OneGoal Holds Market Blitzes for 2009-2010 Season

OneGoal selected two markets to help promote the growth of youth hockey. Fresh off the heels of last season’s successful blitzes in Connecticut and Illinois, OneGoal chose Massachusetts and California as this season’s partners.

Market blitzes are conducted by hosting state-wide “Try Hockey for Free” clinics with the goal of inviting potential new players and their parents to the rink. The events in Massachusetts and California will see over 500 new players come out and try youth hockey. For more information on how you can host a similar event to grow your association, please click here (pdf).

Hockey Weekend Across America Presents Try Hockey For Free!

Hockey Weekend Across America has been a big success as a national platform to celebrate the game. In 2010, the event will have a stronger focus on growing the game.

USA Hockey is seeking at least 200 rinks offering a free trial of hockey on Saturday, Jan. 30. All hosting rinks are required to hold the free trial at a consistent time of 11 a.m. – 12 p.m. local time. The final goal is to get as many first-time players on the ice and later transition them to each host site’s full-time programs. For more information, please click here (pdf). For more information about Hockey Weekend Across America, please click here.

Growing the Game During Times of Economic Difficulties

It doesn’t take an economist to see what the next few years of overall economic downturn will do to the hockey industry. The sport is expensive to play and while beer leaguers can hang on to the same shoulder pads for a little longer, kids don’t have that luxury – they grow, pretty much from season to season.

So what’s the solution? Give it away.

Not all of it, of course, but the industry needs to create a new supply of players in North America. The rate of people taking to the ice in Wilcox, Sask., or Roseau, Minn., isn’t going to change; it’s New York City or downtown Toronto where things can grow and, fortunately, the foundation is there.

One initiative, supported by the NHL, NHLPA and major companies in the industry, is the OneGoal grassroots movement. The premise here is to get more kids playing hockey by offering them low-cost opportunities to try on the gear, get out on the ice and play. Since hockey is expensive as a sport, parents need to know if their kids actually like playing, or just think they want to play before tossing their helmet in the back of a closet with their bass guitar and judo outfit.

There will always be hockey players, no matter how rough things get out there. But if the industry wants to be savvier than they’ve been in the past, they’ll keep fostering players in major cities, even if the end result is “only” a couple more happy kids in the short-term. With so many other options available to kids, it’s the long-term love of the game that matters.

Editor's Note: Thank you to The Hockey News for this article.

Houston Aeros Working To Grow the Game

The Houston Aeros are partnering with local rinks and leagues in a new “Grow The Game” initiative. This exciting new program is designed to draw new players to local rinks from the growing fan base of the Houston Aeros.

Any time a team is invited to skate with the Aeros during the National Anthem or perform during the intermission, they will be given a “sign-up” table in the concourse to provide free public skate passes to any fan that signs up. This will allow both the league and their respective rinks to collect contact information and keep new fans up-to-date with their tryouts, events, and any special offers. There has been an overwhelming response to this initiative and all parties are excited to begin and expand the program during the season. For more information on this program, click here.

Essex Hockey Grows the Game by Hosting “Bring a Friend to Skate” Event

In this featured "Grow the Game" story, the Essex Youth Hockey Association in Vermont hosted "Bring a Friend to Skate" for local girls interested in playing hockey. The program encouraged current Essex Youth Hockey girls players to bring their friends to Cairns Arena and have them learn the game of hockey from a contingent of current Essex coaches, Essex High School varsity girls players and Norwich women's hockey team members.

"You gotta love it. It's so inspiring seeing them," said Lindsay Norris, a senior player on the Essex High School varsity team, and a graduate of the Essex Youth Hockey program. "They never seem to get frustrated.... they fall down and the next minute you go to help them back up and they're already half way back up and they're just right back at it and it's really cool."

Equipment was provided free of charge to the players. Players were allowed to keep it if they decided that they wanted to continue pursuing the sport after participating in the program. For more information on the Essex Youth Hockey Association, click here.

USA Hockey’s Retention Model Helps Grow the Game

Every hockey association has turnover from one year to the next. Many families forget to sign-up before the start of the season and do not return to hockey primarily because they figure that it is too late to play.

Additionally, each season over 40,000 kids stop playing youth hockey. Much of this loss can be reduced through a little extra follow up. In order to help hockey clubs retain existing players and grow their numbers, USA Hockey has created a step-by-step retention model. To see this model, click here (pdf).

Newark Ice Hockey Association Introduces Score for School Program

The Newark Ice Hockey Association teamed up with local schools in Ohio's Licking County and surrounding areas to create the "Score for Schools" program. The Score for Schools program is a field trip opportunity to a local ice arena. The field trip for local schools and students incorporates and teaches the science and physical education of ice hockey.

The program format is two hours long, with one group skating or learning the basics of how to play hockey while the other group is taken to the conference room for a science lesson on how the ice arena makes ice. Newark has introduced hockey and ice skating to over 600 children in the area with grades ranging from first to sixth.

As a result of these efforts, membership numbers have increased by 11 percent, which does not include the 2009-10 season. The ice arena has also grown their open skate numbers with this program. For specifics on Newark’s Score for Schools program, click here (pdf).

Editor's Note: For more information on the Grow the Game Initiative, click here...

Grow the Game Initiative Announces HockeyShot as Founding Sponsor

The Grow the Game Initiative has announced HockeyShot as a founding sponsor.

HockeyShot, which is one of the largest online specialty retailers of hockey training equipment in North America, has announced their support of the Grow the Game Initiative. JP Brun, Co-Founder of HockeyShot stated, “We are so pleased to be a part of the Grow the Game Initiative and applaud their work in building excitement in youth hockey programs throughout the U.S. We are delighted to help in their efforts to develop an interest and passion in young players that will continue to grow throughout their lives.”

One key focus of the partnership will be HockeyShot’s support of each state’s Grow the Game programs. Hockey Shot will support the Initiative by offering regular reviews of hockey training equipment as well as providing prizes for various promotional contests within the program.

“We are thrilled to have HockeyShot on board with the Grow the Game Initiative. Their knowledge of the training tools that will help players develop skills provides a valuable source of information to our readers. They are a top-notch organization and we are excited to work with them as we Grow the Game of hockey across the United States,” TK Stohlman, President of the Youth Sports Coalition stated.

Future plans for the HockeyShot and Grow the Game partnership include working together to increase player participation and player recruitment. Other plans include local state contests to increase hockey participation as well as development of Grow the Game materials to help parents improve the youth hockey experience for kids.

About Hockey Shot
HockeyShot has become one of the largest online specialty retailers of hockey training equipment in North America, carrying an excellent selection at competitive prices and priding itself on customer service and satisfaction. They offer hockey training instructions, videos, tips and other hockey resources. HockeyShot manufactures some of its own products under the HockeyShot brand and is a distributor for many other products. For more information on HockeyShot, visit their website at www.HockeyShot.com.

About Grow the Game Initiative
The Grow the Game Initiative is a national program to grow the game of hockey across the U.S. Founded by the Youth Sports Coalition the Grow the Game Initiative’s goal is to grow the game of hockey so that all players learn life lessons through hockey participation.

Editor's Note: For more information on the Grow the Game Initiative, click here...

Colorado Amateur Hockey Association Signs Up Over 300 New Players

In this Grow the Game success story, Rich Smith with Colorado Amateur Hockey Association explains how they signed up over 300 new hockey players for their One Goal event. Rich also has valuable advice for other hockey volunteers looking to increase their hockey registrations. Thank you to Rich Smith and Colorado Amateur Hockey Association for sharing their success story. As a thank you for sharing his success story, Total Hockey is giving Rich a $25 gift certificate to TotalHockey.net. If you have a success story that you would like to share, please click here.

Grow the Game: Would you please provide a brief bio of yourself?

Rich: I was born and raised in Colorado Springs, Co the youngest of four kids. I have a wife-Julie and 3 kids, Logan, plays U18 Major AAA for Thunderbirds, Lauren, who is cheerleader for Littleton High School and Kyra who is a goalie for the Colorado Select  U14 AAA Team.  I starting skating at the age of 4 and started playing hockey at age 6. I got involved in hockey because I asked my mom if I could do karate and she said “no” its way to dangerous, so then I asked her if I could play hockey because my best friend played hockey. She said, “ I don’t know anything about hockey but sure” I grew up playing hockey and fell in love with the sport. I played through high school at Cheyenne Mountain High School in Colorado Springs. After school I continued to play off and on in men’s adult leagues and when my son was 6 he asked if he could play, so I got into coaching. I’m currently a Level 4 CEP and I’ve been coaching now for 10 years. I have held various board positions over the year and I am currently Co-Director of Coaching for the Colorado Select and Director at Large for CAHA. I’ve coached at all levels from 8 and Under through High School to AAA.

Grow the Game: What programs to grow the game have you implemented in the past?

Rich: In 2008 I implemented the state's first “One Goal Program." In 2009 we implemented an all “Girls One Goal Program."

Grow the Game: Which grow the game program would you recommend for other hockey associations?

Rich: I think any program that gets kids out on the ice to have fun and learn how to play is the ultimate goal. I have found that the One Goal Program is most popular and the One Goal Brand is recognized around the country.

Grow the Game: Would you please provide a brief overview of the most successful program? (How to implement, lessons learned, marketing of the program, etc.)

Rich: 2008 One Goal Program was where we learned the most about growing the game. The program was planned about 4 months in advance. The goal was to get 200 kids to come to four sessions over 2 days. As a selected city the One Goal program provided funding and a PR firm that allowed us to communicate the event through the public via radio and limited print media. We put flyers and posters up all around Denver. Each association was given flyers to distribute to schools and other public places.

The first thing we had to do was find support for the program. One Goal, Colorado Amateur and USA Hockey provided funding for the event. Players Bench hockey stores provided the staff and the One Goal equipment. Their staff also helped fit the kids in skates and equipment and ensured no player went on the ice with gear that didn’t properly fit.  Denver University and Denver Pioneers Youth Hockey provided the ice and skates at Magness Arena to host the program.   We also had the support of the Colorado Avalanche that advertised the One Goal commercials on Altitude TV Network during the games. This prompted people to go to the website.  All media steered the interested party to the One Goal website which provided a direct registration link to Colorado Amateur Hockey Association. We capture all-important information including the sizes of skates, age, address, email etc.

The next concern was filling this program up. After the first 2 weeks we only had around 30 players signed up. We were concerned until the radio ads aired on 8 local radio stations. The next 3 weeks we ended up getting almost 300 kids sign up. We now had a new problem, what to do with all these kids! We opened it up to 60 kids per session and were able to support a total of 240.

The next part was organizing how we would handle the 200 kids over 2 days and 4 ice sessions. We reached out to all the local associations, tier teams and others involved in hockey for assistance. The goal was to get around a 1-helper- to 2- One Goal players ratio so we needed 25 on ice coaches. We also needed help getting the kids dressed and ready to go and also needed a 1 to 2 ratio. We ended up having players from many of the local hockey associations in the Front Range area, which gave up their Saturday and Sunday to help.

When the kids arrived we gave them a bag and had a player go with them to help them get dressed. Once dressed they were escorted out onto the ice and a on ice player would take the new player and skate with them until they felt comfortable of being on their own. We had bumpers on the ice that the kids sat on. We had some player who would push the One Goal kids around on chairs or spin the bumpers in circles. The kids had an incredible time. We had well over 25 players on the ice helping including the DU Pioneer players. We had a good mix of female and male One Goal players as well as our volunteers were also mixed of female and males.

The biggest challenged we faced was the ½ hour between the first and second sessions and we had to get the first group undressed and the second group dressed ASAP. Our volunteers pulled it off by getting the kids undressed in 1 hall way and bringing the bag over to another hallway where group 2 was waiting to get dressed. It work well but I would schedule the second group 1 hour after the first group.

After the program the players all left with smiles on their faces. The volunteers said it was the most fun they have ever had putting on an event. Local associations reported a lift in 8 and Under enrollments that year with one club stating they had over 28 kids register for their U-8 program as a result of this program.

Grow the Game: What is the participation/turnout that you received from implementing this program?

Rich: We ended up with over 240 kids because the demand was so great. We also had additional 90 kids on the wait list. We ended up giving the list to all the associations to market to the One Goal Players.

Grow the Game: Do you have any other suggestions for other associations and teams who are trying to grow the game?

Rich: The best advice I can give is to get a lot of help when running these programs. You have one shot to make a great impression and you need to have a lot of on ice and off ice help to make things run smooth.

Grow the Game: What is your favorite thing about hockey?

Rich: My favorite thing about hockey is its face paced, fun, exciting, an awesome workout, and the great friends you meet along the way!

Editor's Note: Special thanks to Rich Smith with Colorado Amateur Hockey Association for sharing his Grow the Game success story. As a thank you for sharing his success story, Total Hockey is giving him a $25 gift certificate to TotalHockey.net. If you have a success story that you would like to share, please click here.