‘It’s an important part of a neighbourhood’: Winnipeg community rink, volunteers nominated for national contest

Winnipeg -

A Winnipeg outdoor rink and the hardworking volunteers who keep it going have been nominated for a national contest to keep the game going into next season.

The ice crew at Sir William Osler Rink devote countless hours to tending to the ice and its amenities at the small, south River Heights park.

“It’s a lot of work, it really is. It’s a good winter fitness program,” volunteer Tom Hayward told CTV News Winnipeg. “It’s probably a good hour or two every day or every morning, and then if we get a lot of snow, then it’s maybe four or five hours of work, and we call in more neighbourhood resources.”

The team of dedicated volunteers does everything from maintaining the ice to fixing loose boards to creating a seating area with a fire pit and lighting.

Hayward sees rinks like these as important fixtures in Canadian communities

“I think these rinks are vanishing in Canada. They were built in the ‘50s and ‘60s behind a lot of schools, as was this one.” Hayward said. “I feel it’s an important part of a neighbourhood to maintain these rinks and keep that neighbourhood fabric intact as we get further and further apart in many ways. This kind of brings our neighbourhood together.”

The volunteers’ hard work is being recognized with a nomination for the CARHA Hockey Keep the Game We Love Going ODR Contest.

It will award three grand prizes of $1,000 to help fund outdoor rink maintenance costs for next season.

“There has been an overwhelmingly positive response since launching our Keep the Game We Love Going ODR Contest in mid-January. We knew our rinks were important, but each submission has its own unique story, and we have this great opportunity to learn about the people who work tirelessly at all hours to provide a safe place to skate,” said CARHA Hockey’s coordinator of member services and program development Kristan Leach in a news release.

The contest is open to all communities and individuals across Canada for private or public rinks, as well as volunteer or community member nominations.

Hayward said the money would go a long way at the Sir William Osler Rink.

“We don’t really have any assistance from anywhere else, other than our own fundraising,” he said.

“This year’s been particularly tough with the snow. We’ve broken our two snow blowers regularly, shovels break. There’s a lot of little maintenance that goes into running a rink like this. We don’t have a Zamboni, so it takes a lot of work to keep this running and many hours.”

Full details on the contest can be found here.

- With files from CTV Morning Live Winnipeg's Nicole Dube