It’s been several years since children in the Parrsboro area have been able to play organized minor hockey under their own association – something that put a real kink in young players hoping to be the next Sidney Crosby or Nathan MacKinnon.
Jill Meyers, her husband Chris and a small group of volunteers have come together to try and rekindle the sport at the Parrsboro Lions Arena and the response has been amazing.
“It’s been about nine years since we lost our minor hockey league and parents and kids have been asking for it almost since,” Meyers said. “We don’t have the population for our own minor hockey association, but there are kids who want to play.”
For those children who have wanted to play competitively, they’ve had to play with either the Cumberland County Minor Hockey Association or in Truro.
Meyers’ children are ages six and seven and they’ve been wanting to play hockey. Her husband, who is a certified coach who coached in the former Parrsboro association, wanted to give something back as well.
She worked with the municipality’s active living coordinator to apply for some grants last summer and began the groundwork set up a community hockey program. She said she has also had wonderful support from Hockey Nova Scotia, which has offered to assist as needed.
Sport Nova Scotia has provided $4,500 in assistance while members of the community have come forward with equipment donations.
“With the grant from Sport Nova Scotia we were able to purchase gear for the players that had none,” Meyers said. “The community response was great. We had people dropping off gear for months. We had an equipment exchange and fitted the kids and once we knew what we needed we went to the store to purchase more.”
The 14-week program that started several weeks ago has seen 33 children, ages six to 12, sign up for the program that offers weekly 90-minute session that focus on the fundamentals such as skating and stickhandling.
There is a small fee to play, but Meyers stressed no one is turned away.
“We don’t know what the future holds but we’re very happy with the program the way it is. If our numbers continue to grow, and I’ve already talked to parents who didn’t know about it or they’re going to register their kids next season, we may have to look at options,” Meyers said. “It has been a very positive experience for these kids and it speaks well for introducing the sport to more young people.”
The group recently held an online auction that raised approximately $1,500 and Meyers is also appreciative of the Municipality of Cumberland that donated around $1,000 worth of ice time at the arena and has been helping promote the program in the community.
Carolyn Bollwerk, the municipality’s active living coordinator, is happy with how the program has been received.
“The kids are loving it and I’m hearing from parents how much they enjoy it,” Bollwerk said. “They’re very appreciative of the relatively barrier-free way of trying out hockey in a situation where they’re not committed to joining minor hockey. They can get a feel for if their children are really interested and if they are they can dive in by joining minor hockey.”