Last week, Clipper Ice Sports officially made a sizable donation to Niverville’s new Community Resource and Recreation Centre, which first opened its doors to the public on July 1.
According to Travis Mason of Clipper Ice Sports, the donation of $50,000 has been in the works for a very long time.
“Approximately 15 years ago, when Darryl Rempel began to serve as board president, they had a fairly successful year of fundraising,” says Mason. “One of those fundraisers were the community poker nights. They were able to raise enough funds to purchase new jerseys that were badly needed, and they ended the year with a surplus of $5,000.”
Mason says that Rempel then approached the board with two options for what to do with the surplus: the money could be refunded in the form of $50 rebate cheques to each family, or the funds could be set aside as a future donation for a new hockey rink in Niverville.
A motion was passed to set the money aside, giving birth to CIS’s new arena fund.
“After Darryl served as president for five years, the board had been able to set aside $5,000 annually into this fund due to continued success in fundraising,” Mason says. “With $25,000 now becoming a sizable fund, future presidents and board members continued to set aside funds when possible.”
With time and compounding interest, that money eventually grew—and by the time the Town of Niverville announced the construction of the CRRC, the board had built up a $50,000 balance.
“It was a great idea by Darryl and the board at the time,” adds Mason. “It’s amazing that each incoming president kept up with trying to put money into the fund. All the credit goes to many past and present families in Clipper Ice Sports over the past number of years… Many people questioned the amount of money CIS had on hand over the years, but I think when they see the results they will appreciate it, as they have had a hand in building the community.”
Mason points out that the door is now open for Clipper Ice Sports to make contributions to other community projects, both in Niverville as well as in Ste. Agathe, where a number of local players come from.
In the meantime, the organization is looking forward to an especially exciting season.
“Not only are we able to move into a new facility, but we also are able to showcase our new jerseys and logo change,” says Mason. “The new facility helps solve some challenges we have had in the past with ice. It will also allow us to provide some teams with more full ice practices, as well host a AA Eastman team to help the region with ice shortage in a lot of surrounding towns.”
Mason says that the Clippers are in the process now of setting up the registration process, the details to which will be released in the coming days.
They’re also looking forward to a relatively normal season, after all the disruptions of the past year.
The CRRC will also provide the organization with some new opportunities. For example, this year they’ll be able to host their first annual Clippers day camp.
“With the ice surface, gymnasium, and multipurpose room all under the same roof, we can provide a full day camp for an affordable price,” says Mason. “And we think this camp is going to grow into something pretty big once we’re able to work with the new MJHL team.”
Another perk of the CRRC is that our region will be equipped to host tournaments on a much larger scale than ever before.
“The new facility and new hotel will allow us to host one of the best youth hockey tournaments in Manitoba,” he adds. “The sky is the limit with two ice surfaces and the option to utilize the Ste. Agathe arena. We’re crossing our fingers that later in the season we will be able to host tournaments.”
Finally, Mason adds that Clipper Ice Sports is also grateful to have been awarded a grant this year from the provincial government’s Building Sustainable Communities program. That grant money will allow them to purchase half-ice board dividers, which will provide the U7 and U9 players with the full hockey experience.
“We have had a lot of new changes on the board with a lot of new faces,” he says. “These volunteers are what make our program so special. I would like to thank all the past members who have moved on and helped progress the program forward. With our first couple meetings complete [this year], we have had great discussion with some new fresh ideas for the future to continue improve our program.”
