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Rinkbuddies hosts first event

By Jon Weisbrod, 11/14/13, 1:45PM CST

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Posted: Tuesday, November 12, 2013 9:22 pm | Updated: 11:33 pm, Tue Nov 12, 2013.

With the smell of pasta sauce and garlic wafting in the air, Owatonna Girls Hockey Association board member Lisa Lehrer stood next to thick glass window overseeing a small rink in the upper reaches of the Four Seasons Centre.

In front of her were dozens of hockey players of all ages enjoying an informal dinner at the conclusion of the first ever Rinkbuddies event Tuesday evening.

In that moment, Lehrer couldn’t help but get a little emotional. This was exactly what she had envisioned when she presented the idea to the board for a community girls hockey mentor program last year.

“Well, I feel like I’m going to get choked up,” Lehrer said with a smile. “Tonight went great. We weren’t sure how long it was going to take to do the matching part of it and we sort of quickly went through that and ended up having all this time and we thought: Well, let’s just let them skate around.’ That ended up being a lot of fun.”

The Rink Buddies program is an organized initiative backed by the OGHA to foster a sense of excitement amongst a younger generation of girls hockey players in the Owatonna community. Older players are paired with girls at various age levels and a mentor relationship is established.

“We have varsity girls paired with 12U girls and together they mentor Park and Rec girls,” Lehrer said. “My perspective is you give and receive at the same time. And I want the girls to know how much they will benefit from the gift of their time and energy. And I really feel like they are going to find out they are going to love it. As far as the younger girls, I hope they aspire to be leaders themselves because that’s what we want them to ultimately become.”

Tuesday marked the first event of the program that will also include a “spotlight night” and a community service event.

Coordinated by Owatonna coach Tim Hunst, girls hockey players from every age level hit the ice for one hour Tuesday and took part in games and casual drills geared more toward player interaction and less toward skill development.

The second planned event supported by the Rinkbuddies will come during the varsity season when the younger age levels will have a chance to see up close what they can expect when they someday reach the varsity level. The players will have a chance to go into the locker room before the game, stand with the Huskies during the National Anthem and sit in a reserved cheering section.

“That’s a fun thing so we can get the younger ones to see how things are at the highest level and say, 'Oh wow, they have a cool locker room and stuff like that,’” Lehrer said. “We hope to get them excited about playing hockey; something to aspire to when they get older.”

The Rinkbuddies, which is currently in the planning stages of their community service project, was Lehrer’s idea. Serving as a host family for members of Owatonna’s junior hockey teams for years, Lehrer saw firsthand just how influential older players are to the younger generation.

“I saw how my kids interacting with these players and how much they looked up to them,” she said. “So I had this idea and then I presented it to (OGHA president) Sheila Sawyer and she said we should go for it.”

Teaming up with Sawyer and fellow board member Julie Rethemeier, the three utilized their various skills and got the ball rolling.

“Julie is involved in the Big Brothers, Big Sisters through Federated Insurance so she was my go-to person for policies and procedures,” Lehrer said. “You have to make sure that it’s safe and everything like that. I’m also a graphic designer so I sort of took care of the flyers and the logo.”

According to Lehrer, without the aid of primary sponsor Cole's Electric and the backing of Hunst, the program never would have gotten off the ground.

“(Hunst) has really put his money where his mouth is,” Lehrer said. “He’s has gone beyond just saying that he supports it. He has agreed to let the mentors meet with the mentees at least once a week and take time away from practice to do so. Also, the mentors will attend at least two games and practices of the younger girls.”