Custom Elite Camp
ColdRush CUSTOM ELITE Camp
Ashburn Ice House, Ashburn, Virginia
July 20-24, 2026
* CHALLENGING * INNOVATIVE * LEGENDARY *
“CUSTOM”– Each day is exclusively focused on a single skill (see below). The majority of skaters choose to skate all 5 days, but players have the option of customizing their experience by signing up only for the day(s) that are dedicated to the skills they want to improve most.
“ELITE”– Custom Elite camp is an elevated hockey camp exclusively for highly self-motivated youth travel payers that aspire to play professional hockey. Many of our previous Custom Elite campers have gone on to do exactly that! Custom Elite is lead and supported by a team of instructors that have Professional, NCAA, and/or Major Junior playing or coaching experience. Our drills are advanced, innovative, relevant, and specifically designed to challenge even the most skilled players.
Each day is fully dedicated to a single vital skill.
EXPLODE / REVERSE / REACT / DEFEND / ATTACK
MONDAY: EXPLODE
Forward Speed (starts, stride, sprints)
TUESDAY:REVERSE
Backward Skating (Everything… backwards)
WEDNESDAY: REACT
Lightning fast reactions, with & without the puck
THURSDAY: DEFEND
Defensive skills for both forwards and defensemen
FRIDAY: ATTACK
Passing, shooting, dekes, fakes, snipes… all the things a player needs to effectively get the puck in the net.
IMMERSIVE EXPERIENCE
This is one of our secrets of success!
Most hockey camps attempt to throw all things hockey into one week, typically spending just a couple minutes on each skill. These kinds of camps can be motivating, but it is next to impossible to create lasting change with this format. Custom Elite is different. At Custom Elite Camp each day is fully dedicated to one single aspect of the game. Every bit of instruction, on-ice drill, and off-ice exercise is focused exclusively on the SKILL OF THE DAY.
This highly focused approach provides a deep intellectual understanding of the skill, clear steps to conquer the new techniques, and a variety of drills that players can practice to gain proficiency when camp is over. The icing on top is the afternoon “blast” session where the skaters get the chance to go hard and compete using the skills they learned at camp that day.
This immersive experience works, and it is one of the reasons that year, after year, Custom Elite Camp sells out in a matter of seconds!
DAILY DEEP STRETCH
Custom Elite ends each day with a deep stretch to send our athletes home prepared to rest, reflect, and return the next day ready to soak up more!
UNPARALLELED INSTRUCTION
HEAD SKATING COACH– WENDY MARCO
Wendy Marco is widely regarded as one of top skating coaches in the sport of ice hockey. In addition to running ColdRush, Wendy is also the skating coach for the NHL’s Washington Capitals, where she primarily focuses on preparing the team’s prospects for the skating demands of the NHL. Since 1993 she has taught thousands of hockey players, many that played NCAA, USNTDP (Team USA), Pros, and even the Olympics. Wendy has celebrated the success of her students as they’ve won National Championships, the NCAA Frozen Four, World Juniors, the Calder Cup, Olympic Gold, and the Stanley Cup! The DC area is loaded with coaches that are former students of Wendy’s, and two of her former students are coaches on NHL teams! She has served as a USA Hockey Level 4 CEP Instructor, a presenter at many hockey symposiums, is a former syndicated hockey skating columnist, and a lead contributor to the hockey skating curriculum for the Professional Skaters Association.
Wendy developed the ColdRush Custom Elite Camp in 2010 exclusively for promising youth travel players that are serious about hockey. It remains a massively popular camp that sells out every year, and the Ashburn IceHouse is still the only place on earth where players can participate in this legendary camp!
HEAD SKILLS COACH– BEN ROBERTSON
Ben Robertson is currently the leading point scoring defensemen for the NCAA’s University of Michigan. Before Michigan, Ben played two seasons at Cornell, winning the back-to-back ECAC Hockey Championships. While at Cornell he was named to the 2024 ECAC All-Rookie Team, 3rd Team All-ECAC, and All-Ivy 2nd Team. Ben tied the Cornell record his freshman year for most points by a rookie D-man with 23. He has been an invited skater at two NHL Development Camps, the Boston Bruins in 2025 and Winnipeg Jets in 2024.
Ben played junior hockey in the USHL for Waterloo, Omaha, and USNTDP 17, playing two games with Team USA in 2020-21 as an alternate for the United State’s NTDP. He finished juniors in 2022-23 with the most assists by a defenseman in the USHL, with 42. Robertson grew up in the DMV, playing for both Team Maryland and the Ashburn Xtreme before leaving to attend Mt. St. Charles Academy.
INSTRUCTORS & COUNSELORS
Our support instruction staff is comprised of current Professional, NCAA, & Junior players that grew up right here in the DMV and are long time Wendy Marco students. They are specifically chosen by Wendy based on four things; exceptional skating, elite hockey accomplishments, stellar character, and the ability to teach and inspire the next generation of players. The opportunity to get to know and work with extraordinary players on the cusp of their professional careers, players that once played on the same teams the campers play for now, is inspirational rocket fuel for our Custom Elite campers!
Team USA and the University of Wisconsin’s leading goal scorer, Lacey Eden, visiting Custom Elite on “REVERSE” day.
GUEST COACHES:
Frequently Professional, Olympic, and National players show up and share their knowledge with our Custom Elite participants. Previous guest coaches include players and coaches from the Washington Capitals, Tampa Bay Lightning, Buffalo Sabres, Hershey Bears, & Team USA!
DAILY SCHEDULE
PROGRAM DETAILS
FOR:
Self-motivated travel players that are striving toward a future in college/professional hockey. The vast majority of Custom Elite campers are AAA/AA players. A minimum of one full year of regular season co-ed travel hockey experience prior to the start of camp is required to participate. Custom Elite is exclusively designed for the young athletes that are dragging their parents to the rink because they simply can’t get enough hockey! It is NOT for kids that need to be pushed. Custom Elite is for the kids that do the pushing.
QUALIFIED PLAYERS:
Most of our skaters are AAA/AA co-ed players. All must be rostered on a travel team for the 2026-27 season AND have at least one full year of previous regular season co-ed travel experience.
Birth years & Playing Levels:
2012 & 2013 AAA, AA, Co-ed Travel
2014 & 2015 AAA, AA, Co-ed Travel
2016 AAA, AA, & Travel
PLAYERS THAT MIGHT BE QUALIFIED BUT MUST GET PERMISSION BEFORE REGISTERING:
Girls AAA
Goalies on AAA/AA teams that want to skate out as a player
Girls AA that have previous co-ed travel experience
Former travel players
NOT QUALIFIED:
Players born in 2011 or earlier (Sorry guys, we know you love Custom Elite but you’ve aged out.)
Players born in 2017 or later
Players without a full regular season of co-ed travel ice hockey team experience
Spring travel players that do not have regular season co-ed travel team experience
Skaters whose first regular travel season will be Fall ’26
Players that are unable or unwilling to tie their own skates
Players that lack self-motivation or maturity
WHEN:
July 20-24, 2026
Start and end times depend on group placement. Please see the daily schedule above.
WHERE:
Ashburn Ice House, Ashburn, VA
2026 COST:
Any 1 day $200
Any 2 days $365
Any 3 days $525
Any 4 days, $600
THE FULL EXPERIENCE, $660
EXPECTATIONS:
ALL SKATERS MUST BE SELF MOTIVATED
Custom Elite skaters are expected to behave, train, communicate, nourish, and hydrate like elite athletes. Our instructors COACH, they do not babysit. Custom Elite was designed for highly self-motivated travel players with the desire to play College/Pro hockey in the future. Custom Elite Camp is fun for players that crave hard work. It’s a miserable experience for players that don’t. If this is what YOU want for your skater, rather than what your skater wants, please don’t register. But if your skater is a hard working, hockey obsessed, and dreaming of a future in the sport… they are going to LOVE it!
PHONES ARE NOT PERMITTED
If players need their phones for before or after camp, they can check them in each day to the camp leader and will get them back when camp is over.
SMARTWATCHES ARE NOT PERMITTED
This rule is in place to keep our skaters’ focus on the the things they are learning and the friendships they are making at Custom Elite camp.
PLAYERS TIE THEIR OWN SKATES & PACK AND CARRY THEIR OWN BAGS
ALL Custom Elite skaters must tie their own skates and be fully responsible for their own equipment. If a skater isn’t ready for these responsibilities, they are not ready for Custom Elite Camp.
ALL FOOD AND BEVERAGES THE CAMPERS BRING WITH THEM MUST BE HEALTHY FUEL.
UNHEALTHY FOOD AND DRINKS ARE NOT ALLOWED AT CUSTOM ELITE CAMP.
Our aim is to help our young players embrace the full experience of being an elite athlete, and that includes respecting their bodies. We will talk to them about the snacks they have selected and how those foods and drinks will help or hurt their athletic performance.
EXCEPT IN THE CASE OF AN EMERGENCY, PARENTS ARE NOT ALLOWED TO INTERACT WITH THEIR KIDS DURING CAMP HOURS. (NO PARENTS IN THE LOCKER ROOMS!)
A major theme of Custom Elite Camp is giving these young athletes full ownership of their sport. In order for this to work, parents have to let go and let them try. We have a full staff of experienced coaches ready to step in if your kids make a mistake or need help. Well meaning parents that take care of all of the details for their kids, inadvertently deny their kids the opportunity to take ownership. By doing things for them, you send the message that this is something your kids CAN’T do on their own. Mom, Dad… THEY CAN, but if you aren’t ready to let them try, if you aren’t ready to accept their possible mistakes as valuable learning experiences, then YOU are not ready to sign your skater up for Custom Elite (even if they are).
RESPECT
Our Custom Elite skaters must treat each other, their coaches, rink employees, their parents, the facility/equipment, and themselves with respect at all times.
REGISTRATION
Please note before registering… we can not state clearly enough that while Custom Elite is for youth players, it is NOT daycare. CE is an elite experience for players that are ready to take ownership of their hockey careers.
Here’s how registration works…
1.PRIORITY REGISTRATION: First, our current ColdRush students will receive a direct priority registration link before the camp is released to anyone else. Current students will receive an email in advance and will know the exact day and time that the priority registration will open.
2. PRIVATE REGISTRATION: After our current students have had an opportunity to register, a private registration link will be emailed to skaters that have been on our waitlist for a class this season, siblings of current ColdRush students, and former students that have worked with us during the past year. Qualified skaters will receive advanced notice by email of the exact day and time that the private registration will be open.
3. CONTACT LIST REGISTRATION: After our current students have had an opportunity to register, a private registration link will be emailed to those people who have signed up on our“Become a Student”interest contact list. Qualified skaters will receive advanced notice by email of the exact day and time that the private registration will be open.
4. OPEN REGISTRATION: In recent years, Custom Elite has completely sold out less than a minute after private registration opened, however, if any spots remain, the registration link will be posted on this page after the Priorty, Private, and Contact List Registration periods have ended.
*Pro Tip: If you’d like to increase your chances of getting into Custom Elite Camp and your skater is not a current student, make sure you sign up on our “Become a Student” list and follow us on instagram (@ColdRushHockey) for updates. Also, if you try to register and there are no spots left, choose the waitlist option! We keep an active waitlist and cancellations happen every year.
2026 REGISTRATION DATES:
PRIORITY REGISTRATION: 7pm, March 2, 2026
PRIVATE REGISTRATION: 7pm, March 5, 2026
CONTACT LIST REGISTRATION: 7pm, March 9, 2026 (Pending availability)
OPEN REGISTRATION: March 12, 2026 (Pending availability)
Registration Link will appear here on March 12th if space is still available.