Calling, all you hockey people!
I suppose that when kids are still swimming it can be difficult to be thinking of hockey. However, it can be one of the most important times of the year for minor hockey. Local community associations need to get every potential player to commit to playing for their organization so that they can make decisions on whether they can even ice a team in any division!
From the community level to the Manitoulin level is where league-wide decisions need to be made. This is where many unsung heroes have put in their time to ensure hockey will happen for our kids. So, Manitoulin MHA had their first meeting last week and they are in desperate need of a president, 2nd V.P. and secretary!
For hockey to happen, it takes an amazing scaffolding of various moving parts to potentially provide your kids with amazing opportunities. Hockey needs players, coaches, managers, executives, on-ice officials, off-ice officials, etcetera. It needs every link in the chain for it to work. Just as it is important that local associations fill their executives but in order to make that happen, the governing body, MMHA, needs some help getting things up and running. As a wise ex-exec said, “it takes an Island to run hockey.” If you would like to be the secret link, contact your local hockey association.
Hey, coach!
Are you interested in learning how to be a curling coach? Official Club Coach training is coming to the Providence Bay Curling Club! It’s not often that we get this opportunity close to home! For more information or to register, visit the Providence Bay Curling Club Facebook page.
Shelter needs champion!
Leeanne Lewis has the unique opportunity to give back to a cause she has been passionate about for a long time. Before her current position in real estate, Leeanne worked for many years in victim services. So, isn’t it great that her past and present can benefit those in need.
Royal Lepage hosts a fundraising Ecuador Challenge for Shelter once every two years and Leanne was one of 120 agents across Canada that were selected in January to participate. Four groups of 30 agents will be heading out on a five day trek (8-10 hours a day) and she is in the first group of agents leaving on November 10th!
Leanne was surprised to be selected as there are a lot of agents who apply to go but has been training since she heard back in the winter. She feels like she has, “come full circle as my career prior to real estate was working as the shelter manager at YWCA Genevra House” and as the trek happens every couple of years, so her thought was, “in two years from now I will be two years older and two more years out of shape, so why not face the challenge!”
Her trek will be towards one of the highest active volcanoes in the world, Mount Cotopaxi. They were told they will be hiking long days across varied terrain in unpredictable mountain weather. She’ll be camping in a tent and going without cell service, electricity, bathroom facilities and other comforts of home. The elevation will be starting around 9,000ft and climbing to 14,000ft and that the temperatures will go below 0° at night, and warmer temps during the day, so dress in layers!
She has a great attitude, however, and sees that, “This trek will not be easy but it will be immensely worthwhile. Each step I take and every dollar I raise will support courageous women and children in my community who are seeking safety and hope for a life free from abuse.” All the money stays local here at MFR as well as the YWCA Genevra House. To help out, check out Leanne updates on Facebook!
ALS, watch out!
Lesley Green also has more motivation than most but when she fundraises for A.L.S. research she is exponentially-inspired. ALS, as their website says is, “Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is a disease that gradually paralyzes people because the brain is no longer able to communicate with the muscles of the body that we are typically able to move at will. Over time, as the muscles of the body break down, someone living with ALS will lose the ability to walk, talk, eat, swallow, and eventually breathe.” Lesley has joined the ALS Canada Revolution Ride, a fundraising event hosted in support of ALS Canada that challenges participants to do more for those living with ALS.
ALS is a very personal cause for Lesley as her Dad, Thomas, was diagnosed with the disease in 2021 and knows of the terrible ravages ALS will take from those afflicted and their families. On her Revolution Ride website page, Lesley sums up her wish with, “I want to contribute to a future without ALS, which is why I’m gearing up for the Revolution Ride page on September 24, 2023.”
“Please consider donating to my fundraising page.” She will ride virtually from their home here on Manitoulin Island instead of the main ride in Dundas, ON.
Lesley, of course, is a great athlete and will no doubt be one of the fastest to complete her selected distance but I didn’t know she was an elite fundraiser as well! She has risen up the ranks on the ALS Canada website that tracks the Ride donation race and she is in a solid, 6th position in all of Canada! Lesley set out with an objective to raise $3,000 yet has already surpassed that with the hope to increase that yet! Help her out at revolutionride.ca/lesley-green-1!
A good sport is good for sports! chipstoquips@gmail.com
