HOCKEY WEEKEND ACROSS
“Try Hockey For Free”
Saturday, January 30th, 2010
OVERVIEW:
Hockey Weekend Across America
has been a big success as a national platform to celebrate the game and 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, January 30th. All
hosting rinks are required to hold the free trial at a consistent time of 11:00
am – 12:00 pm 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.
PROMOTION:
Host facilities will be
listed with their address and website posted on the Hockey Weekend Across
America website. Additionally, free
trial programs will be promoted to the public in all Hockey Weekend Across
America media. USA Hockey will provide
all host sites a template to make customized posters and flyers promoting the
event to their local market.
SANCTIONING:
Contact your local Associate
Registrar about registering your growth program with USA Hockey. They can help you host a sanctioned event and
let the players participate without paying USA Hockey registration dues. They will just need to fill out a paper IMR
with their information for entry. When
you transition the player into the regular program, they would then need to
become a member of USA Hockey. Players 6
& under are free, so they can be registered immediately.
STAFFING:
You will need extra
volunteers to help with orientation and getting dressed. Many new families to the game don’t realize
the length of time required to put on hockey equipment, have lots of veteran people
ready to lend a helping hand. Extra
coaches will be needed to make sure that first-timers get lots of personal
attention. This is most likely the
child’s first attempt at playing the sport, let alone on ice; be ready to
assist the child with getting over their initial frustration.
EQUIPMENT:
We want to make this
experience as easy and inexpensive as possible.
Players will need the minimum requirement for equipment, host groups are
asked to locate lender sets.
Participants are required to wear HECC approved helmets and some form of
glove; if hockey gloves are not available mittens and winter gloves are sufficient. They will also need skates and a stick. We recommend that they wear a full set of
equipment. If you don’t currently have
lender sets of equipment, work with the families of your local association to
borrow the pieces needed.
FOLLOW-UP:
When the event is finished,
we ask that you send us copies of the IMR forms that you had families fill out
to gain access to the event. We would
also be interested to learn how many new players you are able to convert to
your regular hockey program
SIGN-UP FORM
Facility Name:____________________________________________________________
Contact Name:___________________________________________________________
Address:________________________________________________________________
City:
Phone:__________________________ Email:__________________________________
Website:________________________________________________________________
Please return form to: USA Hockey, Attn: Program
Services, 1775 Bob Johnson Dr., Colorado Springs, CO 80904
P:(719) 576-8724 F:(719) 538-1160 kevine@usahockey.org