Inner-city kids get the opportunity to hit the ice in Saskatoon

There has been a number of barriers for kids to access hockey over the years, from limited ice time to the cost of equipment.

But students from 16 schools in Saskatoon have been able to take part in the Kinsmen Inner City Hockey League that has given them the chance to play.

On Wednesday, the league wrapped up its season with its year-end tournament, with kids taking the day off school and playing hockey. It didn’t hurt that lunch was provided.

Shelly Fedrau, the community school co-ordinator for W.P. Bate School, said it’s important to give these kids access to play.

“They don’t play hockey; they haven’t had an opportunity necessarily to play hockey. So some of them are learning to skate, they don’t skate at all, so they start off on the ice and they learn as they go,” Fedrau said.

“Some of them are a little nervous about it, but they think, ‘Hockey? Oh yeah, I want to play hockey.’ And their parents are watching and they are so excited, and it’s quite an amazing opportunity.”

The feeling of just being on the ice is one of the only thing kids think about when playing in the league.

Rayne Crow, who plays with W.P. Bate School, says he’s always had a passion for the game.

“When I was younger I started skating with my dad and mom and brothers. So I skated like mostly every day after school,” Crow said.

The league brings him around his friends to play. But as much as he loves the game and camaraderie, he doesn’t pay too much attention to the NHL or have a favourite player.

What he enjoys the most is just playing with his cousins.

“I laugh a lot on the ice because they do weird stuff and fall,” said Crow, noting it also gives him an opportunity to go in and score.

He said that, off the ice, the best part of the day was the food as each team is provided lunch for the year-end tournament.

But there was also a time when Crow wouldn’t have been able to be on the ice to play. He has a disability in his right hand, which made it almost impossible to grip a hockey stick.

Thankfully, one of the coaches specialized a glove for him.

“He was having trouble with a regular hockey glove. So I just went and got a couple of used gloves and I modified one so that this way he could put it so that it adapted to his hand,” said Dan Wingerak, one of the coaches in the league.

“At first he was a little bit apprehensive, but as soon as he put it on and he figured things out — smart kid — he just excelled out there.”

The glove had two of the fingers sewn together and an added cuff to make sure it was secure.

“It felt like a normal glove, but it’s just a strap and it does kind of make my arm a little sore. But it still feels good,” Crow said.

Wingerak, who has been coaching hockey for more than two decades with his two kids playing for years, says this is the most rewarding team he’s ever been a part of.

“I’ve coached a lot of different levels of hockey and by far this is the most rewarding hockey I’ve every coached in my life. This is the purest form of the game. (The kids) just love it,” he said.

Wingerak, who’s been coaching in the league for the past two years, has previously been behind the bench in some capacity for the Saskatoon Blazers and Contacts.

He’s just one person from a group of many behind the league that help put the kids on the ice.

Fedrau says one school alone needs around four or five volunteers to help organize and keep a team running. Then, there’s another 15 schools added to create the league.

“It takes a lot of people to put it together. The organizers of course with Kinsmen Hockey League is huge what they do with the scheduling, the booking, providing the equipment, scheduling the equipment pickup … It’s quite amazing and it’s a lot of hands that do a lot of good work,” Fedrau said.

But on top of learning the game, the students also have other things to take care of, including their own equipment and showing up to games.

“It’s being responsible too, to get there on time. We have a lot of early morning Saturdays, for example. There’s a lot of things that they learn and a lot of benefits they gain from being part of the team,” Fedrau added.

Fedrau has been part of the Kinsmen Inner City Hockey League for more than 15 years and said it’s great to see the kids on the ice.

“It warms my heart, really, even though sometimes I think, ‘Are we going to have enough manpower? Can we get people there? What can we do?’ But you know what? The benefits are so large,” she said.

The Kinsmen Inner City Hockey League has been running since 1992 and provides opportunities to more than 320 underprivileged kids.