Clutching his first “proper” hockey stick with wide eyes and a broad grin to match, Samuel Rancourt is one very excited seven-year-old boy and he’s showing everyone what he’s going to do the second he hits the ice.
He “thinks” he likes the Canucks, he believes his mom supports Edmonton, while his Quebec-native dad, Sylvain, is pretty sure he’s a Habs fan.
Samuel said he “wants to be a goalie,” but his dad would prefer him to be a defenceman, however he’s OK with whatever his son chooses.
It doesn’t matter really to the Thomas Kidd elementary student.
What matters is that Samuel will soon be on the ice, decked from head to toe in brand new gear and getting coached by the Richmond Minor Hockey Association as part of Hockey Canada’s barrier-removing First Shift program.
Without the six-week program — the first of its kind in the Lower Mainland, which is open to six to 10-year-olds who’ve never enrolled in a hockey program before — it’s unlikely kids such as Samuel would be lacing up so young.
But for less than $200, the Ironwood kid, who got kitted out Sunday at Kingswood elementary along with 44 other youngsters, will take to the ice Nov. 7 for the first of the half dozen, 75-minute coaching sessions.
“We were thinking about it, but the kit is expensive,” Rancourt said, when asked if he would ordinarily have enrolled his son in a hockey program if First Shift wasn’t available.
“There are many things to think about and the kit is one of the decisions, so this took that barrier away.”
As the participating families milled around from station to station, gradually filling their giant, new hockey bags, the smiles on the faces of both the kids and their parents told the story.
Barriers were being lifted and entry points into the sport of hockey were being created for people from all walks of life and all shapes and sizes.
In a bid to get one million new families into the country’s favourite pastime over the next 10 years, Hockey Canada, in formulating First Shift, identified four major barriers that needed to be lowered: Cost; safety; time and fun. John Tansey said it would be doubtful his son, Joshua, 8, would be in a hockey program if it wasn’t for First Shift.
“Probably not, as he’d be going into an environment that people are already skating and have played before usually. But he’s watched his brother (Ethan, 11) playing for a few years now and he’s ready to play,” said Tansey, whose kids go to Thompson elementary.
“Ethan started in house and he’s now in rep hockey, so it shows what you can do.
“My wife (Ira) heard about (First Shift) on TV. She’s never been that keen on putting Josh into hockey, but she liked the sound of it because they were taking care of the kids.
“The cost is a barrier for sure, especially if you’re not totally sure he’ll like it.
“It’s an awful lot of money to pay out on equipment to find out he doesn’t want to play after a few weeks.”
Dean Worrall, who lived in Richmond until last month, was at the First Shift equipment fitting with one of his girlfriend’s three Ladner-based kids, Kirk Barrett, age six, who was so excited, he didn’t even sleep Saturday night.
“We stumbled onto the program during the skating lessons here in Richmond,” said Worrall.
“He’s going to be growing so much, so fast, so it’s a problem having to spend so much money on equipment. And my girlfriend has three kids, with one income, so it’s tough.
“Plus, there’s too much pressure in the game, so this (lower cost) takes some of that away, both for the parent and the kid.”
Meanwhile, Wendy and Brad Martens decided the program was a good fit for their eight-year-old son, Linden, a Richmond Christian School student, who plays a ton of road hockey.
“I’m always concerned about the aggresiveness,” said Wendy. “Whereas this program really focuses on the fundamentals.”
Linden supports the Habs, apparently, but he also cheered for Boston when they were playing the Canucks in the 2011 Stanley Cup Final. “He tends to go against the grain, frequently supporting the other team,” added his mom. His dad is a Canucks fan, by the way.
Richmond Minor Hockey’s responsibilities lie with providing the ice time and the coaching, said its president, Carolyn Hart, who’s already asked Hockey Canada if her association can run another First Shift as soon as possible.
“It’s perfect for our community as there are so many families in Richmond who don’t have a background in hockey, but the children are keen to play,” said Hart, amid the excitement on Sunday.
“It’s daunting, even to know what to get and how to dress your kid. To get some assistance with that, it lifts another barrier, as well as the help with the cost.”
They can keep all the equipment when the six weeks are up, said Hart, although the hope is the kids stick with the sport and the association is currently tailoring a program to allow the young players an entry point into a season that’s already underway.
“They will learn how to skate, or skate better, stick handling, all the fundamentals,” explained Hart.
“We want them to eventually join teams, so we will have a program ready for them to slip into if they want.”
