The Telus Cup Western Regionals are happening here in Steinbach this weekend and that brings in many scouts seeking players for their teams.

Goaltender for the Eastman Selects Danton Bellek was drafted in his bantam year into the WHL in the the 10th round by the Everett Silvertips and was the first goalie selected in the MJHL draft by the Steinbach Pistons.

Randy Belluk father of Danton says in the scouting process the parents can be just as nervous as the players because they are under a lot of pressure at a young age.

"The big thing in the bantam year is that if the kids make the AAA bantam team, which is primarily the league they get scouted. There's anywhere between two to fifteen scouts at a lot of the games depending who the competition is, they're always watching."

Belluk notes that scouts aren't just looking for skill on the ice but also a personality that fits their team and drive in everything they do.

"That process is pretty important to a kid wanting to get into a junior program. They have to show a lot of fortitude in terms of their hockey career, their schooling and life in general as well as the parents need to be more of a supportive role than pumping their kids up."

Belluk adds that often times scouts will say that if a player isn't in the right mind set or if the parents are a bit overly aggressive, there are several other players with the same level of talent and they just move on. He says it's in the players own hands to determine if they want to get to that next level, but as parents it's important to be there to support your kids.

"For myself and my wife as parents, whether our son played A, B, C, AA or AAA hockey, our goal was that he enjoys it and does his best. If he's putting in 100 percent, to us it didn't matter what level he played at. As long as he learned the life lesson, if you don't work hard you'll never reach your goals and sometimes working your hardest there's a limit to where you'll go."

Belluk adds hockey trains kids well on how to deal with failure and dealing with success in a modest way.