aboutus
“At Holistic Hockey we believe breakthrough results require working with the “whole” athlete. And true hockey success means being a great player on and off the ice.”
– Tyler Ertel, Founder Holistic Hockey
Holistic Hockey recruits only best highly-skilled coaches and delivers superior training programs in a positive, supportive and motivating environment. Whether the focus is on skating, shooting, puck control, passing, mental attitude, on-ice vision, hockey sense, nutrition, strength, heart, or quick hands, their mission is always to elevate a players’ performance, and help them reach their individual goals.
Owner, Tyler Ertel, has been working with athletes of all ages and skill level for over 20 years. As a professionally trained educator, he’s able to inspire engaged learning and expedite results; helping every player to get the most out of each training session.
Meet The Team
Tyler
CEO & Founder
Tyler Ertel has worked with hundreds of professional and aspiring athletes and has been a hockey instructor, skill developer and mentor for over 2 decades. Using his unique ability to achieve breakthrough results, and his love for teaching the game of hockey, he continues to offer creative, ever-evolving ways to help athletes reach success with their personal goals.
Tyler played minor hockey in Kitchener before he made the leap at age 15 to Jr. B. After a successful year he graduated to the OHL as an underage draft pick and went on to play over 4 years in the OHL. He amassed 273 points and won several awards including Scholastic Player of the Year, Playoffs MVP, Most Popular Player and is humbled to still hold an OHL record to this day. Tyler was drafted to the NHL by the Vancouver Canucks and later went over to tryout with the Tampa Bay Lightning. Averaging close to a point a game in his minor pro career he decided to realize another goal and get his degree. He is an undergraduate from the University of Prince Edward Island where he was a two-time Academic All-Canadian. He then got his Bachelor of Education at the University of Western Ontario and is presently in his 17th year as a teacher in the Waterloo Region.
Tyler has been active in his community, volunteering thousands of hours to coach local minor hockey teams in the Waterloo Region. He has won Coach of the Year, Volunteer of the Year, has coached 2 teams to OMHA Championships, one to an OMHA Championship Finalist, 2 Alliance Championships, 2 Alliance Finalists and a Semi-Finalist at the OHF’s. Beyond his success, Tyler truly loves coaching young hockey players and providing them with core life principles that will make them successful both on and off the ice.
Andrew
Lead Instructor
Andrew has been working with Tyler for over 14 years (2005). He grew up playing minor hockey in Kitchener, before moving on to play Junior B in Nova Scotia while attending Dalhousie University. Relocating back to KW, he works presently as the Director of Sales and Business Development at an education technology firm in Kitchener.
Andrew has trained and developed athletes of all ages and at all levels. His natural leadership, and proclivity for humour makes him a popular HH instructor. He is able to connect and engage with athletes on their level, and uses his in-depth knowledge, attention to detail, and love of the game to motivate athletes to achieve and exceed their goals.
WHAT PEOPLE SAY
Chris M
Camp for both of our boys was in their words “Awesome”
“Camp instructors were awesome, ratio of players to instructors was 4/5 to 1 … The guidance and supervision I personally witnessed from the staff was excellent. Having coached myself for 7 years I was very impressed witnessing your staff achieving the right level of engagement, guidance and discipline. We were very pleased with every aspect of the camp and will be back for sure.”
Kelly O
I want to start off by saying how awesome your camp is. I appreciate the professionalism, the effort to make each child feel important, and the encouragement my son received. Also, I saw a huge improvement in his strength.
Kevin
Michelle & Brad
We wanted to reach out to you and say Thank You for a great day on Friday. Our son played in your tournament and he absolutely loved the day. He was very excited to arrive that morning and meet his teammates for the day. He was also impressed with the BioSteel and fruit that you made available to the boys.
I just wanted you to say how much he appreciated the day and thank you for taking the time to organize it. Please do keep our email so we can be advised of any similar days you may be planning.
My son attended your camp at Activa last week. We met briefly on Thursday and talked about golf. My wife usually writes these letters but I thought I should take a moment and thank you for the outstanding week of camp you organized. My son absolutely loves hockey and works extremely hard at it but he’s a middle of the pack player so I know he was really nervous to attend your camp with all the elite players in his age group. He had an amazing experience. He loved the coaching, the program, the atmosphere (the food!) and he never once felt out place or intimidated. He played in his first game of the summer last night as a sub for a friend on vacation in a local 3 on 3 league and he has improved tremendously and was so confident out on the ice. So on behalf of my son and myself thanks for creating an awesome hockey experience for him.