I spoke in my last article about the positive involvement of the Sportsplex Board of Directors, and specifically the Expansion Committee, in the ongoing efforts to create more recreation facilities at the Sportsplex. Recently, we took the opportunity to re-examine the project, especially in light of positive comments we’ve received from the province’s Office of Health Promotions regarding our Expansion Business Plan.

For sure, the second skating surface received their strong vote of confidence, and in fact, this surface will likely be as busy as our current facility as soon as it’s opened. As well, the walking track is a needed and welcomed facility that will be used by a wide demographic. The Community Room, which will be a wonderful asset to our facility and the community, was also the recipient of full support.

Our leaseable space was a concern, and the Board chose to exclude any thoughts of office space for the current plan, and perhaps bring it forward in a future phase. A decision was made that curling, after much discussion and sharing of information and opinion amongst the Board members, would also not be part of the Expansion Project. It was felt that, with waning curling interest on a provincial level (recently, two curling facilities closed and a third is in poor financial shape) and without measurable local support, it may be a financial drain on the entire facility. As we have always made a profit and never needed a government “bailout” for any operational financial shortage, the Board was cautious – wanting to be proper stewards of this facility on behalf of the community, they made this tough decision. Finally, the fitness component got a revamping and will take the form of a daily “user pay” facility with an attached studio room as opposed to a full-service co-ed fitness facility. The Board felt that this was a better fit for the type of clients that are attracted to the Sportsplex.

Speaking of a good fit, a “Kidzone” area will be a new component, again based on a daily user-pay scenario. The Board felt that this would be very well received by the parents of young families who would like to have one of their children in a safe and active environment while they participated in an activity or perhaps watched another of their children participate in something at the Sportsplex.

Finally, we are researching the inclusion of a soccer facility, and while we have a lot of information right now, we are a couple of weeks away from confirming anything definite regarding this – I’ll update you as soon as I can.

As you can see, we’re working diligently on your behalf to build the best facility possible for our community – it’s important to have a facility that will have a high level of use and support from the most people possible.

The Sportsplex have their PUBLIC SKATE opportunities up and running, with Wednesdays seeing the PARENT AND TOT SKATE (10am) and ADULT SKATE(11am), while Thursdays (3pm to 5pm) and Sundays (1pm to 3pm) are the PUBLIC SKATE TIMES. Come on out for a skate! Junior Penguins play on October 18 (vs. Sackville) and October 25 (vs. Brookfield), both at 7:30pm.

For more information, please e-mail ehsportsplex@ns.aliantzinc.ca or call 883-9906.  As well, visit our NEW IMPROVED webtsie at www.easthantssportsplex.ca.

The Sportsplex continues to be the most popular spot in East Hants, with ice rentals now starting seven days a week at the early hour of 6:00am (and hats off to all the players, parents and coaches who get up and attend these practices). Our events list for October includes 4 Junior Penguins games (Thursdays at 7:30pm) and the Minor Hockey Tournament on the Thanksgiving Day weekend. All our regular annual individual clients have begun their rentals, and the leagues are all up and running, too. Minor Hockey are again blessed with an Executive Committee that are working diligently on every minor hockey players behalf, and the several hundred players all come and go with a tight, well-administrated schedule that works virtually flawlessly. As always, I tip my hat to each organizer that I deal with who coordinates the details so that the majority of our users just have to show up and enjoy themselves.

Our own Board of Directors for the Sportsplex are also contributing to the positive flow of business at the Sportsplex, and President Steve Thompson has a group of 19 Board members that are keen to see the Sportsplex succeed on a day-to-day basis, as well as succeed with our Expansion Project. Tom Hunter, the Board member who chairs the EXPANSION COMMITTEE, has an energetic enthusiasm that is motivating everyone to do just a bit more to push our project to the next level and his efforts are paying off. The entire Expansion Committee is comprised of like-minded individuals who will stop at nothing to reach our goal of a wonderful recreation facility that will be used by our entire community. Just recently, we have received some encouraging news from the Province of Nova Scotia regarding funding, so we will be like a dog on a bone until we can be assured that the province agrees with the people of East Hants – this project deserves their financial support.

Our CURVES gym is celebrating five years of success in our community, and the Board and staff of the Sportsplex are anticipating their continued involvement with our facility. They have found a model for success that goes beyond the “franchise” model, and I congratulate Daina Hernden and her team for their accomplishments.

This next piece troubles me to write it, but I want to share it with you. I know that we are all proud of our current facility, and the significant majority of our users take pains to keep it in great shape. There are always exceptions to this, and one group recently left a dressing room in such a disgusting state, I was embarrassed to ask one of our staff to deal with it. I’ll use this as an opportunity to thank everyone for doing their best to have our community facility looking its best, and hopefully the small minority of people who abuse the facility will take an example of your efforts and eliminate their poor behavior. Hopefully, that’s enough said about that.

Please remember to thank any volunteer that’s helping you and members of your family enjoy a recreational opportunity at the Sportsplex. Without them, it wouldn’t be possible.

For more information, please e-mail ehsportsplex@ns.aliantzinc.ca or call 883-9906.  As well, visit our NEW IMPROVED webtsie at www.easthantssportsplex.ca.

The EAST HANTS SPORTSPLEX would like to say THANK YOU to our many sponsors, organizations and individuals for their generous contributions of time, prizes and resources to help make our 4^TH ANNUAL GOLF FUNDRAISER the wonderful success it was. In total, this golf event over the last four years has raised many thousands of dollars that will help with our highly anticipated EXPANSION of the Sportsplex.

TEAM SPONSORS

CIBC WOOD-GUNDY (Tom Hunter)

ALIANT #1

SHAW GROUP

HFX. INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT AUTHORITY

CENTURY 21 (Tim Isenor)

BEAVER DAM ENTERPRISES

HERITAGE CREDIT UNION

MILLER WASTE

PHARMASAVE

THE WEEKLY PRESS

THE LINKS AT PENN HILLS

SCOTIABANK

MOLSON HOCKEY LEAGUE

ALIANT #2

BLUEWAVE ENERGY

CRAWFORD ADJUSTERS

CALDWELL-ROACH INSURANCE

EAST HANTS JUNIOR PENGUINS

TIM HORTON’S – ELMSDALE

ROYAL BANK – ELMSDALE

GENT’S HOCKEY LEAGUE

ACCOMPLISHED FINANCIAL SOLUTIONS

ENFIELD RENTALS

ALIANT #3

EASTLINK

HAPPY HARRY’S BUILDING CENTRE

CORPORATE SPONSORS

A.P. REID

E-COMMERCE SOLUTIONS

SUPPORTERS

KEL-GREG ENTERPRISES

PRO-CRESTING

CURLY PORTABLES

HOLE-IN-ONE SPONSORS

EAST HANTS SPORTSPLEX ($10,000)

CALDWELL-ROACH INSURANCE ($10,000)

PINE GROVE ELECTRIC ($10,000)

PRIZES DONATED BY JACK ROSS (RACING AROUND), THE EAST HANTS SPORTSPLEX, THE LINKS AT PENN HILLS, A.P. REID, SOBEY’S, HERITAGE CREDIT UNION, O’REGAN’S TOYOTA

For more information, please e-mail ehsportsplex@ns.aliantzinc.ca or call 883-9906.  As well, visit our NEW IMPROVED webtsie at www.easthantssportsplex.ca.

The East Hants Sportsplex is up and running with another hectic season ahead. We’re currently in the middle of the annual RCI Hockey School and next week will be the venue for the annual MacWilliams Power Skating School. Already, we’ve had a Goaltending School at the Sportsplex as well as a Junior “A” exhibition hockey game between the Halifax Wolverines and the Yarmouth Mariners. The East Hants Minor Hockey Association is off and running and have many hours booked in September for “tryouts/evaluations”, and they start their regular bookings in October. Beginning on September 10, the East Hants Skating Club have their figure skating lessons, and on September 17, they start their ”learn-to-skate” program. Our Pharmasave Junior Penguins have a slate of exhibition games on September 21,22 and 23, so stay tuned for more details on this. The Junior Penguins have their first regular season home game on Thursday, September 27. All our regular clients start their seasons off at various times over the next few weeks, so all in all, the Sportsplex is rockin’.

We are proud to display two new ice logos at the Sportsplex, one representing the East Hants Minor Hockey Association and one representing the East Hants Pharmasave Junior Penguins. Both organizations represent our community far and wide and we are pleased to see their logos on the ice.

In the midst of all this on-ice action, the 4^th Annual East Hants Sportsplex Golf Fundraiser is slated to happen on Thursday, September 13, 2007 at The Links at Penn Hills (1:00pm shotgun start). At present, we have a couple of opportunities for teams to join in, and please call me (883-9906) if you would like to put in a team. This is a great event for local businesses and has been a very successful event the last three years. The revenue generated by the Sportsplex with this event goes straight into our Expansion fund, so your involvement has a very positive effect on the community’s future.

Aside from the events of the Sportsplex, we’re also diligently working on our Expansion project. This project, as I’ve mentioned before, takes a lot of patient focus, and we’re confident that we are moving in a positive direction. Some day soon, we are optimistic that we will have further positive news to share with our community.

We’ve done some painting, some repairing, some maintenance of the Sportsplex over the summer, some of which is obvious and much of it less obvious but important just the same. Our ice plant and Zamboni receive some much-needed care over the summer to better ensure their flawless operation during our fully-booked season. As always, Karl Schermerhorn, our Chief Operator, takes this responsibility seriously, and he is optimistic for another season with minimal ice rental disruptions because of any equipment failure.

So, here we go with another jam-packed year of fun. WELCOME BACK!

For more information, please e-mail ehsportsplex@ns.aliantzinc.ca or call 883-9906.  As well, visit our NEW IMPROVED webtsie at www.easthantssportsplex.ca.