Off the Ice and into the Schools
Published on January 27, 2016 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Kelowna Rockets News Release
There was a Rocket sighting in Lake Country on Wednesday. Four of the players made their way to Winfield Arena and gave nearly 80 school kids a morning full of memories on the ice. The hour long skate was full of laughing, pictures, and even the signing of helmets as the Rockets were idolized from the moment they stepped on the ice.
School teacher Lara Bischoff sees first hand what it means for the young boys and girls to meet the players.
"[The kids] have actually been anticipating this for a month now so this morning the kids were vibrating when they walked in the door and that's all they talk about. A lot of the kids actually go to the games so to actually see them up close makes it a big deal for them."
Wednesday was just one of five school visits around Kelowna in four days which is a drop in the bucket during the eight month long season. Through out the year, 60 schools host a few players with activities ranging from skating, to reading and writing, to playing floor hockey with onlookers -children and parents alike- crowding the walls. It's part of the job when you're a role model, but the players look forward to these visits almost as much as the children.
"It means a lot, there's a lot of young kids, you see yourself in them a little bit just loving coming to the rink so much at that age and it's fun to be able to put a smile on their faces" said Cole Linaker, one of three 20-year olds on the team.
While a veteran like Linaker has been doing this for years, 16-year old rookie defenseman Jonathan Smart has just 23 WHL games under his belt, but enjoys answering fan questions all the same.
"There's definitely tons of questions, it's not even just the kids a lot of the time, the parents have more questions than the kids. It's fun to answer and fun to share your experiences.
Smoothly pulling off so many visits in a season takes a lot of planning and scheduling between the schools willing to host, players school schedules, and the teams practice and game schedule, but Rockets director of marketing Anne-Marie Hamilton stressed that while the team may be focused on what happens on the ice, they can't forget about the community that makes it all possible.
"It's important to us to have our players work with school aged kids around the Central Okanagan. Our players are role models to many young kids and we want to have them getting out into the community as much as possible."
The team has 11 visits left in the year with the next one on Jan 28th, but as the season winds down the visits become less and less frequent until they cease in March to let the Rockets focus on one thing. A chance to give their fanbase a championship team.
Western Hockey League Stories from January 27, 2016
- Off the Ice and into the Schools - Kelowna Rockets
- Throwing Down the Welcome Mat in Vancouver - Kelowna Rockets
- Americans Sign Prospect Riley Sawchuk - Tri-City Americans
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