Rumours of an additional ice rink in Brandon have been swirling for years, but now the J & G Group of companies led by Jared Jacobson have made it official, the Wheat City is getting a fifth sheet of ice.
The arena which is already under construction in Brandon’s southwest corner south on 34th street, will also play host to the newly formed Western Canada Hockey Academy.
“The Keystone Centre gets used for trade shows and other events and the ice there get’s taken out from time to time,” said Jacobson. “This new facility guarentees another full time sheet of ice for our city. It’s going to be a great place for kids in the spring and summer who want to train, when that is usually the hardest time to find ice.”
Included within the new facility is a performance fitness centre, a six lane—100 metre track along with two shooting bays and one goalie bay used for private or small group sessions. The facility will also include a pickleball court and basketball court.
The “hybrid” academy will be aimed at hockey players from grades five to twelve and include split classrooms for grades 5/6 and grades 7/8. While the high school aged players will attend one of the three existing city schools.
The education portion of the academy will be run by long time Crocus Plains staff member Glenda Zelmer and former Waverly School teacher Lesley Taggart.
On the hockey side, Dave Lewis has been named the Director of Player Development and Craig Anderson has been handed the title of Director of Hockey Operations.
“This has been in the works for about eight or nine months now,” said Anderson. “We wanted to make sure that It wasn’t going to affect the numbers with Hockey Brandon. Our focus is to further develop those players, give them an opportunity throughout the day to get their in classroom education and on the ice training. They will then go back to their club teams for games and practices.”
The two of them have enlisted the help of Wheat Kings Assitant Coaches Mark Derlago and Dan Johnston to handle the on ice instruction.
The basis of the schedule will see the kids spend half the day in a classroom, and the other half on the ice in practice and skill building sessions. Unlike the other Sport School Academy’s in Western Canada, the WCHA will not be playing in games during the winter months. Players will still belong to their local minor hockey teams.
The academy will run as an independant school, but will keep the same calendar and curriculum as the Brandon School Division.
“We’re capping our class size at twelve,” added Anderson. “This allows a lot of opportunity for one-on-one instruction and allows the teacher to do way more with these kids. We’re expecting the kids in grade five to potentially be looking at the grade six curriculum by the end of the year. The education part of this is what’s most important to us, and the hockey will follow as a close second.”
While there are direct similarities in the corporate structure of the WCHA and the WHL’s Brandon Wheat Kings, Jacobson was quick to explain that while different, the two groups will work together.
“The two really are seperate,” added Jacobson. “But our staff are community minded people and want to give back to the community and help develop young kids. Our staff with the Wheat Kings will be involved with our programs, either at camps or in the summer or in other areas. It’s an opportunity for kids to have a variety of coaches and mentors.”
The new facility is expected to open sometime in late fall and will likely become the official home of the AAA Bantam and U18 Wheat Kings as well as a potential new franchise in the Manitoba AAA Female U18 league.
Until the facility is complete, the academy will base out of the Sportsplex.
