Every season, the Whitney Forum hosts up to 40 Bomber home games a year. Those games don’t take place without the effort of several dedicated volunteers who take on key responsibilities with the club.
Fans and volunteers do everything on game day from taking tickets to working as security guards, from selling 50/50 tickets and souvenirs to working on the arena’s sound and public address system.
Anyone who has bought 50/50 tickets at the Forum in recent years has almost certainly come across the Bombers’ game day manager, Tanya Benoit. Benoit started volunteering, in an official capacity, with the team in 2013 - she said next season marks the 10 year mark for her time with the Bombers. Eight of those years were spent as the team’s marketing coordinator, while almost that entire time has included Benoit as the Bombers’ game day go-to volunteer.
“I have been the public representative, where I used to take players out and into businesses and to meet all the corporate sponsors,” she said.
“One of my favourite things I've ever done with the organization is bringing the players in to meet the sponsors, the response you get from the community and the people of Flin Flon when the players come in in their jerseys and shaking hands. It always brought me so much joy because all of the owners and managers and staff would come out to greet the guys and have conversations with them.”
Benoit has served in several other posts with the team, including a spell as president of the team’s board. On game days these days, Benoit is most often seen doing laps of the rink, selling tickets on the team’s 50/50 draws - during their recent playoff run, those 50/50s would soar well into the tens of thousands of dollars, including over $25,000 for the team’s final home game.
“It's the hockey, it's the environment. It's the Whitney Forum. How do you not become addicted to wanting to help? It's such an atmosphere,” she said.
“I have gotten addicted to helping out with game day now because it's so much fun.”
Over in the souvenir booth most nights sits Janice Slipp, who also serves as the team’s treasurer. Slipp and her family moved to Flin Flon from Alberta after her son Connor made the Bombers and she’s been involved with the club in some way ever since, volunteering for the past four years.
“My kids have grown up playing the game, so I've always helped out when I can,” she said.
“Someone did all of this stuff so my kid could play. Now, I do it so someone else's kid could play.”
While Slipp may not have grown up watching the Bombers, the team’s place in the community and the need to have people help out were things she gravitated to immediately.
“The Bombers are such a big part of the community and I think if you’re interested in hockey and the community itself, it’s a good thing to do,” she said.
“It's a lot of work. The games don't just happen.”
Connor Brading serves during games as the Bombers’ public address announcer, a job he started in earnest this season. Brading has been volunteering for over a decade, going from being a Grade 6 student making a few bucks by opening and closing penalty box doors to operating the clock and doing other duties.
“It’s more about making sure the game day is ready,” Brading said.
“I love hockey, and obviously being from Flin Flon, the Bombers really stuck out to me. Ever since I started volunteering, it kind of made me feel like I was part of the Bombers - just the love of hockey, getting a front row seat - it all just made sense.”
The volunteer spirit is part of a larger theme with Brading, who hopes to become an elementary school teacher and currently works at Ecole McIsaac School.
“I've always enjoyed helping people and putting smiles on faces, making people's lives and jobs easier. It's always been something I want to do - I want to help people,” he said.
“I think when you're volunteering, you get a different perspective - like you're not doing it for money, as most people would probably want to do it for money. For volunteering, you get a different perspective of how the railroad real world works. It's just something that I don't mind doing. I love doing it.”
The team also has a habit of taking care of the people who take care of them. When Benoit’s father, Kevin Nash, died earlier this year, Bomber fans and the organization itself came to her and her family, showing support and paying tribute.
“It was always rewarding for me, even though I was working my ass off, watching him enjoying the games and clapping and cheering and being a part of the things that he loved,” she said.
“The generosity of the fans and the community.. They knew. It really it makes you swell, like your heart just gets overwhelmed.”
The Bombers are always on the lookout for new volunteers to assist in the community and on game days. People interested can reach out to members of the team’s board or existing volunteers to get started.
