NHL, NHLPA Grants to Help Preds Grow Girls Hockey, Skating Programs

Participation in girls hockey and figure skating in Nashville has grown exponentially over the past five years, and the numbers are about to expand even further.
In October, the Predators and Ford Ice Centers, in conjunction with the National Hockey League and National Hockey League Players' Association,
announced they would invest $504,000 into the development of girls hockey and learn to skate programs
in Middle Tennessee over the next two years, as part of the League's Industry Growth Fund (IGF).
With 2021 on the horizon, it's just about time to see that investment put into action, and there's never been a better time to hit the ice for the first time.

The Predators will utilize the IGF money to support their Preds Girls Hockey programs and Go Skate! program at both of their Ford Ice Center facilities in Antioch and Bellevue. The success at the local rinks played a large role in securing the IGF grants, and in an area that boasts one of the fastest growing rates for hockey and figure skating presence in the country, the dollars will be well spent.
"We hosted the
NWHL All-Star Game in 2019
that was incredibly well received, and then last year we had the
Country Classic with four Top-10 college teams
coming to Ford Ice Center Bellevue and the stands were packed, that shows that the interest for girls hockey is here," Amateur Hockey and Fan Development Coordinator Jennifer Boniecki said. "All this money is going to make this program completely free to any girl that wants to try hockey, which is huge because there's a huge barrier to entry for girls, as well as diversity in general. Giving them that chance just to get out there and try it within a larger community of girls is really important."
A lifelong hockey player herself, Boniecki knows what this kind of grant can do for the sport and young girls who want to be on the ice. The funds earmarked for girls hockey to enhance the program the Preds launched last year, which introduced more than 150 girls to the sport, will help put 350 girls - regardless of experience level - into a 15-to-20-week training program featuring on-ice teaching led by the USA Hockey certified coaches at both Ford Ice Centers. The grant will pay for all training sessions, all equipment and for a full season of hockey to help ensure healthy growth of the area's girls hockey base.

"I'm going to speak from experience, but having that community aspect going into a locker room, and being able to have something in common with everyone is incredibly important," Boniecki said. "Whereas, if you're going to go to boys hockey, you're going to feel like the odd one out, and they're not going to want to continue. So that's incredibly important to have that sense of belonging every step of the way to continue playing throughout your youth into the future, whether it's college, adult league; whatever that is, you're going to want to build that shared community."
That community is growing on the skating side of things too, particularly with the Go Skate! program. An entry-level, ice-skating program presented by the Scott Hamilton Skating Academy and Ford Ice Centers, Go Skate! is designed to help new participants learn to skate and get introduced to the different styles of skating.
Since its implementation more than four years ago, Go Skate! has put more than 1,800 children through its learn to skate program, helping Tennessee become one of the country's fastest growing states for youth skating participation.
With the IGF funds in place, Go Skate! will allow 600 children in the next two years to learn to skate, with all participants receiving a free pair of hockey skates upon completion of seven weeks of programming.
"The IGF grants will really make skating accessible by eliminating the financial barriers," Scott Hamilton Skating Academy Director Paula Trujillo said. "Our goal with this program is to really make sure it's all about guest care… and the greatest technique of all is really making sure every class is top notch and making sure that participants have an opportunity to continue at a really good rate to make sure that the kids love it before they get into the sport, because it is expensive."
To start, those expenses are non-existent for the first seven weeks with free learn-to-skate classes. Participants are presented with a free pair of skates following the competition of that course, and if they're interested in signing up for another seven weeks, they receive a coupon for $40 off of that session.

Ashleigh MacMullen, whose 7-year-old son, Crosby, has been learning to skate at Ford Ice Center, has seen firsthand what this program can do for a child who simply wants to experience the sensation of ice skating for the first time.
"This has been really such a blessing for our family, to have this opportunity to try and figure out what our kids are interested in," MacMullen said. "If you can try something out and see if it works and then continue on at a reasonable price - or free is even better - that's tough to beat."
After starting in the skating program, Crosby's interest in hockey has taken over, and Ashleigh says she'll register her son in additional opportunities thanks to what has been learned thus far.
"We're going to see if we can hone some of these skills in hockey now, but the teachers have been great, Paula has been great and everything's been a really good experience," MacMullen said.
In the last half decade, with the addition of Ford Ice Center Bellevue bringing two additional ice sheets to Middle Tennessee and Ford Ice Center Antioch's sustained growth, youth hockey participation in the state has risen at an exponential rate, with many of the Predators' current programs initially funded in part by a previous IGF grant that was awarded to the organization in November 2015.
The MacMullens are just one of the numerous families who have taken advantage since the first ribbon was cut, and they certainly won't be the last. A grant like this doesn't come without showing a passion for hockey and skating in the community, and Nashvillians, Middle Tennesseans and Preds fans throughout the region just can't seem to keep their skates off.
"The best part about it is meeting all these really cool families," Trujillo said. "For us, it's getting as many people on the ice in a really joyful environment as possible. It's important to us that we take good care of them. It's important for us that they have really solid technique and a systematic approach to the whole thing… We want to make sure that through communication we help them find their path. There's so many different paths in the sport - they can become a hockey player, you can become a world-class figure skater - there's so many things kids can do by being on the ice, and it all starts here."
Click here for more information on
Preds Girls Hockey
or
Go Skate!
programs, and to learn more about all of the offerings at the Ford Ice Centers,
visit their website.