ADM Kids

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - USA Hockey's Ken Martel will be among the featured presenters at the 2014 United States Olympic Academy, which begins tomorrow (April 15) in Los Angeles.

Martel, who serves as technical director of USA Hockey's renowned American Development Model, will present a case-study overview of the ADM and its positive effect on athlete development.

The invitation-only Academy, co-hosted by the U.S. Olympic Committee and the LA84 Foundation, was founded as a forum for Olympic education in 1977. Since then, the Academy has focused on various themes, bringing together leading experts, coaches, scholars and Olympians to advance the educational and social principles of Olympic participation.

The 2014 U.S. Olympic Academy theme is athlete development.

In addition to Martel, this year’s Academy speakers will include International Olympic Committee member Anita L. DeFrantz, USOC CEO Scott Blackmun, Tom Farrey of the Aspen Institute, two Olympians (cyclist Dotsie Bausch and water polo athlete Brenda Villa) and one Paralympian (track athlete Jarryd Wallace), among others.

The 2014 Academy event will be streamed at TeamUSA.org.

In addition to participating at the Academy event, Martel, along with Ty Hennes, a USA Hockey ADM regional manager, will conduct a separate on-ice ADM practice with bantam-aged players from the Anaheim Ducks and Los Angeles Kings youth hockey organizations. Martel and Hennes will also hold an ADM forum with coaches from those teams, detailing player development plans and concepts.