Sport Manitoba – WINNIPEG, Manitoba – The inaugural Fleming Family Hockey Coach Scholarship will be presented at the first intermission of tonight’s Bisons Men’s Hockey Game in the Wayne Fleming Arena.  Jennifer has flown in from the west coast to make tonight’s presentation. 

The 2017 Fleming Family Hockey Coach Scholarship recipient is Bison men’s hockey team captain Brett Stovin. Stovin has demonstrated a commitment to coaching hockey in Manitoba.The $1,200 scholarship will be applied to his University of Manitoba tuition.

Only twenty-three years old, Stovin has already been coaching for eight years and completed his first two levels of the National Coaching Certification Program. This past summer he worked as the Head Hockey Coach for the University of Manitoba Mini U Programs and in the spring coached the Manitoba Beast AAA hockey team.  He has also coached the AAA Manitoba Colts.  His passion for hockey is also clear in other leadership roles including: refereeing, intramural supervising, and as a UMAC team rep.

The Manitoba Foundation for Sports scholarship program administered by Sport Manitoba announced a new scholarship this year. Jennifer Fleming created the Fleming Family Hockey Coach Scholarship, in memory of her father Jake Fleming and her brother Wayne Fleming, to recognize an upcoming Manitoba hockey coach who shows similar coaching and leadership traits that were characteristic of both Jake and Wayne.

“Teaching, coaching, and sharing the game of hockey was not only a passion for my Dad Jake and brother Wayne, it was ultimately their life’s work, pleasure and reward,” said Jennifer Fleming. “This scholarship is a way to carry forward their passion to the next generation of coaches.”   Jennifer has flown in from the West Coast to present the scholarship tonight. 

In 2013, the University of Manitoba renamed their arena the Wayne Fleming Arena, in honour of the former Bison’s men’s hockey coach who passed away that year from brain cancer. Fleming played four years for the Bison’s in the 1970s and was the team’s head coach for nine seasons in the 1980s. He went on to coach Team Canada in multiple Olympics as well as many NHL teams.  

About

Sport Manitoba is a not for profit organization and the lead planning, programming, and funding agency for the development of amateur sport in Manitoba. Located in the Canada Games Sport for Life Centre, Sport Manitoba partners with over 100 organizations to deliver sport in our province and is responsible for programs including the Manitoba Games, Coaching Manitoba, Team Manitoba, Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame, Fit Kids Healthy Kids, and KidSport. Services provided include the Sport Medicine Clinic, Performance Centre, Fitness Centre and Sport Resource Centre. 

The Manitoba Foundation for Sports Scholarship program administered by Sport Manitoba was established to support young athletes of Sport Manitoba partners, who continue to participate in amateur sport while pursuing a post-secondary education on a full-time basis. The Manitoba Foundation for Sports Scholarship Program was established in 1992.

Fleming Family Hockey Coach Scholarship: Wayne began his organized hockey career at the age of 13, launching the Fleming family’s obsession with hockey and the founding of the Canadian Professional Hockey Schools (CPHS) in 1966. CPHS was operated by Jake until 1991, and is still in operation today. Jake was also instrumental in getting the AAA tier system sanctioned in Winnipeg. Wayne helped coach Canada to a silver medal at the 1992 Olympics and was recognized as the glue of the 2002 Olympics Gold Medal team. Following the Olympics, Wayne joined the Philadelphia Flyers, going all the way to the 2004 Stanley Cup finals, and to the Stanley Cup Semi-Finals with the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2011. In 2013 Wayne was inducted into the Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame.

Brett Stovin: Stovin, is a captain for the first time, playing in his third season with Manitoba. In his second year, the 6’1″, 195 lbs. forward battled injuries and still tied for 19th in Canada West scoring and third on the team with 22 points in only 23 conference regular season games. The Stony Mountain, Manitoba native was also named to the 2015-16 Canada West All-Rookie Team.

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For more information:

https://www.sportmanitoba.ca/scholarships

Jaclyn Pauls 
Finance Officer
Sport Manitoba
204-799-7366 (cell)
Jaclyn.pauls@sportmanitoba.ca 
https://www.sportmanitoba.ca/scholarships

Tara Skibo
Communications/Public Relations Officer
Sport Manitoba
204-925-5735 (direct)
204-781-1438 (cell)
tara.skibo@sportmanitoba.ca
https://www.sportmanitoba.ca/scholarships