once for the Edmonton Oilers — Exelby’s knowledge goes a long way with the young minds at his camp.
“Randy has experience as being a former NHL you know, pro goalie, and just unwinding his experience down to the instructors, which trickles down to the kids in the camp. So, I think everyone just benefits from all the wisdom that’s here,” Aidan said.
On the last day of camp, all of Exelby’s lessons culminated in a last-man-standing shootout where goaltenders competed against each other to see who could stymie the most shooters.
Exelby hopes that these students will
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connection versus just a meal delivery or drop-off outside the door. Both the volunteers and the seniors benefit from this personal interaction. Cervarich shared a story of one volunteer who noticed that a senior had been wearing the same clothing each day the meals were delivered. The volunteer bought new clothing for the client.
In another instance, a volunteer noticed that a client had not picked up meals from outside the door. This volunteer called 911 and emergency responders found the client passed out on the floor. They were then able to assist her in getting the medical attention she needed.
In April, Lauryn Wingate shared the mission of the Meals of Joy with her 100+ Women Who Care Valley of the Sun group in Scottsdale. Members were moved to support this worthy organization and chose the charity as the recipient of their quarterly donations.
Meals of Joy was awarded $17,000 to
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However, Amodt opted not to ruffle his bird’s feathers and weigh them on a scale where he could track their weight down to the gram.
As it currently stands, Amodt’s lightest bird weighs 650 grams and his heaviest weighs 1100 grams.
“That weight range is very important because they’re athletes and they’re flying every day so they need to be strong and healthy,” he said. “If you have a bird that’s too heavy, they don’t want to work because they have no motivation to get it whereas if you have a bird that’s too low, and they’re hungry, they’re not healthy. So, we have to strike that balance of weight.”
However, Amodt admits that the best way to train his birds is through positive reinforcement.
Amodt said. “You can’t use any kind of negative reinforcement at all with a bird
GOALIE ���� page 25 �������� 480-882-4545 �������� NOAHhelps.org carry lessons they’ve learned into their next season of hockey and that they were able to form friendships that will last a lifetime and shine above team rivalries. “I hope that the students take a work ethic away from this camp, foremost, and what we stress too is that we want them to take away friendships where they meet goalies and they’re going to see a goalie from this camp at another rink and they say ‘hey, I remember you from the goalie school.' We try to teach them that this camp is all about working hard, having a good attitude, having fun and making friendships.”
continue their valuable work, providing for the nutritional well-being of seniors in the West Valley.
“Donations from organizations like 100+ Women Who Care are always extremely valuable, because that means we can provide meals to the seniors who need them. These donations are our lifeline,” Cervarich stated. 100+ Women Who Care Valley of the Sun is a group of like-minded, passionate women who want to connect to one another and to their communities. The ladies are leveraging their resources so their quarterly gifts of $100 per member add up to a significant donation to a local charity.
Since the chapter’s inception in 2015, over $912,625 has been donated to local charities. This group of women has learned that giving back is better together.
To learn more about 100+ Women Who Care Valley of the Sun or to register for their upcoming giving circle on Aug. 17 at the HomeSmart Corporate Office, visit 100wwcvalleyofthesun.org.
because if they’re afraid of you, or they decide they don’t like you, they’re just not going to come back.
The only thing keeping these birds coming back to me is the fact that they have to like me and they have to trust me.”
Once Orion is trained for the show, he could have a performing career that lasts anywhere between 15 and 20 years.
“When they’re ready to retire, they start to slow down a little bit and they are less interested in doing the work the new birds are excited to do,” Amodt said. “Everybody’s different but when they’re ready to retire, they let me know.”
Although Amodt hopes for a long career from Orion, like the two other birds – Nixon and Lorelei – that call the Scottsdale castle home, the next three to six months will be dedicated to prepping Orion to perform.
Amodt also hopes to forge a bond with his new feathered friend.
