It's the first of it's kind in Manitoba, and offers a way for hockey players to remain in the province to take their hockey skills to the next level. The Pilot Mound Hockey Academy (PMHA) is in its first season is looking forward to many more.

"The community of Pilot Mound has been great. The billets and the school are all working with us. That's all set and working great," explained coach Rod Collins. "It's good for the community. They are giving back, and we are giving to them. We have a beautiful facility to work with here."

Having this type of program in the community of Pilot Mound helps in many ways. Whether it be by getting more students enrolled in the Pilot Mound school, boosting the economy with more people come to watch the team and spend money within the community, or even getting the town of Pilot Mound more on the map within the province.

According to Collins the team is comprised of players from Manitoba, the United States, and Europe. "We have two from the United States, and three from Europe. Recruiting has been tough, and it always is in your first year. We still have a position or two open in our program. We've run into some injuries early here too, so that's affected our lineup to. We just the okay to play our European's this week, so they haven't been part of our team so to speak. We hope to get more Manitoba kids involved in this down the road."

Collins noted he's coached at such schools like Shattuck St. Mary's, and Notre Dame, which have a similar format to what this academy will have.

"So many kids leave the province to go to those programs, and we want to offer it right here," said Collins. "I am a former Manitoban. I'm from Pilot Mound originally. We want to offer it to Manitoba kids that would be thinking of moving out of the province to get that on ice training, and development that is necessary to move on."

This year the PMHA is only offering a boys midget hockey program, but in the future Collins alluded to starting up a Bantam team or girls program.

The cost of the program for a Manitoba resident is roughly $26,000, and that will cover everything for the year. Meanwhile, a out of province or out of country player will cost more due to having to enrolled the student in a Manitoba school.

"Yeah, its been a struggle recruiting, and getting everything in place, and it takes a lot of work," said Collins. "We have a good bunch of kids here. We are pleased with that. We will just continue to work, and I can guarantee you that by Christmas we will be a much better team."