This year's bandy camp was held August 5-9 at Richfield Arena. A record 145 kids, including 15 Swedish kids from the Tillberga Bandy Klubb, participated in the camp. This was the 13^th year of the camp – started by Chris Middlebrook as a way to bring a part of Swedish culture to Minneapolis kids in 2000.

The camp had as good of bandy instructors as one could get – with the Swedish Youth Bandy Director Lars Wennerholm; one of the best male bandy players in the world today, Stefan Erixon; and, recently retired, but one of the best women's bandy players in the world, Anna Klingborg.

Swedish bandy players stayed in Minneapolis Storm family homes during the week and there were several group gatherings among players and parents to further the cultural exchange between the Tillberga Klub and the Storm.

The Storm try to be more than 'just a hockey association', providing cultural exchange opportunities through relationships developed with the Vasteras Hockey Klub and the Tillberga Bandy Klub – both out of Vesteras, Sweden. Every other year, the Storm take a group of Peewee/12u and Bantam/14u skaters to Vasteras to participate in the cultural exchange between our programs. The bandy camp also solidifies the opportunity to learn about Swedish culture and the world of Bandy.

The camp was featured on CBS' WCCO-4 and here is the link if you would like to find out more about the camp, bandy, and Sweden:

http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2013/08/05/hockey-players-sharpen-skills-playing-swedens-bandy/

Watch for some exciting news and opportunities with Bandy for the upcoming winter in the next few weeks.....