HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2019-02-07, Page 2PAGE 2. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2019.
Black passes on goalie experience to young players
Kayla Black is putting her
experience as a goaltender in the
American collegiate hockey system
to good use, running a clinic for
local goalies through the Blyth and
Brussels Minor Hockey Association.
Black has been participating in the
clinic for two hockey seasons now,
having run two this year with more
to come. She’s working alongside
Ryan Baker, a local goaltender with
a number of years of experience, and
Brett Fischer, who organizes the
events and ice time, as well as
participating.
The program started when Fischer
approached her after fellow coach
Robb Finch connected the two of
them.
Because of the wide variety of age
groups typically represented at the
clinics, Black said there is a wide
variety of training options presented.
“We try to mix it up,” she said.
“The older goalies need to focus on
different things than the younger
ones, so we try to hit everything.”
She said two of the big areas she
focuses on are positioning and
playing the puck.
“With position, we’re looking at
movement and stance, making sure
they know where they are and how
to get where they need to be” she
said. “Goalies playing the puck is
something I didn’t see a lot of when
I was younger. It’s good for goalies
to come out and play the puck and
be comfortable doing that.”
Black also asks the participants
what they want to focus on, saying
that, during her most recent ice
times, the goalies asked to focus on
positioning and usage of the glove
and blocker.
She says that by focusing on what
the players think they need to work
on and by making the lessons
approachable through fun drills and
games, helps keep the goalies
invested.
Black started playing hockey in
Blyth, ending up as netminder after
her team cycled through several
players and her teammates told her
she had the aptitude for it. After that,
she played in Milverton for a year,
and then in Strathroy, playing for the
Bluewater Hawks for seven years,
including PeeWee, Bantam, Midget
and Junior-level competition.
After that she played for the
Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs
women’s hockey team while
pursuing her education, an
experience she says was second-to-
none.
Currently, Black in her third
season with the Lucknow Legends
senior women’s team. She also has
experience with Canada’s national
U18 and U22 hockey programs.
For more information on the
upcoming clinics, watch the
hockey association’s website at
blythbrusselsminorhockey.ca.
By Denny Scott
The Citizen
Continued from page 1
perhaps at the Huron County
Plowing Match or at one of the local
fall fairs.
The thinking behind the fund,
Bishop said, was not only to leave a
lasting legacy, but to help inspire the
youth of Huron County for years to
come. She said that the first year of
post-secondary education is often
planned for, but that bills can mount
in the second year of a program,
which is why IPM committee
members structured the fund the way
they did.
The fund will be stocked with
$250,000 to be distributed over the
next 25 years. She said that the IPM
corporation will soon be dissolved
and the money will be handed over
to the Huron Plowmen’s Association
for safekeeping.
For now, Bishop says that a three-
person board of trustees has been
established to review applications.
Right now that consists of Bishop
and IPM executive members Brian
McGavin and Matt Townsend. That
group, however, will rotate in the
coming years, introducing new faces
and bidding farewell to veteran ones.
While members of the IPM
executive couldn’t necessarily plan
for the fund before the match was
held, Bishop said some form of a
legacy fund had been on the lips of
members since the early stages of
planning.
“From day one it was our vision to
leave a legacy after the match,”
Bishop said. “We were hoping and
praying to have enough to leave that
legacy after the match.”
She said that while one of the
greatest legacies left by the IPM will
be the over 220 barn quilts erected
across the county, the fund will
ensure a financial legacy that will
help Huron County youth to better
themselves for years to come, which
is truly special.
While the legacy fund alone will
inject $250,000 into the community
over the next quarter-century,
members of the IPM executive have
been back donating funds raised
through the 2017 IPM to worthy
county-wide causes this week after
initial donations were rolled out last
year.
“We wanted to make one-time
donations to four [non-profit
organizations] that touch the lives of
all Huron County residents,” Bishop
said.
The executive donated $20,000 to
the Huron Residential Hospice late
last month in Brussels, followed by
further $20,000 donations to
Jessica’s House hospice in Exeter,
the Huron County Food Bank
Distribution Centre and the
Wingham and District Hospital’s
new oncology unit.
The Wingham donation, made on
Monday, helped fund the unit’s
kitchen area, which will now be
named after the IPM.
The food bank donation, Bishop
said, fit with the IPM’s agricultural
mandate in that it helped the centre
to purchase a new refrigerated
delivery truck to ensure that healthy,
fresh food can be delivered to those
in need, rather than preserved foods.
This comes after the executive
donated over $100,000 at the
beginning of 2018 to 55
organizations. Funds were
distributed to committee chairs in
$2,000 portions to each committee
to be donated to local organizations.
In addition, over $40,000 was
donated to local service clubs that
volunteered at the event.
The 2017 IPM was hamstrung by
several inches of rain in just a few
hours on its opening day and then a
forced closure for its second day to
allow for significant clean-up and
site repairs, followed by days of
unseasonable heat. However, despite
those challenges, the event still
welcomed over 76,000 attendees to
Walton in, essentially, three days.
Bishop said that the match made
over $3.8 million in total revenue
and, after all of the bills were paid,
she and the rest of the executive have
been very pleased to be able to
donate over $500,000 back to the
community that so supported the
match.
She says she was really
overwhelmed with that sense of
accomplishment and community
pride on Jan. 25 when she and other
executive members donated the first
$20,000 cheque to the Huron
Residential Hospice.
With the event being held at the
Four Winds Barn in Brussels, she
said there were many familiar faces
in the crowd, including host farmer
Jack Ryan, so to be able to give back
to the community has been very
rewarding, she said.
Footwork, positioning, concentration
Kayla Black, second from left, is passing on her American collegiate hockey system
experience to local goaltenders through clinics. Above, she focused on skating drills with the
help of local Ryan Baker, left, a fellow goaltender on Saturday at the Brussels, Morris and
Grey Community Centre. (Denny Scott photo)
IPM gives $20,000 to Wingham hospital
Helping out
The Wingham Hospital Foundation’s ongoing oncology
department renovation received a boost as the
International Plowing Match executive donated $20,000 to
the cause. From left: Foundation board member Ian
Montgomery, Chief of Diagnostics and Support Services
Sandra Albrecht, IPM executive members Brian McGavin,
Jacquie Bishop and Jeff McGavin and Foundation
Development Officer Nicole Jutzi. (Denny Scott photo)
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#6