Sno-King Amateur Hockey Association Builds Player Confidence with ‘Try Hockey for Free’ Events

At all three Sno-King Ice Arenas in Washington state, the guiding mission is building hockey players for life.

That all starts with an introduction to the sport and skating through Try Hockey for Free events.

“If they do not have that positive first experience, they’re not going to be a player at all,” said Chris Longfellow, the youth beginner hockey director for the Sno-King Amateur Hockey Association.

Longfellow also manages the Rookies Learn to Play program, of which Try Hockey for Free falls under.

For Try Hockey for Free Day, presented by Discover, on Oct. 3, Longfellow plans to run a girls-only event followed by a co-ed event, as she has done in the past. She opens the Try Hockey for Free event to a larger age range, with kids from ages 4 to 17 welcome to sign up.

Longfellow holds 11 Try Hockey for Free events throughout the year, rotating between three Sno-King facilities with space for 70 kids at each event. She also holds three events in August to help boost fall hockey registration.

The event is all about introducing kids to hockey, with Longfellow adding, “We want them to get excited about the sport.”

“The way I’ve structured our Try Hockey for Free events, it really focuses on creating that positive first experience,” she said.

Longfellow breaks up the event participants into three groups with a red-yellow-green method. The red group is kids who have never been on the ice, the yellow group is kids who have been on the ice a little bit, and the green group is kids who have been on the ice a lot.

There’s a one-to-one coach ratio for kids in the red group, giving each child “as much attention as they need to create that positive first experience for them,” Longfellow said.

That structure is helpful for kids to see. For kids who’ve never been on the ice, it’s hard for them to be on the wall and see everybody else skating, according to Longfellow. But having one coach per child for that group is a game changer.

“That actually for us has been key in getting those kids registered into our program,” Longfellow said.

Longfellow has been a coach and has a natural tendency toward education. Seeing kids who are able to move around on the ice, even if it’s at a slow pace, after the hour-long Try Hockey for Free session is great gratification for Longfellow.

“That’s really what we’re looking for is to get them interested,” she said. “Even if they don’t, at least they’re moving. Maybe they’ll go regular skating, or maybe they won’t at all, but at least they’ve tried something different.

“Seeing them come off the ice and getting excited about that, smiles on faces, all that stuff is just very rewarding to me.”

Her programs have proved successful, too, averaging about a 30-35% conversion rate of kids from the Try Hockey for Free program moving on to organized hockey with the Sno-King Rookies beginner program. Rookies, with three levels, feeds directly into the association’s youth hockey teams.

Rookies 1 is strictly skating, while Rookies 2 dives into hockey and Rookies 3 is an extension of hockey from level two. Longfellow not only manages the program, but she also coaches the kids along the pathway starting from Try Hockey for Free up until they join one of the association’s youth teams.

The goal is to create positive experiences for these kids at every touch point through Rookies to the youth hockey program and building players for life all the way up into adult hockey programs.

“I personally really focus on trying to make that mission come true,” Longfellow said. “Making those positive experiences, not just from the day they step on the ice but all the way through my program, especially, and then helping staff our youth hockey program and supporting them as best I can as well as providing them with the best, the most skilled players that they can be through my program.”

To find a Try Hockey For Free event near you, click HERE

Story from Red Line Editorial, Inc.