As the calendar flips to September, the local Clippers program is gearing up for another season of great local hockey. Conditioning skates will soon get underway and tryouts are slated to begin on September 17.
“This year’s tryouts will take place at one of our home facilities in Ste. Agathe,” says Travis Mason of Clipper Ice Sports. “We would like to thank the Ste. Agathe Arena staff for their hard work on getting the ice ready a few weeks early this year.”
One major change will go into effect this year is that the Novice teams will no longer be tiered, due to a vote of the Eastman hockey board. Novice skaters will also play on a half-ice playing surface for the full season.
“CIS has done some revamping this off-season with implementing a new development program for players and coaches,” says Mason. “We’re kicking the season off with a coaches appreciation breakfast, where they will receive on- and off-ice training provided by GT Performance Hockey. Also, CIS has invested money on training aids to provide our coaches with the latest new tools.”
The program received some especially exciting news in August, when it was announced that CIS would receive two grants from Hockey Manitoba.
“The first grant that we were awarded was the Grassroots Player Development,” Mason says. “We will receive $1,500 to put towards the costs of our new development program. The second grant that we were awarded was for Goaltender Development, which we will put towards our new goaltending program being provided this season. With our commitment to providing professional teaching development to our players and coaches, by bringing in GT Performance this season, we’re grateful for the help from Hockey Manitoba to save some costs.”
As part of the off-season revamp, the board welcomes a few new members who were appointed at the spring annual general meeting. These include Scott Wallace (vice president), Clayton Smeltz (treasurer), and Stephane Theoret (equipment coordinator).
The board wishes to thank outgoing board members Christa Cooper and Heather Knip for their valued contributions to the program.