The Greater New York City Ice Hockey League offers an introduction to ice hockey for 4 weeks for free! It’s loads of fun, and the kids are adequately protected with all that padded equipment, and don’t worry if your child has no skating experience… they’ll learn on the ice. They have awesome coaches and instructors who have been teaching young children how to skate for many years!
There are two free 4-week sessions for the remainder of the season. One begins March 5th, and then again on April 2nd. Age requirements: children 4-7, 2003-2006 birth years, January – March 2007. Copy of the birth certificate is required.
The program is a fantastic way to try out a new sport to see if it is something your child will love. There’s no commitment, no cost for 4 weeks and equipment is free! If you decide to continue beyond the 4 weeks (like we did), the initiation session rate is $200.
At the first session, children are given the option to use a “walker” to hold on to during their first lessons. Only when the child is ready to give up the walker and glide on their own will they take it away. I initially had concerns about safety when we first started because my daughter had zero experience skating on ice or ground. But my fears immediately vanished when I saw the metal beginner’s “walkers”. What a brilliant contraption! It gave her enough confidence to try skating around the ice as she held tightly on to the walker to keep her balance. We originally just wanted to do the free 4-week trial so she could learn to skate, but my child loved it so much that we signed on for the rest of the season’s initiation programs. She may not yet be ready to join a league but for now, we’re quite happy with her learning how to skate and fall without getting hurt, getting right back up from a fall and all the other basic skating skills. And, we just love, love, looooove her coach and everyone there. It is quite obvious they love what they are doing and enjoying teaching little ones how to skate!
Tips: Registered participants are asked to arrive at the rink for the first lesson at 10 am to check in and sign paperwork and receive a bag containing a full set of equipment for the 4 weeks. Why arrive an hour early, you ask? When we first started, it was good to have that time because we fumbled at getting all the protective gear on just right. Wearing the full set of equipment is MANDATORY or your child does not step on the ice. The equipment consists of: chest armour, shoulder and elbow pads, padded hockey pants, shin and knee guards, hockey gloves, hockey socks, jersey shirt, protective helmet with cage and mouth guard, and finally hockey skates. Last but definitely not least, a valuable sheet of paper is handed to the parent; it contains a checklist of instructions on how to put on the gear.
I just want to spread the word about the program because it’s a fun, affordable skill building program that provides our children the opportunity to burn up massive amounts of energy. Plus, remember, hockey is a team sport.
Details:
Please visit their website for more information.
The free clinics are held on Saturdays from 11 am – 12 noon at Abe Stark Arena, 1902 West 19th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11224, Tel. (718) 946-3135 – or Coney Island Boardwalk and West 19th.
To sign up, interested parents are asked to email Lisa Davie the following information: (Don’t wait long- get your names in if you’d like to try hockey out.)
Child’s Name:
Date of Birth:
Parents’ name:
Address:
Phone Number:
Email Address:
You will be asked to register with USA Hockey and you will be given a USA Hockey member number for that year’s hockey season. If the child is 6 years old and younger, there is no registration fee. For 7 and older, last year’s USA Hockey registration fee was $33. Once you have all that, you need to email the membership number to Lisa Davie prior to the first lesson.
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Review was written by Arlene- one of our most loyal readers who keeps us up to date on Bay Ridge and beyond! My favorite review she did was of Owl’s Head Park at Halloween.
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