A Winnipeg parent is pushing to change the way a local rec centre leases its ice time.
Matt Betker has coached youth hockey in the city’s River East area for years. In 2022, he launched his own not-for-profit hockey camp that runs between May and August at the Gateway Recreation Centre. But when he tried to book ice time this year, he didn’t have much luck.
“There definitely was ice on the weekends at undesirable times, which don’t usually work for families,” he said.
From September to April, Gateway follows the allocation policy outlined by the City of Winnipeg, which prioritizes prime time ice—Monday to Thursday evenings—for community youth programs. However, in the off-season, the policy doesn’t apply.
“It’s up to us to decide if we want to be open or not,” said Denis Van Laeken, the rec centre’s general manager.
To help keep the lights on, Gateway shifts to a business model that prioritizes bigger user groups or camps that tend to book a lot of “desirable” ice time.
Van Laeken said the expenses to run the facility year-round rack up to nearly $2 million—that includes utilities as well as full-time and seasonal staff salaries.
“If it wasn’t for big groups coming in, we probably would not be able to open in the summer,” said Van Laeken.
But Betker said when the big groups come in, the smaller groups feel shut out.
“There are really no safeguards to stopping those higher-priority people from just grabbing all the ice,” he said.
The problem prompted Betker to start a petition and push for a change in procedure.
“I just think right now the procedures are way too weighted towards a business lens,” he said. “And not even really considering what the community needs.
“And that’s where I think the majority of the frustration comes from.”
Betker said he drafted a proposal for a new procedure that’s set to go before the rec centre’s president and board next week.
CTV News spoke with Excessive Speed, one of the largest and longest-running camps at Gateway. The training camp’s CEO confirmed the bookings made are standard procedure and that they use all the ice time allocated to them.
“I’m not fighting with another camp,” Betker emphasized. “We’re going to make that clear. I just think those procedures are outdated, and they need to change.”
Van Laeken said since the policies were put in place 20 years ago, the rec centre has received minimal complaints. However, he said it’s up to the board to decide whether to implement Betker’s proposed changes.
Area city councillor Jeff Browaty told CTV News he’s working on a long-term solution for smaller community camps, though they may have to wait until the next off-season.
