CEIHF EFFORTS TO IMPROVE OUR COMMUNITY

We are very proud of our signature youth programs:

•  Youth Amateur Development Camps and Scholarship Program

•  Hockey without Boundaries

•  Buddy Up with Hockey

Youth Development Camps and Scholarship Program
Inline hockey is a great sport for both schools and individual students to pursue, but also has its costs. Interest is rising, but unfortunately the economy has kept many out of the rink sitting on the sidelines.

Every year there are dozens of families who tell us they would like to continue in the sport but have to pull their children out of activities due to cost. Through our non-profit organization we would like to offer financial aid to those in greatest need to allow their children to stay involved. For children who show abilities to advance in the sport but who don't have the financial support to match, we would like to make attending skills development camps more affordable.

For every school that we visit for physical education sessions, there is a chance to extend the impact of that by providing equipment to the school for ongoing participation.

Hockey without Boundaries
The Hockey without Boundaries initiative is a diversity outreach program designed to provide a powerful model to enrich the lives of children through athletics.

We introduce the sport of inline hockey to our inner-city and suburban communities where economically challenged families have an opportunity to explore inline hockey as an alternative to other traditional sports through summer camps and after-school programs. We start out with the basics and wearing shoes, but hope to get the children excited about the sport and up on their feet in skates and subsequently on the ice.

Recently, we formed important partnerships with the Colorado Avalanche, Colorado UpLift, and Challenge to Excellence Charter School in Parker, Colorado and the Parker Fieldhouse Parks and Recreation. With their help we were able to provide a long lasting character building experience for 80-100 Colorado UpLift children with an introduction to floor hockey at the Parker Fieldhouse. The CEIHF Hockey without Boundaries camp created a window of hope for dozens of Denver 's at-risk children through its promotion of health and fitness, diversity, and good will.

Colorado Avalanche player Chris Stewart and former player Wojtek Wolski have participated in local events for the organization in 2010 and 2011 respectively, and helped get children excited about playing.

Buddy Up with Hockey
Once children have been introduced to this fun new activity, Buddy Up with Hockey starts to answer the question of where to go from here.

We provide a mentoring and awareness process whereby our older amateur elite and major league athletes connect with elementary and middle school students to form bonds through physical fitness education.

Beyond the hands-on instruction from an accomplished athlete, children are also made aware of the opportunities for advancement within the sport. New doors are opened for children to discover avenues for highly competitive local competition, as well as potential for advancement down paths toward AAU (Amateur Athletic Union) Junior Olympics and NCAA teams.

Working with the Challenge to Excellence Charter School in Parker, Colorado , 200 students were given floor hockey lessons and provided equipment as part of their physical fitness programs.

One of our volunteer athletes said it best:

“ Getting kids to exercise is difficult on its own. This is an opportunity to somewhat disguise an exercise curriculum while participating in an activity all kids enjoy…skating. Similar to hiding vegetables in a dinner recipe, we hope to encourage kids to get in shape while learning good health habits,” says Mike Delgado, AIHL's Rocky Mountain Talons, and Defenseman.

Teachers report that participation in the program enhances children's cooperative learning behaviors such as taking turns, listening, sharing knowledge, praising another's effort, helping one another, and completing a task.