Hockey Alberta, in partnership with Hockey Canada, announced that a special and personalized 2011 Hockey Canada season planner and a Hockey Alberta Play SMART Parents Handbook has been mailed to over 29,000 minor hockey players across Alberta. The content is also being made available online at www.HockeyCanada.ca.
“We are very pleased once again to have this opportunity to connect with parents and young players across the province,” said Hockey Alberta President, Annie Orton. “It’s important for our membership to realize they are all part of the same team, Team Canada.”
This is the fourth-straight year that Hockey Canada and its 13 member branches are connecting with their grassroots membership by mailing out personalized packages to hundreds of thousands of children who are taking to the ice across the country. This year, more than 235,000 children, all Hockey Canada members, will receive a personalized and bilingual 2011 Hockey Canada season planner, along with collectable items.
The general public will be able to download this bilingual version of the season planner at www.HockeyCanada.ca, and will be able to download the planner in additional versions in 12 other languages early next week (Arabic, Cantonese, Cree, German, Inuktitut, Italian, Mandarin, Ojibwe, Portuguese, Punjabi, Tagalog, Spanish). This new initiative is part of Hockey Canada’s overall priority of recruitment and retention to help grow the game of hockey in Canada.
“We are very excited to be partnering with the 13 regional hockey branches in Canada to send this very special package to minor hockey players in Canada under 10 years old,” said Hockey Canada president and CEO Bob Nicholson. “We are especially pleased this year to be offering the season planner in languages besides English and French, as we continue to introduce hockey to all Canadians.”
“When these young players watch other players represent Canada at the international level, they should remember that they are part of the same team as them - the Hockey Canada team.,” said Ken Corbett, chair of the Hockey Canada Board of Directors.
In total, there are more than 550,000 children who are registered in hockey through Hockey Canada’s 13 member branches and its member minor hockey associations. These young players benefit in many ways by participating in the sport, from having fun and building friendships to learning lessons about confidence, fair play, good sportsmanship and teamwork.
Hockey Canada has developed this special mail-out for children with the help of all 13 regional branches to communicate with the base of its membership and remind minor hockey players that they are an important part of Hockey Canada.
The Hockey Canada package for minor hockey players in Alberta includes:
• A Hockey Alberta PlaySMART Parents Handbook with information on Respect in Sport, Diet and long term athlete development
• A Hockey Alberta sticker booklet
• A personalized Hockey Canada season planner featuring fun hockey-related activities and comic strips featuring Hockey Canada’s official mascot, Puckster
• A collectable Puckster pin
• Team Canada and Canadian NHL team stickers
Hockey Canada, in partnership with its 13 member branches, has also launched an interactive website where anyone can play a virtual game with Team Canada. The website, www.MyHockeyCanada.ca, allows users to register and watch as they go from playing minor hockey right through an opportunity to play for Team Canada.