Pilot Mound academy adding female midget program

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This article was published 21/02/2017 (3334 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It’s onward and upward for the Pilot Mound Hockey Academy as the two-year-old institution prepares to expand what it offers.

Rod Collins, one of the academy’s owners and head coach of the midget boys’ team, said the PMHA is adding a female midget program next season.

“I thought there was a need in rural Manitoba for a girls’ program where these girls are going to get lots of ice time, lots of coaching, a good education and exposure to what I call the college commitments or even the national programs,” he said.

Collins said the idea for the girls’ program came pretty quickly in the first season in 2014-15. In Manitoba, he said there are currently two girls’ programs, St. Mary’s Academy and Balmoral Hall in Winnipeg.

The PMHA has advertised for a girls’ coach, and Collins said they had a number of really good applicants. Collins will oversee the coaching of that team as well, with his daughter Delaney involved to some extent.

Delaney Collins is a former longtime member of the Canadian women’s national team who has been involved as a coach with Hockey Canada working with the under-18 and development national teams.

After the first year of operation at the academy, Rod Collins and a group of four others bought out original owner Fred Voser, putting the corporation in local hands.

Pilot Mound, which is 149 kilometres southeast of Brandon on Highway 3, does have one issue. The town of 627 residents has to billet players, and with more teenagers coming, Collins and his partners have been forced to think big, especially because adding another boys’ team is also on the horizon.

“We’re looking at bringing in housing units from Alberta that were originally on oil sites,” he said. “They contain full housing units, with washrooms, dining and lounge areas, study areas for players. We’ve committed to doing that.”

The midget program is in its second year, and plays in the Canadian Sport School Hockey League. The Buffaloes sit in first place in the 10-team midget varsity division with a record of 21-3-0.

The Buffaloes midget team has another weekend of games in Calgary in March, with the playoffs in Penticton in mid-March.

“It’s going pretty well for us,” Collins said. “When you’re having success, recruiting is easier.”

The division also includes Pursuit (Kelowna), Okanagan (Penticton, B.C.), Shawnigan Black (B.C.), Coeur d’Alene (Idaho), Edge (Winnipeg), Delta (B.C.), Shawnigan Gold, Banff and the International Hockey Academy (Calgary).

The CSSHL also runs bantam prep, bantam varsity, elite 15s, female prep, female varsity and midget prep leagues for schools across Western Canada and the northern U.S.

The Buffaloes, which include 17 skaters and three goalies, have several players from northern Manitoba and three Americans. The Westman players on the roster are Ben Hilhorst of Killarney, Tanner Kempthorne of Souris, Reginald Pohl of Douglas and Tyler Bateman of Hartney.

For Collins, who spent years coaching at top programs with Shattuck St. Mary’s in Minnesota and Notre Dame in Saskatchewan, it’s all about the students and supporting his hometown of Pilot Mound.

“The community is always hugely supportive of our program,” Collins said. “There is economic spinoff in town of course and it keeps the arena busy as well. We have good support locally, and the fact of bringing in another team creates more opportunity around town. I think it’s a great thing.”

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