New city $20M hockey-training facility among first of its kind in Western Canada
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 19/06/2018 (2137 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
A new $20-million specialized hockey training facility — among the first of its kind in Western Canada — is being built in the southwest part of the city, and stakeholders say it’ll help make Winnipeg a destination for athletes.
Construction is already underway on The Rink Training Centre, a 95,000 square-foot complex that will feature three ice surfaces — including an NHL-size rink — space for up to 700 spectators, a 7,000 square-foot gym and an indoor running track, among other amenities.
The facility, located in the South Landing Business Park at McGillivray Boulevard and Loudoun Road, is expected to be open next spring.
“In terms of a private centre that’s exclusively for training, I couldn’t name you another one (in Western Canada),” Brad Rice, managing partner of The Rink, said Wednesday.
“There are a lot of good trainers and people out there, but they’re more operating out of community centres, which is great, but limits what you can offer.
“We feel there’s a need for an economical way to do private training and development. We feel that’s been proven over our past nine years, so now we’re looking to take what we’ve learned and go to the next level.”
Founded in 2009, The Rink Training Centre is a specialized, science-based hockey facility that houses The Rink Player Development, GDI Goaltender Development and Testify Performance.
The Lowson Crescent building near IKEA features two ice surfaces — one about two-thirds the size of an NHL rink, and the other a 30-foot by 30-foot goalie-development rink.
In 2016, the facility started the Rink Hockey Academy of the Canadian Sports School Hockey League (an elite, nationwide Bantam and Midget hockey league), in partnership with Pembina Trails School Division and Shaftesbury High School. The Rink Hockey Academy team has already had several highly-touted players selected at the top of the Western Hockey League’s annual bantam draft.
“We’re going to integrate a few more pieces that will complement player development, from the little guys and girls learning to skate at (age) three, four, five and six, all the way up to the more serious junior, college and professional players,” Rice said.
The new facility has been in the works for about two years and is entirely funded through private donors and stakeholders.
“We lease our current facility and we knew that lease would be up in 2019, so we had to start making decisions on whether we’d stay put or make a move,” he said.
Once the decision was made to build a new facility, stakeholders sought out local construction and architecture companies to turn their vision into a reality and keep the project “100 per cent Manitoban.”
Rice said over the past nine years the facility and programs have attracted more Manitobans living outside Winnipeg, in addition to players from outside the province and the country.
“We have regular students from the U.S. travelling up every week. Brandon is a regular drive, with people coming up and down the highway. It really is making Winnipeg a hockey destination, 100 per cent,” he said.
Rice said the new facility will feel more like a private club than what most people expect at a local arena. In addition to the training facilities, it will also have a retail shop, office space for 60 staff, lecture and seminar rooms and a research hub.
“We’re really excited about this and really excited to make this happen,” he said. “On and off ice, the skills training, nutrition, strength and conditioning, the science-based approach — there’s really no other place for people to access all that year-round.”
ryan.thorpe@freepress.mb.ca
Twitter: @rk_thorpe
Ryan Thorpe
Reporter
Ryan Thorpe likes the pace of daily news, the feeling of a broadsheet in his hands and the stress of never-ending deadlines hanging over his head.
