Hockey players in Arborg and the surrounding area can look forward to extra skills development lessons next season after Arborg Minor Hockey received a generous grant from Manitoba Ag Days.
The Ag Days Gives Back program provided the Arborg Minor Hockey Association with a grant worth $2,000.
Arborg Minor Hockey board member Kaitlyn Magnusson said the grant will benefit the kids enrolled in hockey by providing them with additional lessons to improve their skills.
“It’s great to have this extra money to fund different program that we don’t always offer. This will help cut the cost down if kids want to sign up for an extra skills development class,” she said. “We haven’t decided exactly on what we’ll offer, but we have run power skating in the past or a skills development camp.”
Coaching is an unpaid volunteer position but there’s a cost to bring in additional programs.
“If we want to get an extra program in, we have to pay for that,” she said. “We have to fund the people who come in to teach special programs.”
Ag Days Gives Back community giving program, which started in 2013, has provided over $362,500 in community grants or post-secondary scholarships, according to its website. The community improvement grants can be used towards infrastructure improvements, upgrades, supplies and equipment.
Arborg Minor Hockey board member Amanda Bouchard had applied for the grant, said Magnusson, and “got this going for us.”
Blaine Magnusson, who coaches the U7, U11 and girls U11 teams for Arborg Minor Hockey, accepted the cheque from Ag Days staff in Brandon in mid-January during the Manitoba AgDays exhibition, which showcases agricultural production, equipment and technology.
He said the Ag Days Gives Back program helps many communities and students.
“This grant is great for our community,” he said.
