UE Summer Skills 2013 Guest Instructor Intro: Amanda Mazzotta

As an instructor and goalie developer, I often worry about my own blindspots when working with my goalies.  It is essential to constant push oneself to learn as much about the game as possible from other accomplished athletes and instructors.  With that belief in mind, I reached out to someone that I worked with in Strathroy, Ontario last summer that greatly impressed me.

I'm very happy and proud to announce that Amanda Mazzotta, a Future Pro Certified Instructor and ex-collegiate/Team Canada goalie, will be one of Upper Echelon's guest instructors for the 2nd week of Summer Skills.

She is going to bring a lot to the table for our program.  Not only was she an elite-level goalie in the NCAA, she represented her province and country in both national and international tournaments.  Her accomplishments at Cornell University's Women's Ice Hockey program are long and broad. Three Ivy League championships, in addition to three ECA regular season championships, were capped with either NCAA finalist or semi-finalist finishes.  Her personal honours at that level included Team MVP honours, shut-out records, all time wins record, Cornell Player of the Year Awards, and, most impressively, winning academic awards and perennially riding the Dean's List all at the same time.

At a younger age, she was a National Champion with Team Ontario's U18 team and a Silver Medalist with Team Canada's U18 squad in the inaugural World Championship in 2007.  She also represented Canada at the tail-end of her college career at the MECO Cup in Germany in 2012.

I have a little story to tell about Amanda.  Steve McKichan, of Future Pro, is the director of one of the most successful goalie schools in North America.  He administers a very difficult and gruelling exam (over two hours long with a 95% pass grade required) to certify his instructors.  He told me that when Amanda applied for a summer job as an instructor, he required her to be certified prior to employment.  Amanda, who never worked as a fulltime instructor or goalie coach, downloaded Keeks' 300 page manual, devoured it, and within a week, took the exam.  Not only did she pass, she scored a perfect 100% (the only one ever, as far as I know), putting the rest of us FP certified instructors to shame.  However, after interacting with Amanda during the two weeks in Strathroy, I was not surprised that she had a perfect score.  

Very simply, she is a brilliant lady with an extensive hockey pedigree, who I hope will be a long time addition to our programs in the summer.