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.
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