Wayne Whitmore has witnessed a hockey revolution throughout the last 15 years in the South Florida area.
The Florida Panthers 2024 Stanley Cup championship has only helped grownthe interest in the sport, as the team’s new practice facility — the Baptist Health IcePlex in Fort Lauderdale — hosted its second Try Hockey for Free, presented by Discover, event on Feb. 22.
“We’ve seen a large increase in kids wanting to play hockey,” said Whitmore, the youth hockey manager at the rink. “We’re very thankful and fortunate for the success the Panthers had the last few years. Them winning the Stanley Cup and the interest in the [4 Nations Face-Off] and all the players representing their countries has created a lot more interest in the community for kids who want to learn how to play hockey.”
A Try Hockey for Free event is designed to provide kids ages 4 to 9 — with any or no hockey experience — the opportunity to try hockey in a fun, safe environment at no cost with a trained coaching staff.
USA Hockey’s Try Hockey for Free events take place each year in February and November. Whitmore called the November event a success with an uptick in the rink’s in-house programs because of the initiative.
Whitmore said the first hour of the event this past weekend was for girlshockey, while the second will be a coed group. He estimated about 25 for the girls session and 35 for the coed group, but there could have been participants because of last-minute registrations and signups.
“We are also trying to push and grow the girls game here in Florida,” Whitmore said. “We want to be very inclusive. We don’t want to make people feel like they can’t learn to try and to love this game.”
Rink officials check in participants and hand out jerseys, sticks and equipment before qualified coaches take the kids onto the ice. Players are divided into groups and taken to various stations, which feature activities like shooting, passing, skating, skills and games. There are smaller nets and new divider boards designed to shrink the ice, which allows players to touch the puck more and shoot on nets that are adequate to their size.
“We just want something where they can try the different skills of hockey,” Whitmore said. “We rotate through each station for about 10 minutes and get as much experience out of the event as we can. It’s about getting them engaged and giving them the opportunity to feel the ice because for a lot of them, it’s their first time out there experiencing hockey. It’s about giving them an hour of fun, excitement and enthusiasm.”
Whitmore then moves interested players into a Learn to Skate class offered by the rink. Once they go through that program, players work on fundamentals of the game and then move into the rink’s hockey academy or in-house recreational Panthers Development League.
“The Florida hockey community is very special and it’s so diverse and unique,” Whitmore said. “We have families who move down from up North, people who moved from Latin America and even from European nations and Russia. It’s literally from all over the world and that’s one of the most unique and special things about our rink.”
The rink, now the practice home of the Panthers, opened last March. Whitmore indicated additional rinks and construction taking place in nearby areas like Palm Beach and Boca Raton, among other areas of South Florida.
It also helps to have the defending Stanley Cup champions and some of the brightest stars of the NHL regularly at the rink. Whitmore said officials reintroduced open practices, which are packed with fans, kids and parents.
“They’re so excited to see these guys up close and watch them skate and practice,” Whitmore said. “You can see the excitement on their faces when a player walks by or skates past the glass. Having opportunities to watch the Florida Panthers practice and know they’re skating on the same ice is very motivating.”
Whitmore understands that a hockey career starts with stepping on the ice for the first time. And hundreds get the opportunity to fall in love with the game during a Try Hockey for Free event.
“It’s really fun to see these kids experiencing this sport,” Whitmore said. “And when parents join in and get to see how much fun their kids are having, that’s what it’s all about.”
Story from Red Line Editorial, Inc.
Source: usahockey.com