(Our speaker, Dan Giachino, Head Coach, Ojibwa Eagles Midget Hockey Team.)HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!
The 19 members and 1 guest who attended the meeting were rewarded with a very interesting program by guest Dan Giachino, Head Coach of the Ojibwa Eagles hockey team, and a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner by the Lisa and Elaine of the Irish Times.
At the outset of the meeting, Kevin announced that next week is our business meeting during which we will induct new member Susan Hallwachs of Hearing Applications, L.L.C. Next he passed around a sign-up sheet for our December 5, 9 a.m.-4 p.m., bell ringing assignments. It is always nice to have two members ringing the bell at each hour, especially in these tough economic times. Please don't let the Salvation Army down. Finally, he reminded everyone about the Christmas dinner on December 17.
After lunch, Dan took the floor with a nice presentation about the Midget team, Ojibwa Eagles. He pointed out that the casino was the first major sponsor of the team wherefore its name. Though they are no longer sponsors, the board decided to keep the name because of brand recognition.
The team is composed of 20 members, age 15-19, who pay $4,500 to play for the team. They start on Labor Day and finish their schedule in March and play a total of about 60 games during their season including about ten tournaments. Since all team members are students, they must maintain a 2.5 GPA to stay eligible. All practices, workouts, and classwork as well as homework assignments are conducted during the week (though occasionally there is homework being done on the bus as they travel to a tournament) and the games are played on the weekends. This year's squad is composed of 8 local boys and 12 from far afield such as Seattle and California. A 8-9 member board manages the team and its traveling bus.
Coach explained that his primary goals are to 1) get the boys ready to go to the next leve;l if they so choose, and 2) to develop their hockey skills. Winning is important, he says he tells the team, but for him personally it is player development that he is most proud of.
Througn six seasons, there have been 84 different young men that have called themselves Ojibwa Eagles. Out of those, 33 players have moved on to a higher level of hockey, about a 40% success rate. Higher levels include NCAA Division I (such as MTU), NCAA Division III (such as Finlandia), ACHA Club Hockey, and Junior A where they can play through the age of 20.
Following his presentation, Dan answered myriad questions. For more information including sponsorship opportunities, see the Eagles website at www.ojibwaeagles.com.
Your editor will be gone for a couple of weeks so I'll next see you at the Christmas Dinner. Since I won't be here next week, I have posted a picture of our new member-to-be, Susan Hallwachs, who will be inducted next week, December 3.
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