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by Maria Berry GAZETTE STAFF “It's something I have wanted and been promising for some time and finally the people came forward to take the initiative and make this work,” stated Glenboro Minor Sports President, Brent Pringle. Glenboro now has their own “Breakfast Club”, following the footsteps of communities like Deloraine, Boissevan, Souris, Melita, Carberry, Morden and McCreary. The testimonials from the participating communities all show success, with many of their minor hockey players taking part in this great learning tool. Communities have come on board by sharing some of the ice time and food costs. The time of the on-ice and kitchen volunteers is a crucial part of the process. Bob (Ace) Caldwell, of Deloraine, a former teacher and hockey coach for more than 25 years, is also a Hockey Manitoba Master Mentor. He has held clinics in many Manitoba communities to teach residents there how to initiate the program. These “Breakfast Clubs” are currently unique to Manitoba, but will probably spread across the rest of the country, as other provincial hockey programs learn of their success. So what is the “Breakfast Club”? In Glenboro it is a core group of volunteers, getting up at the crack of dawn to be at the rink by 7 a.m. each Wednesday morning to work with a group of registered hockey players who arrive for a 7:15 start. They go on the ice, work on different skill stations, at 8:15 they come off the ice, have a quick breakfast and head off to school. The on-ice volunteers are focusing on individual puck control skills and skating and use the drills provided on the 3 Hockey Manitoba Breakfast Club DVD's they have been provided with. Tara Smith, who has spearheaded this initiative, along with her helpers Rhonda Berry and Jamie Guenter, says they started with 9 kids showing up and after receiving a few more phone calls, next week will see a total of 14 head to the rink for the early morning workout. To date they have been accommodating a Novice and up age group but want to start giving the 6 and up hockey players the benefit of these drills as well. Tara needs two more on-ice volunteers to accomplish this as the group will have to be split into two. Letters were sent out to various businesses seeking some donations for the breakfast items. To date Tara says she has had donations from D A Foods of Glenboro and Sobey’s in Brandon. Her husband Chris does the breakfast and will one week provide a cold breakfast and the next week a hot one. He makes sure that all the juice glasses are filled, their cereal bowls are filled, milk ready, when the hockey players get off the ice. That way the breakfast goes smoothly, the kids still have time to eat without rushing and get to school on time. He plans to do eggs and toast one week, as well as French toast and pancakes another week. If you want any more information or could take the time to help out as an on-ice volunteer for this program, feel free to phone Tara at 537-2472. Remember, there is no registration; the program is free; the kids just have to show up, enjoy some skill development and some breakfast before school.
Newspaper Details
Baldur Gazette
Baldur, Manitoba, CA
Tue, Nov 30, 2010
Page 1
Full Page
Clipped by
Manitoba H.
CA 10 Sep 2026
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