Our athletic staff brings an incredible passion for teaching. Just like on our academic side, our athletic “teachers” bring a certain mindset to the equation.

Challenging these young athletes to get out of their comfort zones and getting them to believe in themselves: we regard these as critical aspects in the development process. And just as there are fundamentals a player must learn to better execute the physical skills and better understand the concepts involved in playing the game at a high level, so too are there fundamentals involved in the “processes” of athletic development.

There are also the “intangibles” that all great athletes possess. Discipline and mental toughness, the willingness to fight through adversity, KNOWING they will prevail over all obstacles in their way: this ultimately is even more important than skills or talent.

As with all Bridgedale teachers, our mantra remains: Training Elite Student- Athletes. We set the bar high, both for our student-athletes and for ourselves. And we take tremendous pride that we WILL have a positive impact on the development of all our student-athletes.

Mike McPartlin

Skating Agility and Fundamental Skills eMail

Mike is the founder of the TAC Hockey Camps and has been teaching hockey skills for more than thirty years. He has conducted his “Elements of Agility” program and his Checking Skills Clinics in Illinois, Wisconsin, Texas and Rhode Island and has trained thousands of players over the years. Over the years he has served as power skating and skills instructor for the Chicago Mission, Wisconsin AAA, Chicago Hawks, St. Jude and Flames hockey clubs.

Mike served as USA Hockey’s Coaching Education Program (CEP) Illinois Director from 1997 through 1999, conducting all the mandatory coaching education clinics/seminars in the state for the Level 2 and Level 3 coaching certifications during that time. He continued to serve as an instructor at subsequent coaching clinics/seminars. Mike has his Level 5 (Master) Coaching Certification from USA Hockey and has twice served as a coach at the USAH National Select 14 camp in Rochester, NY.

He is one of the founding directors of the Chicago Mission AAA Hockey Club, serving as an officer, director and coach for the first twelve years of the club’s existence.