The Ontario Minor Hockey Association and Nothers have teamed up for the Volunteer of the Month program – a ‘Rookie’ and a ‘Veteran’ volunteer will be recognized each month through a profile highlighting their involvement in the game of hockey.

We were thrilled to see so many deserving nominations and have highlighted two winners below for November!

The Rookie (2> years) winner for November is Alex Drummond of Newcastle Minor Hockey! Here's her story as told by her nomination:

Alex is our ice scheduler. She keeps our organization running, I don't know where our organization would be without her. She just took a new job this year which came with a lot more responsibility and time commitments but she has still produced our ice schedule to start the year without issue.

We have Local League and Rep schedules that she works around, she fought for more ice from the arena board to allow us to offer development and offer a select team option for our membership. The only way we could do this is with Alex fighting for our membership and she did this on her own, meeting with the arena board to plead our case. We have never been allotted this much ice in the past and it's all because of her determination and perseverance. The only way this has happened is because of Alex getting us the ice we need.

Not only does she spend hours figuring out our ice time but also volunteers in all our community events like our golf tournament, Santa skate, breakfast with Santa and so much more. She also schedules out timekeepers for out games. She never complains and as you know, the ice scheduler is one of the most scrutinized positions on a board, you never hear a thanks from the membership, only feedback you get is if someone is unhappy with ice times.

How many years have you been volunteering in hockey and in what roles?
I began volunteering about two years ago with the Newcastle Village Minor Hockey Association when my husband stopped coaching for a season and I thought.. well... maybe it is my turn to give back. I did NOT play hockey... really any sports growing up. The dance world and stage were my passions. BUT, once I became a mom to two sport loving kids.. this was my way to stay involved and participate in their passions. I offered to help out wherever it was needed and was soon roped into the Scheduler position... something I knew NOTHING about! But, I learned to work with some amazing people and realized all that went into running a hockey organization. I also enjoy getting involved in the social side of the community with Santa Skates, fundraisers, Santa Claus parades, meetings and AGM's. I took on the role of our social media as well to keep the membership informed and connected which led to creating monthly newsletters as well and the role keeps expanding.

What is the most rewarding part of volunteering for you?
The most rewarding part of volunteering is definitely seeing progress with our centre! Seeing issues that frustrated me as a parent feel great to see being changed and resolved. Being a small centre with only one ice pad brings with it many challenges and with an amazing team on our board we were able to secure more ice time for our kids. Seeing kids coming back to our centre is beyond rewarding!  I've also loved getting to know the people in my community and making connections with the people all around myself and my family in Newcastle. 

What went into securing more ice for Newcastle Minor Hockey to allow for more development sessions?
Securing more ice for our players was a big challenge that was met with many road blocks of it's always been this way. BUT as a team we went out to prove that our players were at a disadvantage when we compared local centers and the ice those centers and municipalities were giving out there really was no stopping us. We collected a lot of data, went in with open arms and willingness for conversation... and we did not stop at our first no. Perseverance definitely paid off. I think this was a lesson for ourselves but also showed our kids that when you keep pushing and not giving up.. there's no stopping us!! Life lesson... right?

The Veteran (2+ years) winner for November is David Bruno of Lambeth Minor Hockey! Here's her story as told by her nomination:

Dave has made a huge impact to Lambeth Minor Hockey and growing the Association. He has volunteered as convenor for the U7 program, moving onto Vice President for the Association and Rep convenor while coaching and facilitating the U7 program, U9 MD 2 team and the U11 team. Dave has spent countless hours creating ways to grow our hockey program through advertising, participation in local events and creating fundraisers for the organization like our first ever Lambeth U7 Jamboree.

Dave is a forward thinker and always looking for ways to improve our Association with a strong focus on development at all age levels and insuring the program can grow and make a strong and positive impact in our community.

Dave is a yes man who is always willing to help and take the lead on any project. The first ever Lambeth jamboree was a huge success that the program is now wanting to have a girls tournament and a boys tournament in the future. Dave is a great asset to Lambeth Minor Hockey and has positively contributed to the improvements the organization has seen and has no plan to stop going forward.

How many years have you been volunteering in hockey and in what roles?
I have been volunteering currently with Lambeth Minor hockey for 6 years. I started as an on ice helper/coach in U7 and then took over the U9 and below convenor role and now I have moved in to Vice President while still helping out with all three of my kids' teams.

Where did the idea for the first-ever Lambeth Jamboree come from and what went into the planning of it?
The idea for the Jamboree was to create an event in our community for young hockey players to have a fun day to end the year. We also wanted to promote the fun in the sport and utilizing one of our past players Nick Suzuki and how no matter where you start you can achieve your goals. We wanted to promote fair play and like skilled hockey so we created three divisions; one of the biggest complaints we always hear when our teams go to the U7 jamboree's is how much the skill can vary so having three different divisions has allowed us to create more even play helping all the kids enjoy the games. Planning an event like this takes a lot of work, between scheduling ice, getting sponsors, and volunteers to help out. It was about a year in the process to get it off the ground but we are happy to say we believe we have the best U7 jamboree out there. 

What are some ways you’ve helped to grow hockey in Lambeth? 
Since taking the Vice President role we have worked tirelessly to help promote our organization and build from the ground up. We have run grassroots advertising promoting what we can offer, we have become more involved with our community and the events that take place in Lambeth, recently we were part of our local public schools fun day and we we also ran an open house where we promoted our organization through a community BBQ, info session and provided free hockey equipment for new to hockey youth players in our organization with the help of one of our major sponsors London Sports Excellence.  

Please use the form below to nominate a Volunteer. Submissions will be kept on file and you do not need to resubmit each month.