Sport for Life Centre- bright, shiny, large and new
the staff is the same, so everything is just automatically better. It’ s unbelievable. There is a lot of space and with all the elite athletes coming all the time, I love it. It’ s a great place to work out.”
It was certainly a great place for Brendan Shinnimin this past summer. Shinnimin spent the 2016-17 season with Astana Barys in the Kontinental Hockey League and will head back to the second best hockey league in the world this fall. The Canada Games Sport for Life Centre was the perfect place for Shinnimin to prepare.
“ This place is amazing,” Shinnimin said.“ Everyone around here has been talking about it for the last couple of years and now that it’ s here it’ s turned out to be exactly as advertised. It’ s perfect for me.”
While the training areas in the Canada Games Sport for Life Centre are now bright, shiny, large and new, the two most important aspects of the place are the staff team and the training environment / culture.
When athletes get to the Centre, they will be guided by the best training staff in the province:
Adam Decker is the Senior Manager of Athlete Development for Sport Manitoba. He’ s been working at the Sport for Life Centre for more than six years as the lead in athlete development for all of Manitoba’ s Provincial teams.
Jeff Wood is a Sports Performance Specialist at the Performance Centre with more than 20 years of athlete training experience. Along the way he has supported several NHL players in their rise to the pro ranks including Jonathan Toews, Travis Zajac, Travis Hamonic, JP Vigier and recent 2nd overall draft pick of the Philadelphia Flyers Nolan Patrick.
Neal Prokop is a Sports Performance Specialist. After playing five years in the Western Hockey League. Neal went on to McGill University to play for their CIS team while completing his Master’ s degree in Exercise Science. Neal is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist with a keen eye for developing hockey players.
Regional Training Centres Sport Manitoba also has three regional training centres around the province led by Brittany Bruinooge( West), Jacqueline Mazur( East) and Jordan Koroll( North), giving The Sport for Life Centre a province-wide reach to help athletes develop their athleticism and improve their performance at an elite level. Manitobans witnessed this improved performance at Winnipeg’ s recent 2017 Canada Summer Games as Manitoba broke its medal record set in the 2013 games. With the new Centre as a legacy of the Games, Manitoba’ s future will only get brighter on the national and international levels.
“ The Sport for Life Performance Centre offers truly elite-level services-- services that few other facilities in the country can offer their athletes,” said Decker.“ Our athletes receive on- and off-ice training and testing, skill development with J. P. Vigier( Pro Group), Jeff Wood and Kyle Hampton, goalie development with Terry Patrick, customized meal plans, complete sport medicine assessments, sport psychology sessions, and individualized monthly training programs.
“ Our training group includes a fantastic mix of junior players, up-and-coming professionals and seasoned professionals from North America and Europe.”
The High Performance Hockey Program, which is held on-ice at Dakota Arena, East End Arena and Seven Oaks Sportsplex, is split into five groups: Professional, Junior / College( WHL), Elite Female( National / College / AAA), Midget AAA and Bantam AAA. Each athlete in these groups will
The Pro Group( standing from left to right) Adam Brooks, Brendan Shinnimin, Chase Harrison, Ryan Kubic, trainer Jeff Wood, Adam Hughesman and Kruz Listmayer. Seated, Bailey Bram