A hockey player spends his entire youth trying to earn a spot on an NHL roster. He follows a rigid set of steps for turning the dream into a reality. He sacrifices a night out with friends to wake up for a 5 a.m. Saturday morning practice. He piles his gear into a car to drive to a rink two or three or more hours away for a pair of weekend games. He advances through the amateur and high school leagues and makes a junior hockey team as early as the age of 16 or 17 in hopes of earning an NCAA scholarship or professional contract. He proves he possesses the mental and physical toughness to be a professional hockey player.
Only a tiny fraction of youth players across the world realize the dream and slip on the jersey of one of the 30 NHL teams. Every player from Sidney Crosby to a kindergartner from Athens starts somewhere. Bird Arena’s “Learn to Play Hockey” program offers young athletes a chance to learn the basic of ice hockey from Ohio University’s own players and coaches.
Kids take over the 55-year-old Bird Arena every evening during the week. Players from both of Ohio University’s ACHA teams forget about balancing class and practice schedules and enjoy skating around with the young group of hockey players who barely reach some of the athletes’ waists.
The Bobcat players still adjusting to hearing “coach” before their first names happily pass on knowledge of the game each player loves so much to a group of kids reminiscent of an OU player taking his first strides almost two decades ago.
Tyler Smith, a freshman forward on the Division 2 hockey team quickly jumped at the chance to teach the youngsters the game.
“I like knowing that I’m helping them,” said Smith. “I skate with quite a few kids back up home in Columbus, so anytime I have a chance to skate with those kids, I try to help them out as much as I can. I take the opportunity, and I like doing it.”
Smith enjoys watching the kids grow as hockey players and sees a lot of potential for the sport and the players in the future. Smith mentioned a few graduates who have gone on to see success at the squirt (U10) level with AYHA and even with the Columbus Junior Blue Jackets’ elite travel team.
Members of Ohio University’s Synchronized Skating team help teach the beginning players skating fundamentals including maintaining good balance and starting to move across the ice. The girls provide the youngsters with the basics of skating and moving on the ice before they move onto practicing skill-based hockey drills with Ohio Hockey players and coaches.
Parker DeWeese, a junior and member of the synchronized skating team and Athens High School graduate loves spending time on the ice with the kids. She saw a growing interest in hockey and ice-skating in the Athens area when she started skating. The interest dwindled for a while but re-emerged after the inception of the Learn to Play program.
“(This program) was such a hit off the bat, we have hundreds of kids every quarter,” said DeWeese. “Who knew there was such an interest for hockey in the area? It’s really, really helping out AYHA, so it’s serving its purpose.”
DeWeese enjoys the relaxed atmosphere the kids bring to the ice. The program focuses heavily on fun.
“I like the group setting and the environment and the drills. It’s genuine fun because they all like to play, so it makes it easy,” said DeWeese.
The Columbus Blue Jackets formed in 2000 as an expansion team and the state of Ohio’s first NHL representative since the Cleveland Barons folded in 1978. The team electrified the area and created a buzz for hockey. The team hasn’t per-formed well, only making the playoffs once in 11 (soon to be 12) years, but the team’s impact on the hockey world in south-ern Ohio in undeniable.
Carissa Anderson signed up her then four-year-old son Wylie for the Learn to Play pro-gram after experiencing some Blue Jackets’ games and several Ohio University games. Wylie is now in his third quarter of Learn to Play.
“We just heard through random word-of-mouth that (Bird Arena) had Learn to Play, so we went online and found Bird Arena’s information and signed him up.”
Chris Abell registered his 10-year-old son Morgan for the program because of the inexpensive chance to work with knowledgeable hockey players. He seemed very impressed with the program and his son’s improvement.
“I think it’s a great program. I wish they had it when I was a kid. They never had anything like this when I was a kid,” said Abell. “(Morgan’s) never been on skates before this year. He’s really improved.”
However, hockey isn’t just for the boys. Derek Vohlken has not only one, but two daughters, seven-year-old Kayla and five-year-old Chloee, in the Learn to Play program. Vohlken grew up playing hockey and wanted his daughters to try the same game he loved growing up. He too appeared to be impressed with the quality of the program.
“The program so far has far exceeded my expectations,” said Volkhen. “They’re having a fun time and they’re picking up the basics.”
The children really enjoy hitting the ice with the Bobcats’ players and imitating some of their favorite NHL stars. The hands down favorite player among the kids is Columbus captain and NHL All-Star Rick Nash. Wylie and Kayla love the stick handling drills while Morgan and Chloee prefer to work on their skating. The kids all agreed on their favorite part of the program.
“I really like stick handling and the game at the end. And stick handling,” said Kayla.
“At the end, I just like the game,” said Wylie.
“Game!” exclaimed an enthusiastic Chloee.
“I like sliding on the ice and the games,” said Morgan.
The Learn to Play Hockey Program offers kids a chance to try hockey at a low cost and affords a Bobcat player a chance to pay forward all of the coaching throughout his amateur career. The next NHL superstar might be skating at Bird Arena, and he has the “Learn to Play Hockey” program to thank.
Jacob Betzner 