Las Vegas Kids Try Hockey For First Time

Hockey is unlike most other sports. It isn't easy to just pick it up and start playing.
To learn how to play soccer in its most basic form, you start by kicking a ball. Baseball? You start by playing catch.
It takes a lot more to learn how to play hockey. It takes learning the art of skating along with the skills necessary to play the game beyond just mobility on the ice. For some kids, that can be frustrating. But the only way to know how you feel about something is to try it.
On Saturday, November 10, kids in Las Vegas tried hockey for the first time through USA Hockey's Try Hockey For Free event. More than 400 rinks across the country, including all three rinks in Las Vegas, hosted children ages 4-9 and provided equipment, ice time and coaching to show them what it's like to play hockey.

"We had 65 kids at City National Arena alone trying it out for the first time," said Matt Flynn, Senior Manager of Youth Hockey with the Vegas Golden Knights. "For some kids, it was their first time in the building in a meaningful way."
The program outfitted kids with skates, sticks and helmets as many young Las Vegans touched the ice for the first time. They learned quickly that ice is slippery and, if you've never tried skating before, the easiest way to start is by leaning on a traffic cone. Some stayed glued to their cones for the entire hour and slowly grasped the concept of gliding around on the ice.
"You get a lot of nervous energy," Flynn said. "You get a lot of kids who are timid to get on the ice but once they leave their parents at the door, you see a different side of them."
The kids who took to skating more quickly were handed hockey sticks and received coaching on how to handle a puck before running through some drills. They learned the simpler concepts of passing and shooting from their coaches, and as well as skating with the puck.
"It's a good way for them to get a stick in their hands and see what it's all about," Flynn said. "It's tremendous for them to get excited and see that this is something that they want to do."
Trying hockey is the first step for kids to get involved in the latest sports craze in Nevada and stick with hockey as they grow up. Though there was a bit of falling down, kids learned to get back up again and keep going. As kids continue to get out on the ice, they'll see that they'll fall down less frequently and, when they do, they'll get up that much faster.
"It's really important to have a strong foundation because no parent wants to see their child struggle without a way to overcome that struggle," Flynn said. "That's the importance of doing it this way."
The next steps for the kids that began their hockey journeys Saturday are the Skating Academy to hone skating skills and Learn to Play to practice the intricacies of hockey. These programs are offered at all three rinks in Las Vegas.