The Outdoor Hockey League (OHL) is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. From its humble beginnings in a Regina classroom to a league which is now spread across Saskatchewan, the OHL allows all youth the opportunity to play hockey by removing the financial barriers.
Over the next several weeks we will be highlighting stories from volunteers, former players, and the media over the past 20 years. Please tune in weekly for a little piece of hockey history.
Catching up with Russ
We caught up with Outdoor Hockey League (OHL) and Dress a Champion founder Russ Matthews at Grassick Park, the first rink in the OHL.
Russ and his Ranch Ehrlo students at Coronation Park School helped create the Dress a Champion program and the OHL as part of a school project.
Back in the early 90’s when Russ started the league it was the school kids who did the promotion to generate equipment donations, bring in sponsors, and attract players from local schools.
“Back then there was this thing called common essential learnings where your math lesson relates to your language arts lessons which relates to your social lesson. We used hockey as a common project – in gym we could play hockey, social studies we could talk about poverty and crime, and in art we would draw the posters,” explained Russ.
Once the class had all the equipment collected they would work on polishing skates and mending damaged gear. They would then approach local schools and the students would talk to the principal to promote the hockey league.
The class decided to create the first outdoor hockey rink at Grassick Park in inner-city Regina because at the time, the area had the highest crime rate of all of Canada.
The OHL provides recreational opportunities for kids who miss out on playing hockey due to poverty or other barriers that limit access to organized sports. It provides equipment free-of-charge and an organized weekly hockey games. But the league was also created to strengthen communities.
“We started it right here at Grassick Park because we wanted to bring this program to kids who had the least opportunity to play hockey.”
Russ added, “The whole idea behind the Outdoor Hockey League is to empower the community to take ownership. We wanted to bring the park alive in the community and have it as a hub for people to network. We like to say that when you give a kid a hockey stick you aren’t giving him a hand out you are giving him a tool to make him stronger physically and cognitively. You are building his pride, giving his family something to bond over, and you are making the community stronger.”
Soon after the Grassick Park rink was up and running a member of the Core Richie neighborhood also wanted to start an outdoor league as well. Soon after, the Cathedral neighborhood rink wanted to join the league. The league eventually spread to seven zones in inner-city Regina with teams for atom (12 and under) and bantam (12 to 16) players. Over 350 kids were given the chance to play organized hockey.
“It just snowballed and everyone wanted to be a part of it; the city, including Mayor Fiacco and the people that flooded the rinks, the corporate community, sporting good stores, other rinks, and community volunteers,” Russ stated.
Russ has moved on from Ranch Ehrlo and is now a teaching at Standing Buffalo School. You can still find him hanging around the OHL rinks during the winter and he is still a firm believer on using community activities to bring a community together.
“I’m really proud that the OHL has carried on. It’s a great program for communities, run by communities and just as hockey is part of being Canadian the OHL has become a fabric of the inner-city.”
We are now accepting registrations for the 2012-2013 season . Click here
2012-13 Regina OHL locations, dates, and times: Click here
