The Fernie Alpine Ski Team and the Ghostriders Hockey Club are receiving community gaming grants, along with four other clubs from the East Kootenay area.
The Alpine Ski team was awarded $21,500 while the Ghostriders received $15,000 to help cover the cost of operations and attract new people to the sports.
The president of the Fernie Alpine Ski Team Steven Koles says that the funding is a help to the team. “It’s the first year for us on this specific grant program so we are pretty excited about being able to leverage it for our coaches and paying off worker’s wages as well as development costs,” he said.
Both teams said they intend to use the grant money for operational purposes.
“It’s primarily to assist us with operational costs,” said Barb Anderson, president on the Ghostriders. She continued by saying that most of the money will go to transportation costs.
The Cranbrook Community Theatre Society, the Symphony of the Kootenay Association, the Kimberley Alpine Team Society and the Special Olympics Society for the Kimberley-Cranbrook area also received funding, amounting to a total of $82,325 for the area.
All funds were awarded through B.C.’s Community Gaming Grants program. For more information on the grants and how to apply, visit pssg.gov.bc.ca/gaming.