July 21, 2000

A summer ice hockey camp that used to feature only elite high school players from Minnesota may have lost some of its luster.

Due to a NCAA ruling against hand-picking the top-notch athletes for participation in a camp, the MODEL (Minnesota Olympic Development Elite League) camp must now give any scholastic hockey player who wants it the opportunity to be taught and scouted by the college coaches who run the program.

But the decision hasn't come without controversy.

There are many people who believe the NCAA ruling traded elite for equality, and sent MODEL into a downward spiral.

Doug Woog started the camp, which takes place each year for 10 days in June at the Mariucci Arena, in 1986. It was the same year he took over as the head men's hockey coach at the University of Minnesota. At that time, campers were hand-picked. Letters were sent to all high school hockey coaches asking them to rate their players, as only the top would have a chance to be invited to the elite summer program.

However, the NCAA soon determined that hand picking participants did not afford every aspiring hockey star an equal opportunity, and thus the camp became an unfair recruiting advantage for a select group. Today, the camp is advertised as open to all high school hockey players, and the spots are filled on a first-come, first-served basis. This year, the camp showcased 180 players representing 69 high schools - including Minnesota hockey powerhouses Bloomington Jefferson High, Elk River High, Duluth East High and Edina High.

But according to Elk River hockey coach Tony Sarsland, the camp is now "junk."

"It's watered down. It's not anything like it used to be," says Sarsland. "If there were elite players there, you will get more out of the players. There are kids at the MODEL camp who should not be there. No way, no how.

"But it's against the NCAA rules, because if you have a camp like that, it should be open to anybody."

The Director of the MODEL camp, Mike Guentzel, who is also the assistant men's hockey coach at the University of Minnesota, believes the camp is still upholding its reputation as the premiere showcase event in the state. While he admits all participants are no longer the cream of the crop, the state's best players are still attending and the competition is still top-notch.

"I thought [the camp] was really good. I thought there were a lot of good players there and good coaching staff," says Adam Welch, a junior from Hastings High (Hastings, Minn.). "I think it would be better competition if they just hand-picked, but it'd be worse for some players to not give everyone a chance."

Hastings coach Russ Welch agrees that the camp, despite losing some elite status, is still beneficial to the players it serves.

"It's a camp that provides the opportunity for a lot of kids in Minnesota the chance to be looked at," says Welch, who is also Adam Welch's uncle. "Before, they would limit it to just the top 80-100 kids. Now, they've expanded it to make sure all the top kids get in it and other kids get the opportunity to play in it."

But there are still some people who think the NCAA's ruling has forced MODEL to take a quick dive. Mike Randolph, the head coach at Duluth East High (Duluth, Minn.), which placed second in the state last winter behind Blaine High (Blaine, Minn.), sent four kids to the camp, but says "it's no longer the best camp around."

"I've been in coaching for many years, and when the MODEL camp hand picked kids they got the best kids there," says Randolph. "Now that they can't, because of the NCAA ruling, it hurt the camp. It's a great idea, a great camp with a great coaching staff, but they need to find a way to get the best players in the state of Minnesota there for that week and a half."

Duluth East senior and hockey captain Weston Tardy says, "It wasn't the highest level of competition but it was all right. It served its purpose. There was good exposure and there were a lot of scouts there. So it was worth it."

However, the MODEL camp is not meant to primarily serve as a recruiting camp, according to Guentzel, and that made all the difference in the world when it came to the rulebooks.

"Recruiting is secondary," says Guentzel. "The primary purpose is to provide the most competitive competition for kids to play with for 10 days."