The CAP Arena is a busy place on nearly any given day throughout the regular hockey season. The facility acts as a place where minor hockey teams often practice along with other groups that juggle and share ice team with the nearby Clancy Richard Arena.
The CAP Arena, built in the 1980s, has been nominated as a project in this year’s Kraft Hockeyville sweepstakes, with locals pushing for the coveted prize money in order to do some much-needed renovations to the building.
“The CAP arena was built in 1983, and it was funded and built by a group of hockey dads who basically put up their homes because the Clancy Richard was overrun with minor hockey, Junior B, and figure skating,” says Bryce Balmer, the St. Paul & District Minor Hockey Association president.
“This meant hockey practices were being scheduled until midnight and very early in the morning because there wasn’t enough ice space for everyone.”
The dedicated hockey parents sacrificed their time and resources so the community could have a second arena, with enough ice-time for all groups. Fast-forward to 2016, and the CAP arena is in need of some serious renovations, specifically to the roof, as the current set-up causes condensation that falls onto the ice and causes the ice surface to be rough. Also, the arena is not insulated well enough able to sustain an ice surface until the weather gets quite cold.
“We have around 260 kids involved in our minor hockey program, and that doesn’t even include the men’s league, Junior B hockey, and figure skating. If we were to lose the CAP arena, we would have to turn kids away from sports and hockey, and that is something we hope we will never have to do,” says Balmer.
Every year, Kraft begins the Hockeyville sweepstakes by taking in nominations from small communities across Canada that need financial assistance to build or maintain arenas or sports facilities. The winning community is awarded $100,000 and an NHL pre-season game at their arena, while second place wins $100,000, and third place receives $25,000.
Bonnvyille’s R.J. Lalonde arena was nominated last year, and the community made it all the way to the semi-finals before being eliminated as Chatham-Kent, Ont., and North Saanich, B.C., were selected as the final two communities, with North Saanich going on to win Hockeyville 2015.
The Hockeyville contest is usually won by the community that best sells itself not only to the people who put on the contest, but also those who are watching when the Kraft Hockeyville Segment plays during “Hockey Night in Canada.”
Balmer explained how important it is that the community rallies together for this huge opportunity. “The arena needs it, the community needs it, to be able to win this, we need everyone to rally together. A lot of this is done through social media now.”
People who use twitter or Instagram can help support the cause by tweeting or posting with the hashtag #khv_caparena.
