This is the first post of the 2013-2014 season! We hope you join us on the long journey this season, as the Winnipeg ICE try to make their way to the top of the MFMHL league standings. The coach's blog will take you along for the ride all season long with game stories, season updates, and much much more. Please check back here regularly for everything you need to know about the ICE!
As the Winnipeg ICE prepare to open the season on October 5th, against the same team that eliminated them last season, the players have already started to bond off the ice. As part of the training camp this year, the players and team staff took part in the First Annual Winnipeg Ice Team Retreat in Lac du Bonnet on August 24-25th. Here are some highlights of what the players did at our amazing team event at the lake.
Two of our returning players have cabins near Lac du Bonnet, and their parents were very generous in allowing us to use both cabins for the weekend. It all started on Saturday afternoon, as the players and staff made their way to Still Cove for a weekend of fun. 1 cabin was for the players, and the other was for the coaches and parent volunteers. Once the players arrived, the festivities began with some swimming and team activities before a delicious snack....which was more a meal than a snack! The weather was perfect...possibly even too hot, but once the team found its way onto the water for boating and tubing, nobody really cared about the weather. The players had a blast on the boats and even saw some spectacular wipeouts...leaving everyone happy and hungry once dinner was served.
A BBQ dinner only slowed the girls down for a little while, as more games broke out in the cabin, eventually leading to a full team beach volleyball event. As the evening went on and it began to get dark the first of two team meetings produced our new season slogan. Those of you who follow the team closely will already know it...but if not, the team has a great discussion on what they wanted to focus on for this season and came up with "EMBRACE THE OPPORTUNITY" as their mantra for this season.
As the long day at the lake wound down, a bonfire was lit before a fireworks show closed the festivities for the night. The parents and coaches left the team (with Coach Sarah of course) by the bonfire and headed for the 'parent' cabin for the night. The players were tired from all the fun, but they managed to stay up fairly late learning all that they could about their new teammates.
The players woke up around 10:00am to a light breakfast of fruit, yogurt, and juice, before jumping back in the lake for a swim. The pre-season planning meeting this year was held on the dock around 11:00 on a beautiful late summer Sunday morning. The brief team meeting was about goal setting, rule setting, and basically giving everyone on the team a chance to see what's ahead. There's a long journey beginning, it's already begun, and the players needed to see that course is set directly in front of them. The team discussed what it means to be a TEAM, as well as what it means to NOT be a team. We closed the meeting with a quick chat on why this team retreat was so important.
After the meeting, the players were treated to more snacks before heading back out on the lake to the jumping rocks. An hour of climbing rocks and jumping in the water, and more swimming, was a great way to end an amazing weekend together. After getting back to the cabin for lunch, the team parted ways after nearly 30 hours together. While the weekend was loud with excitement during almost every aspect of this experience, the ride home was noticeably quiet. All players, and coaches, and parents, were very tired but very glad we were able to do this before the season begins.
A huge thanks MUST go out to our parent hosts and parent volunteers for this event. You all have already made a huge contribution to this team that we all will never forget!
From the coaching staff's perspective, this weekend could not have gone any better. The players, new to the team AND the veterans, all jumped into the weekend together and started to gel. Will all the hard work of planning this event pay off when the Winnipeg ICE open the season on October 5th? Who knows? But what is not in question is how much closer these players are now than they would have been without a weekend like this. And regardless how the season goes, the memories of this weekend will last a lifetime.
~Coach
