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September/October 2018

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NGB News USA Hockey & U.S. Figure Skating 22 /SEPTEMBER.OCTOBER.2018 USICERINKS.COM U.S. Figure Skating sees second-highest membership year Bring more families out to the rink , Youth hockey in the United States saw an incredible boost in participation last season due to the success of Team USA during the 2018 Olympic Winter Games. This heightened interest now creates an opportunity for rinks to invite new families to try hockey and convert them into full-time players. To help capitalize on this increased energy, USA Hockey offers the 2 and 2 Challenge, a comprehensive program that utilizes existing national growth programs, proven best practices and tools to help rinks increase participation at the 8 and Under age group. With the 2 and 2 Challenge, rinks will increase player retention during Welcome Back Week, acquire new players through the widely popular Try Hockey For Free Days, and convert those first-time players into full-time participants with transition programming. Eligible rinks need to have registered and claimed their 8 and under players from the previous season. The most effective and efficient way to get more families to return to the rink is with a personal phone call. During the week of September 17-23, USA Hockey will provide participating rinks with the resources to personally call and invite families back for another season. While it may sound simple, a personal invitation goes a long way. Hosting Try Hockey For Free events is the best practice in acquiring new players. The national dates for the upcoming season are November 10, 2018, and February 23, 2019. Between both days, rinks across the country will welcome more than 25,000 families to their first hockey experience. Last season, the Try Hockey For Free Day following the 2018 Olympics saw 13,500 families experience youth hockey across 379 rinks! In an effort to maximize the conversion of Try Hockey For Free participants, USA Hockey will provide specific resources and recommendations for low-cost, low- commitment programming that can easily transition participants from sampling hockey, into consistent rink customers. Visit 2and2challenge.com to learn more and register your rink today! To learn more about Try Hockey For Free Days and register as a host site, please visit usahockeyprogramservices.com. , It was another banner year at U.S. Figure Skating, which saw its second- highest membership total in the organization's history, as well as the top Learn to Skate USA membership in program history. The year was the fifth consecutive of overall membership growth. U.S. Figure Skating had 192,110 members for the 2017-18 membership cycle (July 1, 2017 through June 30, 2018), a 4.2 percent increase over the previous year. Total membership includes 133,959 Learn to Skate USA members, 57,778 full members and 373 Friends of Figure Skating. The overall number is the second-highest in U.S. Figure Skating history, trailing only the 2005–06 membership year (196,338). During this period, U.S. Figure Skating was composed of 742 member, collegiate and school-affiliated clubs, more than 1,000 Learn to Skate USA programs, 620 synchronized skating teams and 95 Theatre On Ice teams. Learn to Skate USA, powered by Toyota, experienced the highest enrollment in the program's history in 2017-18. The program welcomed more than 30 new skating programs and experienced a 6.2 percent membership increase. Of note, 13 programs have more than 1,000 members and nearly 80 programs have more than 400 members. The Rinx, in Hauppauge, New York, is Learn to Skate USA's largest program, and the Vegas Golden Knights Skating Academy is the largest program to join Learn to Skate USA this year. Learn to Skate USA, an enhanced iteration of U.S. Figure Skating's Basic Skills Program, is the only beginning skating program in the country endorsed by U.S. Figure Skating, USA Hockey and US Speedskating, with support from Special Olympics and the Professional Skaters Association (PSA). J , Welcome more than 25,000 families to your facility with Try Hockey for Free events.

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