When every hockey season comes to close, no matter the outcome, the Las Vegas community misses seeing the Golden Knights out on the ice. The Vegas Golden Knights Foundation helps fill the hockey void by hosting ball hockey clinics across the valley in partnership with Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers and Green Valley Grocery. These ball hockey clinics are a way to introduce hockey to kids and keep them active throughout the summer.
Since their inaugural season, the Golden Knights have hosted summer ball hockey clinics to further their community initiatives. This summer, more than 1,000 kids participated in ball hockey clinics at community centers around the city. The team went to places like the Boys and Girls Club and Nellis Air Force base to bring the joy of hockey to kids around the city. The biggest ball hockey clinic of the summer saw 900 participants from local summer camps at the All Camp Challenge at Doolittle Community Center in June. By summer’s end, the Vegas Golden Knights will have introduced hockey to almost 2,000 kids in 20 ball hockey clinics across the Las Vegas valley.
Sheri Hudspeth, Director of Youth Hockey Programs, and her team of development coaches go into each ball hockey clinic with in-depth drills designed to teach hockey skills to kids. Kids learn how to shoot, pass, stick-handle, and defend through drills and scrimmages. For most kids at these summer camps, it is their first time playing hockey. Coming into these community centers helps ignite the spark for kids that can create a lasting impact that wouldn’t otherwise be available to these children.
“The impact these clinics have on our Las Vegas community is substantial. A lot of these kids do not have or will never have the opportunity to play hockey or experience the sport. So when we come to teach them to play hockey, we are helping give another creative outlook for these kids,” said Allie Emery, VGK Foundation and Community Relations Coordinator. “Hockey is a newer sport to Las Vegas and giving these kids something fun and exciting to look forward to during their summer camps is something we enjoy doing every year.”
Emery is a vital contributor to organizing ball hockey clinics throughout the year. Similar to their school visits during the school year, the Vegas Golden Knights and VGK Foundation always aim to spread the love of the game throughout the valley. Kids all over Las Vegas have an opportunity to learn hockey all year long.
One of the community centers the VGK organization visited was Cimarron Rose Community Center. The summer camp was a participant in the All Camp Challenge, as well as a recipient of a Raising Cane’s ball hockey clinic at their own community center site.
“It’s so exciting for the kids. They love the Golden Knights. [The Golden Knights] have done an amazing job going out into the valley and the city,” said Kristen Carducci, Coordinator for the Cimarron Rose Community Center. “When the organization came here, the kids were so excited all morning. The kids and parents are all like, ‘The Golden Knights are coming!’ They all know about it. They’ve been talking about it for weeks. It’s so exciting. It’s so great to see the sport grow here in Las Vegas.”
While the community centers are excited to participate in clinics with the Golden Knights, the VGK organization and staff are internally thrilled to see the growth of hockey and the impact it has on the community as well.
“The best part about these clinics is getting to see the smile on all the kids’ faces when they pick up a stick. Getting to see the competitiveness, participation, and laughs from all these kids makes all the difference and is such a great part of these clinics,” Emery said.
The main goal for the summer ball hockey clinics is to grow the game within the valley by putting as many hockey sticks in hands as possible. The kids have an opportunity to not only learn the game, but hangout with VGK cast such as Chance and Vegas Vivas. If the kids are having a fun experience and become hockey fans for life, it’s a great day within the Vegas Golden Knights organization.
