Bemidji States Jackson Jutting brings hockey camp to local youth players

BEMIDJI Jackson Jutting shares the same interests as the dozens of college hockey players who spend their summers in Minnesota.

The Bemidji State senior forward will head home to the Prior Lake area in May once school is out. He enjoys his time on the lake and often finds himself on the golf course. He has a few vacations planned for this summer, including an annual golf outing with his father.

Juttings summers are also spent in the Dakotah! Sports and fitness center. And while he spends time improving his game, he has also set aside time for the improvement of youth players in each of the past three summers.

Three years ago, Jutting teamed up with University of Minnesota defenseman Mike Koster to create Jutting Koster Hockey Camp.

Both Mike and I have worked at summer camps, Jutting said. It was autumn 2021 when we said: we have to start our own. We had worked enough and knew the landscape and knew people who could help us get it going. We did some research and we decided it was a good idea.

The camp was originally held for squirt, peewee and bantam players in Prior Lake. After getting the camp off the ground, Jutting and Koster decided to move on to a younger group of players.

The hockey seminar is now aimed at mites, squirts and peewees who want to develop their skills on and off the ice.

After the first year, it just kept getting bigger and bigger, Jutting said. Sometimes things can get a little crazy out there with the mites. We find these are also the most rewarding. Working with Mites, showing them how to stop correctly or teaching them how to shoot the puck, it's just so much fun for us.

Jutting and Koster have begun expanding their camp outside of Prior Lake. They held practices in Marshall last summer and plan to return to southwestern Minnesota in June.

But before Jutting returned to the Metro area, he wanted to move his camp north.

With the help of BSU teammates Mattias Sholl, Jere Vaisanen, Kirklan Irey, Tony Follmer and Alexander Lundman, Jutting and Koster held a three-day camp at the Bemidji Community Arena from April 26 to 28.

Because of the passion we have for this camp and the community, it was an easy decision to do it here, Jutting said. Many of these children come to our games. I think it's cool for them to interact with the guys on our team. We know they support us when we play; Now we can support them with this great opportunity.

Jutting announced he was bringing his camp to Bemidji

February 12 on Twitter.

From there it took off with the local youth players. Each group consisted of 25 skaters, who trained on the ice for 75 minutes, combined with three training sessions off the ice.

For Jutting and his teammates, the hockey camp was an opportunity to further connect the Beavers with youth players and their parents in the community.

“I met some kids after our games through Skate with the Beavers,” Jutting said. I met some of the leaders of the youth organizations. This year we haven't really done much with (youth exercises). I want to do more. It's fun to communicate with them. I always think about when I was young, a college player came to our skate, it was the coolest thing ever, no matter who it was.

Jutting understands how formative an experience it is for a young player to share the ice with a college athlete.

It's always fun to get involved in your community, Jutting said. At Prior Lake we had that growing up. When we talked about starting this camp, we talked about doing it right and paying off that side of it so that kids had an opportunity to experience something they hadn't experienced before.

Were Division I athletes, and the entire coaching staff this weekend are Division I athletes. That's not something a kid gets every time he steps on the ice.

Starting the Jutting Koster Hockey Camp took some courage and a little confidence. When it first started, they were fish out of water trying to overcome the licensing and insurance hurdles that come with starting a camp.

Even after the red tape was completed, there were concerns about attendance.

It was difficult to get the word out at first, Jutting said. We had a spreadsheet of youth coaches in the Twin Cities area and just started calling them to let them know about the camp. We panicked and thought we would have to pay all these people back because we didn't have enough children.

Jutting and Koster are no longer concerned that local families are interested in their camp. Their Bemidji sessions were 90% full within the first week after registration opened. Knowing that he would have the opportunity to make a difference in the community that gives him the opportunity to play college hockey was a satisfying realization for Jutting.

If you're a kid who has a positive experience with us this weekend, you're going to want to watch Tony Follmer next year, Jutting said. Next year you want to see Mattias Sholl play as a goalkeeper. It leaves a good impression on the children. We want to interact with the children and leave those good impressions with them and give them those positive experiences.

When Jutting transferred from Colorado College after his sophomore season in 2022, he wanted to find a community that would embrace the little things like a three-day hockey camp. He told head coach Tom Serratore that he wanted to play all five years of college hockey.

Jutting told the Pioneer his worst-kept secret: He was practicing his fifth year of eligibility and will play for the Beavers in 2024-2025.

When I was in the transfer portal, I knew I (used) that fifth year,” Jutting said. It was a three-year plan, and that's perfect for me. I'm taking five years of college hockey because I'll never get those years back. I'm looking forward to the fifth year, and I think we'll do another camp like this in the fall.

Jutting and Koster have not yet announced dates for a possible fall camp at the BCA. They plan to host it again on a weekend that caters to both youth and college players, creating more opportunities to weave together a thriving hockey city.

To hear it from the parents afterwards is the best thing, Jutting said. The kids appreciate it, but they're kids. You can tell they're excited and having fun, but to have the parents come up to you and thank you for putting on a camp for their kids, that's really worth it.