With the ever-increasing demand for ice time at the new Bold Center Arenas, Lac La Biche County Director of Recreation, Culture, and Facilities, Maurice Brosseau sat with local community groups to work on a compromise for all parties that would result in the best service for all users of ice time.
The President of Minor Hockey, Brent Rabik, along with the President of Portage College, Dr. Trent Keough, the President of Lac La Biche Skating Club, Maria Tibbitts and the Head Coach of the club, Addie Clark, are all very pleased to announce that a final schedule is now available.
The demand for ice time continues to grow. Unfortunately, even with twice the number of indoor ice surfaces from one to two just last fall, community demand for ice time simply does not match the availability of it. In fact, the number of users for programs like minor hockey and Skate Canada Programs such as CanSkate, Power Skating and Figure Skating continue to rise.
Portage College is also a user of the arenas because the Voyaguers ACAC Men's Hockey Team requires practice time during the already very busy evening schedule. "Students are just unable to miss class time during the day, as they are required to maintain a GPA of at least 2.0 and the students' academic success is paramount," said Keough.
"Similar concerns exist for minor hockey, as they try to avoid the very late practices that can hamper performance in high school level for midget aged hockey players. It was a complex situation requiring everyone to work together and find compromise, " said Rabik.
"Every group looking for ice time is serving the community," said Clark. "We'll continue to look for any available ice time that would be appropriate for our young skaters in the Pre-School programs from four to six years old, to try to keep up with our registrations. Currently our Fall Pre-School session has too many skaters registered for the amount of ice that is available at an earlier time. We will be able to better serve the demand for the Pre-School programs as the community groups continue to work together in the future," she added.
Keough said, "This is a real example of parties working together to find the win-win solution that would serve residents of Lac La Biche the best. It was a pleasure working with community volunteers who have such a positive, professional approach. "
For more information, please call Leona Geller at 780-623-5591.
