Kings celebrate reconstruction of team locker rooms

By John Watson Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The Agra Risk Wheatland Kings hosted an open house, Aug. 20, for friends and family of the team, showcasing their newly reconstructed locker rooms. 

Cody Holdaway, general manager of the Agra Risk Wheatland Kings, said the completion of this project has been several years in the making.

“My first season with the team, so about three years ago now, with the previous general manager, we started a fundraising effort to start selling off stalls in our locker room to fund the renovation efforts,” he said. “In the beginning, it did not go as fast as we would have liked, so it took a couple of seasons but in the end, we were able to raise the capital and build something that is going to last the organization years.”

The Kings will not be disclosing the exact finances which were required to complete the renovation of the locker room. 

Holdaway proudly proclaimed the new facilities are now among some of the best in Canadian Junior B hockey. Among the aims of the project were to elevate the culture of the local team. 

“Our family now has a home, as the players have been telling me. It is something for the players to be proud of. They are now twice as excited to come to the rink because they have such a nice room and facility, and it is going to do a lot with recruiting new players,” he said. “You can stay home and play Junior B hockey in Strathmore and get the Junior A experience. It is just as good.”

Holdaway said the impact on the culture of the team has been immediately visible following the project’s completion. 

Many of the players could immediately be found utilizing the space despite having no immediate obligation to be there prior to the start of the season. 

“The locker room got completely overhauled. Everything that was in there was out, we repainted, we did everything, and then the primary feature was to do the locker stalls. We have fully custom locker stalls that were built to the shape of the room, very similar to what you would see in an NHL or pro level experience,” said Holdaway. “[The players] have something to be proud of. Morale is definitely already up. They always say, ‘look good, play good,’ and now we look our best, so it is time to prove it.”

The project was unveiled at the Kings’ year end banquet at the conclusion of the previous season. Reconstruction of the space took approximately two months from start to finish.