Winter Classic profile: Hockey Is For Me takes game to children of color

The 2022 Discover NHL Winter Classic at Target Field in Minneapolis on Jan. 1 will not just be an outdoor game between the Minnesota Wild and St. Louis Blues, it will also be a celebration of the "State of Hockey." Part of that celebration will include various hockey teams and clubs from throughout Minnesota skating on one of several auxiliary rinks at Target Field. NHL.com is profiling each of the teams. Today, Hockey Is For Me.

The "State of Hockey" has a growing pipeline to its grassroots through the Minnesota Wild's Hockey Is For Me program, which launched this year.

The program, created with the help of the NHL's Industry Growth Fund, successfully introduced 100 children of color to the game in August. Hockey Is For Me began with four one-hour learn-to-skate sessions for kids ages 5-9 from the Minneapolis-St. Paul area and was conducted at the Wild's TRIA Rink practice facility in downtown St. Paul.

"We're trying to reach out to kids who have never played the game or never been to a Minnesota Wild game," said Kalli Funk, the Hockey Partnerships Coordinator for the Wild. Funk manages the organization's youth hockey programs and is director and lead instructor of the Hockey Is For Me program.

"Our hope is to just get them involved in the sport at the very basic level of learning how to skate first, then transitioning into our Little Wild learn-to-play program, then providing them a scholarship to help them get into the Minnesota hockey association of their choice, one that's closest to their house. So starting off at the basic level and then gradually working into playing the game on a team."

To help plant the seed, all kids who participated in the Hockey Is For Me program were fitted with skates, helmets and gloves for their learn-to-skate sessions. Of the 100 kids on the ice this past summer, 70 graduated and had their costs covered for the Little Wild program. Forty-five moved on to play youth hockey in their own area, and the Hockey Is For Me program granted each of them up to $500 in registration costs to join their local association and a team.

Representatives of that group of graduates will be on one of the auxiliary rinks at the 2022 Discover NHL Winter Classic between the Minnesota Wild and St. Louis Blues at Target Field on Jan. 1 (7 p.m. ET; TNT, SN1, TVAS, NHL LIVE).

"I am excited about the Winter Classic and I'm excited for the kids," Funk said. "They've worked so hard at this. If you would have told them last June they'd get to skate in front of that many people at the Winter Classic, they'd have never believed it. But I know they're really excited, and their parents too. It's cool to see how much the program has grown this year, what a success it was, and we can't wait to see where it goes in the future."

Funk said the results from the Hockey Is For Me program's first year have been rewarding.

With four to five instructors for each of the on-ice learn-to-skate sessions, most of them volunteers from the Wild's front-office staff, progress was swift and encouraging during the four weeks.

"It was really fun because the very first week we were using skate trainers to help the kids get on the ice, help them get comfortable just standing on the ice in their skates," Funk said. "Even by the second week, more than half the kids didn't need the skate trainers anymore. So that was fun to see their progress. And the parents, you could just tell how proud they were of their kids, sticking with it, trying it, and some were even a little surprised that their kids were into it and wanted to keep going. By the end of the four weeks, most were skating on their own and they looked like naturals on the ice.

"It was fun to make that connection with the kids. We're looking forward to doing this every summer, maybe tweak a few things here and there. But our plan is to run the program the same way and try to target the same areas of our community and hope to expand it farther out, outside of the metro area, to get as many kids involved in the game as possible."