Beach Season is Coming

 

Someone needs to contact Mother Nature.

Tell her that we love to play in the rain, wind and stormy days, but we do not like snow and lightning.  We will play in the snow, but lightning is the only element we would not like to see.  Check the website for start dates and times.
The beach players need to make sure they bring the following to the courts:

• A beach volleyball – each player must have a beach volleyball (check the website for the academy store, I bought some last year, so the prices are not bad.)
• A water bottle
• A towel
• An umbrella
• Knee pads
• A warm rainproof coat
• A hat or bandana
• Sunglasses
• Sunscreen
• A pair of beach socks (old socks can work as well)
• A lawn chair
• A change of clothes
• Green garbage bag to cover gym bag when it rains
• Some bandaids, to cover the nicks and cuts from the elements
• A roll of white tape – helps with minor sprains and holding the body together when necessary.
• A treat (energy bar)- two hours sessions in the sun are long, and energy is required
• A Mask – until the province tells us otherwise
• Knee braces, elbow braces etc., as needed. – this is more of a reminder for old players like me.
• A smile and a great attitude – this is necessary, it Mother Nature does not bring the sunshine, it is expected that the players must.
• Weekly treats for coaches

The beach season is two hours twice a week, with tournaments on the weekend.  The tournaments are not run by the academy, and teams will have to register for them separately.  The beach volleyball courts are people’s happy place; parents are welcome to come with their lawn chairs and watch the training.  It was in the past before the COVID, a social event and an excellent way to spend two hours socializing and meeting the other volleyball parents.
The academy’s goal for the beach is to prepare the 2s teams to compete in tournaments.  The benefits for the athletes are the agility and movement that will become evident when they go back to school and try out on the hardcourt that does not shift underneath then when they move.  They will be stronger, faster and have increased verticals.  We play music at every session and get an opportunity to scrimmage at the end of most sessions, and if we have no lightning or snow, it is one fantastic way to spend some of your summers.  After school finish for the summer, we will try to have some free sessions to just drop in and play.  Players are expected to bring their parents to play at these sessions.

And to end this newsletter, we also have some incredible camps happening this summer.  One of those camps is in the sand, and the others are on the hardcourt.  Hope to see you all there.

The painting at the beginning of this newsletter is one of my latest volleyball artworks.  It will make an excellent poster for the volleyball player in your family.  You can get it as large as 48” by 60”.  The site sells everything from canvas prints to shower curtains, phone cases, duvet covers, and cards.  Check them out.

https://fineartamerica.com/featured/volleyball-spiker-darren-cannell.html

 

One Week Left!

We are one week away from our May Shutdown at the Academy.  The idea behind the shutdown is to allow us to stay away during the Variants of Concern.  I do not like the fact that they are showing up in more and more young people.  During May we will allow private lessons only.  This will control the numbers, and I should run most of the private sessions as I do not want to expose our coaches until the vaccines start to help. On the site, there will be a session called "Private Lesson."  This is where you would register an individual or group private lesson. The cost for the session is $149 for an hour-long session. The athlete who registers will be asked:  What is the date you would like to have the private lesson? What is the skill that you would like to work on in your private lesson? What are the names of the athletes attending?  (this is where you would put the other athletes' names coming to the private lesson.  (you can have up to four athletes for the same price.) Is there a coach that you would like to work with? (Please choose me as I do not want to use any other coaches during May)   It is not possible currently for the athletes to pay separately.  The private session is for one athlete.  That athlete is the lead for the sessions and determines the date, time, skill and coach, and then that athlete can determine which other athletes can attend his/her session.  (up to 3 other athletes)  In the past, many groups of athletes have used private lessons to control the date, time, skill and coach for a session. This flexibility allows the group to pick the date and time that works the best for them and get to choose the coach.  The flexibility of the private lesson is good for some groups as the scheduled academy sessions are arranged by the Head Coach of the Academy.  Often groups of athletes may not be able to be in the same group or the dates and times of the academy sessions; as they do not work with other commitments; the skill they need work on is not being offered, or the coach is not the one they like to work with.  The private lessons flexibility allows the group to control all of those factors. In June, we will start our beach volleyball training sessions.  The June – August sessions are mostly sold out.  The Advanced Beach 2's girls session is one of the four that still has space in it.   So if you are a grade 11-12 athlete or are entering your second year of beach training, this session could be for you and your partner. In July, we have a shorter beach volleyball training session.  The July – August session waits until school is over and earlier in the day (2-4 pm).  We have two sections, one advanced and one introductory session. This will allow athletes who play other sports to try their hand at beach volleyball because it should not interfere with other sports practices and games. We offer our first-ever Age 11-13 Outdoor Volleyball Camp on the beach courts on July 12-15; come check this one out.  The sand teaches proper footwork agility and technique as the elements mess with the volleyball. We also have a Setter, Libero and Hitter camp happening on July 19-22.  Sign up for this indoor camp. It is an excellent positional training camp.  We have run it in the past, and it has been well attended and popular. Our Premier Camps Our premier camps are coming at the end of August; check them out.  Making the Cut Camps.  We have a large number of athletes who attend just these offerings at the Academy.  We have so much fun, and it prepares the athletes for their school tryouts. The Artist Elite Academy will be posting live free art lessons on Facebook every Thursday at 6:00 pm.  If you have a tablet come to watch and I will show you how to draw digitally.

Drawing Digitally Channel

MyLatest videos from my Drawing Digitally Youtube Channel

The Canadian Elite Academy has gone Virtual

I am missing the face-to-face coaching but I am working on a few virtual workarounds.

Tonight is the first free Online drawing Party.

Tonight we have a workaround in the Virtual World.  For those of you that did not know my Ph.D. made me a Doctor of Education specializing in E-Learning and Teaching online and in the last 14 years of my teaching career I was the administrator of the biggest online school in Saskatchewan.  The lack of face to face is just a hiccup on the road to the growth of the Canadian Elite Academy.  Being isolated in my house has allowed me to dedicate my time to the building of the Virtual Locker Room.
The Virtual Locker Room will be hosting a trial Zoom Conferencing Art Party.  I have invited people from all over to attend a Virtual online get together where I will be creating a piece of art as well as other artists.  Some people will pop by and lurk and just watch and others in the past Google hangouts have come by and played background music for us.  This FREE virtual party is sponsored by the Canadian Elite Academy and can have as many as 100 participants online at the same time.  It may be very crowded or it might be just a few of us.  I have no idea but we will see.  It is tonight (Monday 23, 2020 from 7-10).  Pop by for as little time or as much time as you would like. Participate or Lurk.
Darren Cannell is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Topic: Virus Art Party
Time: Mar 23, 2020, 07:00 PM Saskatchewan
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us04web.zoom.us/j/699668388
Meeting ID: 699 668 388
https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/201362193-How-Do-I-Join-A-Meeting-

In time will start to offer Artist Elite Academy sessions using the same zoom conferencing system to participants from all over.  But, we first must host a few virtual parties to get people to use the new format.

Red Tag Sale

The following sessions are part of this week's red tag sale.  The red tag sales mean you get to bring two participants for the price of one. Everything in Four Hours Volleyball Session Youth Controlled Game Volleyball Session Artist Elite Academy session Basketball Layup Session Basketball Pickup Game

Drawing on the Tablet

Our Artist Elite Academy will be hosting the second session of drawing on the tablet, if you have a phone or Ipad then you have what is needed for this session on Thursday, February 27 from 7-10 pm.  Drawing sessions are for artists of any age or skill level.  This week we are drawing a cat.

The Digital Art Gallery

Artist A. Serheyko This was drawn on an Ipad with an Apple pencil.  I loved the flower in this artist's image.   Artist: E. Gazmen This was drawn on a phone with his finger, I really liked the background and how it contrasted with the birds.  Good Use of color Artist: Darren Cannell I so enjoyed teaching the last session we had three artists working with me and K. Renz has not forwarded her finished artwork as she is gone in for knee surgery and we wish her quick recovery.  The next Drawing session in the Artist Elite Academy is on February 27 from 7-10.  It is open to all ages and you need an Ipad or phone, a stylus is useful but not required. Come draw with us

Multi-sport athletes

Volleyball players should start attending Basketball sessions and Vise versa.  When I have an athlete who shows up to both I know they will go far in whatever sport they decide to focus upon.  This is what I have found from multisport athletes in the academy

• Soccer players…fast feet easy to teach defense, team play
• Dancers…great body control, understand how to apply simple instructions like arch your back more
• Gymnastics…know muscle memory and will work to make it happen,  strong and jump well, good at controlling their body in the air.
• Baseball players…good eye-hand coordination, good arm swing for spiking and serving.
• Tennis and Badminton players, great serving and spiking  technique, great serve reception movement
• Basketball players …good fitness and jumping skills and distance perception
• Video Gamers…good at strategy, fine motor skills, focus, concentration, and goal achievement.
• Poker…postive mental attitude, emotional control, concentration, and focus

Good athletes (Elite Athletes) in any sport can transfer their mental sports ability to any sport to make them a fierce competitor based on their ability to make others around them better, their focus, competitive positive attitude and their ability to focus on skill development.  These are all skills we want to foster in our Canadian Elite Academy participants.

Social Media Marketing

The  Academy has begun the Social Media campaign and the first major step in this new venture was to establish the “Google My Business” page and one fo the steps was to ask for reviews.   These reviews greatly up the search level in google of the academy.  If you want to help the academy a brief review and rating would be a great step forward for us. (as I shamelessly ask for support)  You can do that by clicking the image or link below.












https://g.page/CEASASK/review?rc

Share the Information Below

We are in search of Sports and Art participants for the Canadian Elite Academy.  The sports academy train elementary and high school participants in Volleyball and Basketball skills while the Art academy trains any age participants in digital artwork.  To find out more about the academy go to: https://canadianeliteacademy.corsizio.com/ Email us: info@canadianeliteacademy.com Blog:  https://cev5.blogspot.com/ Academy Links: linktr.ee/ceasask Phone: 306-361-5206

This week ahead

The sessions for the next week. Monday, February 10, 2020, 9-10 pm Private Lesson   (Sold Out) Tuesday, February 11, 2020, 6-7 pm Youth Games, Drills and Controlled Play Wednesday, February 12, 2020, 6-7 pm Volleyball Serving Wednesday, February 12, 2020, 7-9 pm Basketball Advanced Shooting

Register Now

Most Common question

The Most Common Question The most common question I get these days is how are the new academies doing.  So here is the update:

The Youth Volleyball Academy Terry Graham is our head coach for this academy and he is doing a great job, his energy, humor and coaching approach is making the sessions well received and will make the academy a success. It is slightly undersubscribed and we continue to seek new athletes. The small numbers in the session make them very valuable and the athletes are learning a lot. We are seeking elementary school athletes interested in developing their volleyball skills

The Artist Volleyball Academy We have had one session so far and I again found the enjoyments I had when I taught high school art for nine years.  My wife asked me if I am running the Artist Elite Academy more for myself than for the participants, the jury is still out on this question. The three artists that joined me in the first session created some excellent hummingbird and flower artwork and I look forward to reaching our maximum number of 10 artists per session in future sessions. As these sessions are for all ages and I am excited to welcome some adults as well as a young artist to create a vibrant community that will create awesome digital artworks together.  If you are looking for three hours of stress relief from your adult life, think about attending one of these sessions, art skills not required. Look for future posts of the artworks that were created in this new academy.

The Basketball Academy The last basketball session was nearly full,  we are getting very close to the 10-1 ratio of athletes to coach. The numbers continue to grow because of the caliber of coaches who are working with the academy.    Brad Schoenfeld, Donna-Marie Frassetto and Donnie Davidson have all offered sessions which have left me in awe of their coaching talent and have been huge learning opportunities for the participants. The number of participants continues to grow in each session as the reputation of coaching excellence is being shared in the Basketball community. Share the news, participant’s experience with the Basketball communities in Saskatoon.

The Volleyball Academy Continues to be strong and sessions are close to filling even during the club season. We have a great group of volleyball coaches and as my focus has been moved to the promotion of the new academies they have picked up the slack and for this I am grateful. The private sessions are filling and I am truly enjoying watching the participants from these private sessions and the academy sessions using their skills on their club teams. We have obtained new gym time at the Ecole Canadienne- Francaise School and have been able to increase the number of volleyball sessions hopefully allowing us to continue to offer the same level of volleyball skills training we have done in the past Thank you for all the support that the guardians and participants have shown and continue to show to the Canadian Elite Academy as we grow.  (Continue to share the experiences to others about Academy as we attempt to continue our approach to taking participants skills to the next level)

Elite Artist Academy - Learn to draw on the tablet

The session is from 7-10 pm and you will need a phone or IPad and a stylus.

Artist Elite Academy Session

Tonight the first Drawing on the Tablet session happens. The Artist Elite Academy will occur on Thursdays.

Collecting Photos

We are collecting photos of Canadian Elite Academy sessions. If you have taken some photos during sessions could you send up them so we can add them to our website?

Methods to send.

https://g.page/CEASASK/review?rc

You can see the photo gallery on our website:
https://canadianeliteacademy.corsizio.com/

Send them to our email address:
info@canadianeliteacademy.com

101 sessions between now and June

101 sessions between now and July We have acquired some additional gym time at the Ecole Canadienne-Francaise which will allow us to offer additional sessions.  We are aware that Wednesday is a bad day for Volleyball sessions as many players are involved in the Martensville volleyball league.  We have moved the Youth Volleyball day to Wednesday rather than Tuesday.  We now have 101 sessions between now and the end of July.  Register for sessions early as it helps in the planning.

See the Sessions

Artist: Darren Cannell Artist Elite Academy - Hummingbird and Flower Session

I really enjoyed working with this small group of artists for three hours.  We made so much progress and in the end, we had hummingbirds and flowers.

After I got home I did a little more work on my bird and this was the end product. 

 I will share the fine-tuning of the image in another session. 

Artist: E. Gazman Artist Elite Academy session - Hummingbird and flower.

I like the contrast of the hummingbirds and flower with the background.  The green streak is a nice touch.  This image was drawn on a Pixel 4 XL with his finger as the stylus.  I thought he did a good job. 

ART THERAPY IS FINALLY BEING TAKEN SERIOUSLY AS A TOOL FOR BOOSTING HEALTH

On Monday, the World Health Organization’s Regional Office of Europe dove deep into the art world. In a new report, it channeled its considerable power and resources towards investigating whether art really could be a powerful form of medicine — ultimately suggesting art can be therapeutic, and boosting its credibility in the process.

https://www.inverse.com/article/60833-art-therapy-world-health-organization

Artist Elite Academy

Drawing on your Tablet