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 December!

The Rookie (2> years) winner for December is Kody Kirton of Centre Wellington Minor Hockey! Here's his story as told by his nomination:

Kody has joined the CWMHA board as a Director at Large and quickly adopted the role of U9 and Below Director, overseeing the programs for our youngest players. Kody is a head coach for U9MD-2 as well as an instructor for the U5 group. Kody has taken on many tasks, and brings a long hockey background to his hometown, where he also serves on the local fired department and is an elementary teacher. Kody spends countless hours at the rink, organizing not only the teams his children are a part of, but all of the local and rep teams at 9 years and younger. Kody always wants to make sure that all youth and families not only have the opportunity to play, but have an amazing time while doing it. Very much deserving of the recognition, although he would never ask for it or admit it.

How many years have you been volunteering in hockey and in what roles?
I have been involved in coaching, in various capacities, for 15 years or so. I started as primarily a skills coach focusing on Power Skating and have been coaching my kids for the past few years. I have one playing U9 this year and two playing U5. I started with the U9 Director role this year and it has been a huge learning curve, but I think we've been able to make some small changes that have seen some impressive results. Nothing gets done without some really helpful coaches and parents that do a ton to make things fun for the kids. That's what it's all about!

How does your work as a teacher and firefighter help you as a hockey coach?
I think the common themes between coaching, teaching and being a volunteer firefighter is the idea of working towards specific goals. In hockey and teaching it is all about skill development over the end result of a game or a test; you can get lucky and win a game or do well on a test, but being able to scaffold and develop skills to use them in many different scenarios, and in different contexts, is the most important thing to strive for. Being a firefighter has quite a few transferable skills to coaching, as well. The biggest reason I started doing it was to help people, obviously; but the other major reason was to be a part of a team again, once I finished playing hockey. Everything we do on a scene is done as a team, working towards a common goal. I guess the other aspect is the importance of training: You can see the positive results when huge amounts of effort are put into training in the Fire Service. Just like in a hockey setting, the more practice you can get in any skill, the easier it's going to be when it counts.

What goes into your role as the U9 and Below Director?
The U9 role has been a bit of an eye-opener, but there have been some very helpful people who have helped me pull off taking on that position. Kiel Webb, Kristen Wiersma and Lyndsay Boire (to name a few) have been a huge help, and I really appreciate it. I've learned that September/ October are the really busy months in this role because of all of the startup "stuff" (ordering jerseys and socks, finding convenors and getting the convenors what they need to be ready for the kids). The convenors are really what makes everything work: Corey Sanders, Jeremy Machin, Alex Semltzer and Jeff Klein have been awesome to work with and, like I said, are the reason the kids in their respective groups are all improving and having a great year. Once all of the kids are on the ice, my role is to troubleshoot when issues arise, and support and advocate for the Coaches as much as possible so that they can focus on the kids.

The Veteran (2+ years) winner for December is Kim Power of Essa Minor Hockey! Here's her story as told by her nomination:

In Essa minor hockey you don’t play in the organization without knowing who Kim Power is. She has volunteered and ran our Jr Eagles program which focuses on player development and helping those ages 5 and younger get a feel for the game before they make the jump to organized hockey.

Kim volunteers her own time twice a week to run the Jr Eagles program. This in addition to her being a coach of her own children’s U9 Local League team.

Kim has been nominated and won our John Prince Memorial award numerous times due to her selflessness and her loving caring nature towards the games youngest athletes.

She does not charge anyone for her time and does it solely for her love of youth hockey. You will be hard pressed to find a person who spends more time at a rink then Kim.

How many years have you been volunteering in hockey and in what roles?
I have been volunteering with Essa Minor Hockey for 11 years. My son started playing at U8 and the association was looking for a Coach for his team, so I stepped up to be the Coach, and I've never looked back. 

I no longer have kids in hockey, but I am still heavily involved with the association.

I have been a Coach, Assistant Coach, Tournament Director and Association Head Coach. I currently run the Learn to Skate Program (Junior Eagles) and the Junior Development Program for U7 players. I also help support the Junior Coordinator with organizing and preparing the U7 and U8 teams for the start of the season. 

What keeps you coming back year after year?
The kids! The love of the game! I love to develop players into the best they can be. Some players go on to play local league and some go on to play Rep. I love to watch how far they can go in their growth of the game. I love to watch how they develop into strong, young responsible players. I love to watch the friendship they make throughout the seasons and the skills they learn on and off the ice. 

I love being called or remembered as Coach Kim. I'll be at Costco or Walmart or any other store and I'll hear "there's Coach Kim". It melts my heart! I know I have made a difference.

What do you love most about working with the games youngest players?
There are so many things to love about working with the games youngest players, but I love the smiles on the players faces the most. They absolutely glow when they're on that ice! I love the determination and drive throughout every practice and every game. They try so hard and they have so much fun doing it. I love to hear them explain their accomplishments to their parents or grandparents. The excitement in their voice and the smile on their face says it all! 

I love when they come up to me to tell me they scored their first goal, or they deked through players or they were finally able to take a wrist shot. There is so much excitement in those conversations! I am always so proud of each and every one of them.

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