Youth Hockey Digest- Rink Links
A brief look at recent youth hockey news and trends
Thanks to our new subscribers for joining me on this journey.
You know we are about roughly half way through this youth hockey season and with the holidays coming, I must say that I am ready for the break. For whatever reason, our club seems to really put the T in Travel Hockey. For some reason, we seem to be traveling a lot more than usual this season, which is what we signed up for, but it would be nice to have some home games once in a while. Fortunately, looking ahead it looks like in January we are mostly at home that whole month, which is good.
Meantime, take a look at some stuff going on in the youth hockey universe!
How do you gauge the health of a hockey rink? For some it is how the ice looks. Is it full of holes? Maybe it is about whether or not the Zamboni looks decent. Still, for others, does the roof look good, does it sag, is there a bunch of leaks? How are the locker rooms for instance? Having lived in Massachusetts for a few years, there is a wide… and I mean WIDE variety of rinks up there. Some are incredibly well run and nice. Others, well, not so much. This one in Belmont, the Skip Viglirolo Rink, has animals living inside the rink. That is not exactly what you want to see, and reportedly it was shut down a few days ago. The rink, as rough as it sounds, housed 16 programs apparently, so this is a huge loss for the community and for the kids. (Yahoo News/Boston 25 News)
And yet, there are programs that are proactive, and NHL teams that recognize the needs of their communities. Take for instance the New York Rangers who stepped up to help Pawling NY when they needed help with their roller rink. That’s the kind of investment that it takes to make things better, to get things done on a larger scale. NHL teams should be doing exactly that and it is good to see. But so much more needs to be done. Has anyone reached out to the Boston Bruins about the Belmont rink above? I would be willing to bet that $100K would go a long way in Belmont. (Mid Hudson News)
As mental health awareness increases, the disease has not left youth hockey untouched. This is a good story from Minnesota about how a community has rallied to keep the memory of a youth hockey player alive after a tragic suicide. Half the battle is in finding ways of keeping mental health top of mind. We all know how much heart and soul goes into each game our kids play, but through the efforts of Moorhead MN hockey there is more open discussion about the importance of mental health on our young athletes. It’s a question we as parents must continue to ask ourselves and ask of our local hockey clubs: what are we doing everyday to make mental health awareness a priority? (The Rink Live)
And finally, if you can’t skate, but you have good balance, there is still hope to play some version of hockey: I give you Unicycle Hockey. In the video I clipped below, there was no checking, but it would be fascinating if there was. Still, I don’t think it will catch on as fast as Pickleball has, but you know, give it time.
