You are reading

NHL-Sponsored Affordable Kids Hockey Program Returning to LIC in January

A popular NHL-sponsored ice hockey program for kids is returning to Long Island City in January and its limited spaces are filling up fast. Children taking part in the Learn to Play program at LIC-ICE (Photo: LIC-ICE)

Nov. 29, 2022 By Michael Dorgan

Kids, get your skates on!!

A popular NHL-sponsored ice hockey program for kids is returning to Long Island City in January and its limited spaces are filling up fast.

The program, called Learn to Play, aims to develop the next generation of hockey players by providing affordable hockey lessons and equipment to kids.

The lessons are being offered to both boys and girls aged 5 through 9 to encourage them to take up the sport. The program will take place at a specialized indoor ice-skating facility called LIC-ICE, located at 10-12 46th Rd. which features a 2,300-square-foot rink.

Learn to Play aims to reduce some of the obstacles associated with accessing the sport that includes high equipment costs and ice time.

Participating kids will be provided with “head-to-toe” equipment including an ice hockey stick and helmet, skates, pads, gloves, a jersey as well as an equipment bag and more. The children who participate in the lessons will get to keep the equipment that typically costs around $450.

The New York Islanders organize the program as part of a national initiative where the NHL and NHL Players’ Association team up with clubs to teach children how to play hockey. The organizations heavily subsidize the costs of the program, providing children of all backgrounds with the opportunity to play the game, according to Lucia Grosek, who manages LIC-ICE.

“You see kids of every ethnicity at our facility and around half of them are boys and half are girls – it’s a beautiful melting pot,” Grosek said.

“We hope to attract as many kids as possible from Queens and from across the Tri-State areas over the coming months.”

A maximum number of 12 children per session will receive coaching from New York Islanders-affiliated coaches, with drop-in sessions featuring former Islanders players Arron Asham and Radek Martínek. There will be three coaches at each session, Grosek said.

Sparky the Dragon, the mascot for the New York Islanders, also visits the sessions.

Children taking part in the Learn to Play program at LIC-ICE (Photo: LIC-ICE)

Organizers are now accepting children for their winter/spring program.

The program dates are designed to cater to the school calendar and the facility is conveniently located for parents to drop off their children, Grosek said.

The winter/spring courses will run once a week — from Jan. 2 through June 23 — with costs per participant starting at $533 for 13 sessions.

An 18-session course comes in at $738 per player while the most expensive course is $902 for 22 sessions.

More than 1,000 kids have graduated from the program since its inception and around 95 percent of them are still playing the game, a marker of the program’s success, Grosek said.

The winter/spring course will mark the program’s seventh year at the facility.

Many of the young prodigies come from across the Tri-State area given the program’s wide appeal.

“This is a great opportunity for kids to try the program and learn how to play hockey,” Grosek said. “There has been an overwhelming demand.”

A key factor to the program’s success, Grosek said, has been the small class sizes which ensure that each player is given the full attention of the coaches.

Grosek said the program has had a positive impact on the area with local interest in hockey skyrocketing over the last number of years.

“I see young kids walking around Long Island City with the Islanders bags and hockey sticks, it’s pretty cool,” Grosek said.

“They have become big fans of the sport and we are becoming a New York Islanders stronghold.”

Registration and more information on Learn to Play can be found at the following link: https://ltpislanders.leagueapps.com/events/1795663-l.i.c.-ice

Advanced registration is required for the program, with early enrollment encouraged because of the high demand and shrinking availability.

Readers can learn more about LIC-ICE and its facilities here: http://www.licice.com.

LIC Ice Learn to Play posters

LIC ICE (Photo by Michael Dorgan)

The LIC ICE facility, located at 10-12 46th Rd. (Photo by Michael Dorgan, Queens Post)

email the author: news@queenspost.com
No comments yet

Leave a Comment
Reply to this Comment

All comments are subject to moderation before being posted.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Recent News

Hollis man charged with raping 14-year-old told teen, ‘I can help you get work’

New details have emerged in the case of the Hollis man accused luring a 14-year-old boy into his car in St. Albans and then allegedly raping him on the afternoon of Tuesday, July 1.

Virgilio Taveras, 63, of Hillside Avenue, was arrested by detectives from the Queens Special Victims Squad two days later and booked at the 107th Precinct in Fresh Meadows. Taveras was arraigned on the Fourth of July in Queens Criminal Court on a complaint charging him with rape in the second degree, luring a child as an E felony, endangering the welfare of a child and other related crimes.

Man in his 50s sought for exposing himself to 13-year-old on E train in Forest Hills: NYPD

Police from the 112th Precinct in Forest Hills and Transit District 20 are looking for a suspect who allegedly flashed a 13-year-old girl on a Queens subway train last month.

The victim was riding a southbound E train approaching the Kew Gardens-Union Turnpike station at around 1 p.m. on Monday, June 30, when she saw a stranger exposing himself to her, police said Wednesday. The perpetrator ran off the train at the Kew Gardens-Union Turnpike station and fled in an unknown direction. The youngster was not injured during her encounter with the stranger.