Brookings girls' hockey coaches Noelle Needham (left) and Ashley Munsterman get Legend Sports Institute under way with a girls' hockey camp and an all-sports coaching seminar.

What started as a vision has become reality as of 8:30 a.m. Wednesday.

Brookings girls' hockey coaches Noelle Needham and Ashley Munsterman have incorporated their successful coaching philosophy, along with their belief that the region's athletes should have every opportunity to advance to the next level, to start Legend Sports Institute.

Their first endeavor, a girls' hockey camp stacked with an all-star lineup of coaches, hit the ice this morning for a four-day stint at the Larson Ice Center.

It culminates on Saturday with a six-hour all-sports coaching seminar at the Shamrock with another allstar lineup of speakers, including former NHL players /coaches J.P. Parise and Rick St. Croix and SDSU football coach John Stiegelmeier.

"( The hockey camp) started out as an elite camp and we had so much interest from beginner and intermediate players, that we added another session," said Munsterman. "We have about 60 girls coming , from six states and Canada."

The coaching staff includes St. Croix; Kerri (Wallace) Muir, an eight-year veteran of Team Canada; Minnesota State defenseman Holly Snyder, a member of the WCHA All-Rookie team in her freshman season; the Weyburn Red Wings' (Junior A) Nick Needham and Catherine Porter, a figure skating coach with the highest ISF certification . Brookings girls' coach Needham, Acceleration's Dave Smith and the Powershop Gym's Eric Peterson will join that staff in their respective specialties.

But this is only the beginning for Legend Sports Institute.

Needham and Munsterman are looking into the future - a future that they hope includes a facility that could include space for all sports activities.

"We want to continue to branch out and bring in proand Division I-level camps (into Brookings) for soccer, football, baseball," Needham said. "Our overall vision is to have a facility, with state-ofthe-art technology which allows them to stay here and fulfill any aspirations they may have of going on (to the D-I or pro level)."

Munsterman concurred, with an addition.

"The whole concept of it's more than just a sport - we will include personal and leadership development, which includes character and integrity building and goal setting," she said. "That will include the mental aspects of the game as well."

"Sports are a great way to reach kids and we want to plant the seed - get them thinking about where they are going to be in five years - and get them thinking that they can do this; they can accomplish their dreams," Needham said.

Just looking at this week's beginning, Legend Sports Institute is well on its way to accomplishing its vision.

For the complete article see the 07-22-2009 issue.

Click here to purchase an electronic version of the 07-22-2009 paper.