As a parent to kids in minor hockey, Calvin Bespalko has seen firsthand how in the blink of an eye, a child moves from playing novice to bantam and, with the support of coaching staff, gains so much in skills and confidence along the way.
“The kids on ice learn a lot of stuff about working on a team, responsibility, getting through tough games together, celebrating the victories together,” he said, adding there’s no way to put a value on just what minor hockey means to the community. “For parents - I know for myself - it’s a good way of making the winter go very quickly.”
Bespalko, who took over as president of the St. Paul and District Minor Hockey Association last year from past president Dave Thomson, noted he’s got his first year under his belt and now has more of an idea of what to anticipate from minor hockey. One advantage to helping him adjust to his new role has also been a relatively stable board.
“That’s been a big, big plus – there’s a lot of experience, lot of knowledge, lot of similar focus on the product as a whole on the ice, and their fiscal responsibility,” he said.
The past season was a big year, with St. Paul hosting a provincial tournament in March. “We had an amazing committee that put the provincial package together for the bid and actually ran the whole provincial tournament,” said Bespalko, adding the board felt its Atom A team would be competitive – a hunch that proved to be on target with the team winning provincial gold.
He said there was tremendous volunteerism and business support for the tournament and that there wasn’t even a need to charge admission with the financial support demonstrated.
“Actually, it kind of blew away the entire committee and the board. It was a very pleasant surprise for minor hockey.”
This year, there wasn’t enough interest to put a bid together to host provincials, but he said he wouldn’t be surprised if the association would make a bid to host provincials at least at the peewee level during the 2011/2012 season.
But that’s not to say there aren’t new developments in store for 2011. The board is interested in giving back to its players with mini-camps to help supplement the limited ice allotments each team gets. The club always has its Golden Bears conditioning camp at the beginning of the ice season, as well as its ongoing goalie clinic that has become a regional camp, drawing in kids from as far as Cold Lake, Bonnyville and Two Hills. This year, the association also offered a hitting, checking and shooting clinic. “The people who attended really liked it,” he said, adding the board is looking to see how it might offer more of these types of events.
The board also may look to recapture the success of this past winter season’s fundraiser, featuring the comedy routines of Puck N’ Funny. The fundraiser was held to raise contingency funds for the association, and ended up making about $5,000, Bespalko said.
“The community support in St. Paul, to me, is phenomenal. This Puck n’ Funny that we had really showed us how much people are willing to contribute to minor hockey,” he said, adding that this fundraiser may become an annual event.
There is a new website that provides all the schedule information and tools for how to get involved, said Bespalko, who encouraged people to check the site out at www.stpaulminorhockey.ca.
“Come out and watch a game,” he added, noting that it doesn’t matter whether people turn out to watch higher or lower-tier hockey – the competition can be stiff. ‘I think those games are sometimes way more exciting than some of the NHL games.”
