Halftime with Hailey

I love hockey and, correct me if I’m wrong, there are plenty of students at Red River College who love it too.

There has to be a reason why our college isn’t a part of Canada’s sport. It just seems wrong. How could we possibly not have women’s and men’s hockey teams?

Turns out that the conference we belong to, the Manitoba Colleges Athletic Conference (MCAC), does not offer a hockey league. With seven different

teams involved in the MCAC, there has to be some interest in women’s and men’s hockey. But the MCAC only offers basketball, volleyball, soccer, and futsal for both women and men.

To have a hockey team, we would have to try to become a part of another conference just for the one sport.

Okay, but what about other leagues? Surely we could find something to be a part of. According to Shane Ray, manager of athletics and recreation services for RRC, the nearest available league is in the United States, so it becomes a matter of cost.

We would have to think about travel and accommodation costs, and for most college students, it’s just not possible.

RRC does offer a recreational league for both women and men to join every Tuesday. Those interested can visit http://blogs.rrc.ca/rebels/pro- grams-and-services/rec-hockey/.

Ray says he has entertained the thought of joining city-wide men’s and women’s recreational leagues, but there’s the problem of ice availability.

Booking ice in Winnipeg is expensive. Winnipeg.ca says adult prime time ice (Monday to Friday 4:30 p.m. – 10 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday 7 a.m. – 10 p.m.) should cost $282.50 per hour. During the adult non-prime time, the city suggests $221.15 per hour. That’s a lot of money if you want both women’s and men’s teams to be able to practice at least once per week.

It seems like having a Red River Rebels hockey team to cheer for is just not plausible at this time. But, I’m an optimist, so I’ll still hope for the best. Any of you readers interested in sponsoring our school to play Canada’s game?