Hockey Weekend Across America (Edited by Clayton)

James Kemp
Jkemp@sclance.com
Editor and Chief
Growing up, many children are enrolled into youth sports and continue to play a sport throughout their lives. Some decided to quit playing sports either in high school or after high school.
Some children are not as lucky to play sports and sometimes end up never knowing what it is like to play as a member of a team.
Redding is full of youth programs and sports to allow as many kids as possible to play a team sport.
One sport that many people don’t know a lot about and may not know even exists in Shasta County is that of Roller Hockey.
To raise awareness, Shasta Roller Hockey is taking part of a weekend-long celebration called Hockey Weekend Across America.
Hockey Weekend Across America will takes place February 18th-20th Nationwide.
“Hockey Weekend Across America has been a success because of the vast participation of the hockey community — from those in our grassroots programs across the country to the National Hockey League and its teams,” said Dave Ogrean, Executive Director of USA Hockey.
USA Hockey and Reebok have teamed up to bring awareness to communities that have Ice and Roller Hockey clubs, teams, and organizations within their vast population.
It is also a way to show kids that there are more sports than what are traditionally offered in their communities.
Shasta Roller Hockey’s rink is one of the over 150 rinks that will be participating in the celebration within the country.
Hockey Across America will kickoff its festivities on Friday February 18th with “Wear Your Favorite Hockey Jersey” day which is sponsored by wwww.ShopUSAHockey.com
On the 18th, USA Hockey is encouraging everyone who has a Facebook page to submit photographs of themselves, friends, and colleagues donning their favorite teams Jerseys.
“Bring a Friend to the Rink” day will be sponsored by the NHL on Saturday February 19th.
“Bring a Friend to the Rink” will entertain attendees with free hockey trial games which Hockey Across America hopes to get over 4,000 kids who have never played hockey exposed to hockey in a very real, hands-on way.
Celebrate Local Hockey Heroes, sponsored by Liberty Mutual Responsible Sports on Sunday February 20th.
USA Hockey is asking fans to post stories photographs or videos of hockey heroes to the USA Hockey Facebook wall.
To end the celebration of Hockey Weekend Across America, USA Hockey and Reebok will team up to provide three lucky winners of the “Get Your Gear On Sweepstakes” with head-to-toe hockey equipment.
“I encourage all of the kids who play hockey or have an interest in hockey to come out and join in our calibration of the Hockey Weekend Across America at Big League Dreams,” said Brandi Merkel Vice President of Shasta Roller Hockey.
To show support of the local hockey league that Redding has to offer the Shasta College Lance will participate in wearing their favorite Jerseys on campus on Friday February 18th.
“We encourage everyone to get engaged in the celebration in some fashion and share with us what you’re doing through the Hockey Weekend Across America website,” Ogrean said.
The Lance encourages everyone around the campus to engage in this worthwhile activity and support this local sport that enriches the lives of children.