Just-4-Fun scores successful season
By Tyler Lowey, Times Reporter
Photo Courtesy of Ninette Maga
Further proof took place this spring when one parent of a future hockey star started up her own league just to get her kid some extra ice time after the end of his season.
“My son and the kids from his team were just peaking at the end of the season, it was a shame they had to hang their skates up so soon,” said Ninette Maga. “Unless we were willing to fork over hundreds of dollars to go skate in Calgary or Chestermere all spring, there really wasn’t anything for us.”
After making a couple of phone calls to inquire about ice time, Maga found some openings in April for her son and his friends to use.
Mitch, who just turned seven, played this season with the Timbits Firestorm team. They typically skated twice a week, from mid-October up until the end of February.
“We just started asking around to see who was interested,” said Maga. “Once we started booking ice times, more people contacted us and wanted in.”
The Just-4-Fun hockey program kicked off at the beginning of March and wrapped up this weekend. Altogether, 14 kids signed up for permanent status while another six joined towards the end as drop-in players.
Maga and her husband were two of the six coaches who ran the program, which was headed by Adri Solway, who coaches at WinSport Arena and with Maximum Performance Hockey.
In the Just-4-Fun’s eight ice times, the coaching staff spent 50 minutes working on skill development, while the final 10 minutes were slated for a game of shinny.
Even though the players were novice and Timbit age, the program used up every inch of the ice at the Strathmore Family Centre, and didn’t play with the sideways rinks.
With the program wrapping up shortly, Maga is blown away at the interest that continues to roll in.
“So many people keep asking me if we have anything planned for July or August,” said Maga. “Just about everyone wants to come back in the summer time, but we haven’t even begun to think that far in advance.”
As a result of the interest, Maga was able to raise enough money to cover the ice times, supply each kid with matching jerseys and socks and a water bottle, and will send the kids off to the summer season with a medal and a gift bag to remember their time with the program.
Hopefully that is enough to tie them over for a few months while the Maga family ponders another hockey camp.
“The support we got from the community was amazing and the kids loved the program. I would love to do another one of these in the future, but there is a lot we have to figure out,” said Maga. “If we do want to hold another one, I’m sure it wouldn’t be hard to find enough people interested in getting some ice time.”