Our Mission
Our goal is to provide an enriching and healthy environment where young athletes are challenged to seek their personal best. We define this challenge in terms of academics, athletics and personal growth.
The mission of this high-performance program is to provide an experience that focuses on the physical, mental and emotional development of the athlete. It's not about how many games we are going to win, but how the players can help each other to become the best players possible.
Our highly accomplished coaching staff
Believes in a training philosophy that fosters the growth of each player individually and the team collectively. Our goal is to develop players that are creative, problem-solvers and good decision makers. We create a training environment that improves the skill level while promoting hockey-sense for each individual. Our training program is based on the belief that the development of a hockey player integrates physical, mental, and tactical training while continuing to develop and expand a strong skill base for each individual. We are very creative in our approach to training and develop a framework that is both challenging and rewarding. Development and improvement of personal and team skills on the ice occurs within our framework of teaching the game, and allows each player the best opportunity to reach her personal goals and excel. The program affords the opportunity for girls to compete against the best national and international competition, assisting them to prepare for collegiate competition and potential national team selection. In these games and at the highest profile tournaments, our players have the luxury of competing frequently in front of college coaches throughout the season. This reduces the pressure on the players to perform when scouted by a college.
Our coaching staff is our residential staff. Off the ice, our mission is to provide a unique residential environment that is seamless in purpose. Our belief that a disciplined yet flexible living environment teaches and prepares motivated athletes for success in college. Learning and practicing superior study habits, general living habits, community respect, and sense of family among teammates are the foundations of our residential life program.
At the Academy, our athletes are challenged to learn, grow, and improve themselves in all aspects of their lives. Our staff understands the challenges our athletes encounter and provides unparalleled support in each athlete’s growth and development. This philosophy of challenge and support is the underpinning of everything we do at the North American Hockey Academy.
At the Academy, our athletes are challenged to learn, grow, and improve themselves in all aspects of their lives. Our staff understands the challenges our athletes encounter and provides unparalleled support in each athlete’s growth and development. This philosophy of challenge and support is the underpinning of everything we do at the North American Hockey Academy.
GENERAL INFORMATION
The North American Hockey Academy, with hockey athletic facilities located at the new Boston Sports Institute in Wellesley, Massachusetts and our education/boarding campus located at CATS Academy Boston in Braintree, Massachusetts is conveniently situated just about 12 miles South of Boston. We offer girls in grades 8-12 and PG's the opportunity to receive an excellent private school education while pursuing a competitive full season hockey program for elite and developmental level athletes.
Since 1999, this program has been unique in the world of girl’s hockey, and is comparable in many ways to a Junior "A" Hockey for boys. It offers an intensive season of training and competition in preparation for playing at the college level. Girls gain experience and knowledge in many areas that will help in the transition to college; independent learning and study skills, time management, living away from home, the nutrition and healthy living habits required for athletes, travel and its effects on a player's schedule, fitness and training principles, and much more.
Our program runs from late September to early March. Students are educated in our own on campus school, fully recognized as an Independent Secondary School by the MA Board of Education. All students participate in this educational program which allows students to remain at home and in their local schools in the Fall and Spring, then continue to follow their own school's curriculum during their winter at the Academy. Some girls actually withdraw from their home school and enroll in the NAHA school, a credit and diploma-granting institution. Because we work with so many different schools, we have to be flexible. Our Principal works with Guidance Personnel in each girl's school to coordinate communication, grading, and reporting at each school. Girls taking a post-graduate year have a variety of educational opportunities, including taking college level courses on line, with the support of our teachers.
The key to making our program unique is the tutorial educational format which affords the team freedom to travel and compete against the best competition and at the most prestigious tournaments in North America. This provides our student-athletes with the best opportunity to reach their goals of playing in college and at the national level, while remaining on top of their education.