Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/1513704
"Sartell Hockey is growing a program," said Peterson. " We have great facilities with many families and fans that support our youth. And, we are always looking at ways to help our players improve their skill set, make sure they are playing at the appropriate level and are all being coached with the same fundamentals." Sartell credits much of its success to a community willing to step up for its kids. Whether getting the word out at local schools or the Sartell SummerFest parade, former players coming back to serve as coaches, or volunteers supporting the Battle by the River Tournament, Sartell Hockey is like an extended family. " We are lucky to have great parent-volunteers that run these programs with the oversight of the Hockey Director and our Hockey Operations Committee," Peterson said. " We have an extremely healthy number of dedicated parent coaches at all levels that are instrumental to our players' development. We also encourage our teams to give back. You will see many teams volunteer for different organizations as a way of giving back to our community." GROWING THE GAME Creating a variety of opportunities has proven to be an effec- tive way for Sartell to attract new players to the game and create word of mouth and buzz about the program throughout not just Sartell, but also surrounding communities. For example, the Central Minnesota Riverblades co-op (includ- ing Sartell, Sauk Rapids and St. Cloud) provides girls from 10U- 15U the chance to play. Sartell has added a full-season 8U program in 2023-24. Riverblades also partners with St. Cloud State's wom- en's program to offer Husky Pups, a girls-only Try Hockey for Free program taking place in late summer and early fall. Little Sabre, Intro to Hockey and Little Wild are low- or no-cost programs that get Sartell-area kids on the ice at their own pace. New this year, SYHA has partnered with Sartell Figure Skating to develop core skating fundamentals for its young athletes. " We are always working on growing our program, so we offer many opportunities for young children to try out the game with no or very little expense to parents," said Peterson. "Our hope is that they love the game and continue to want to play." HOME ICE ADVANTAGE Perhaps the pride of Sartell hockey are the facilities that many within the organization would consider their homes away from home. First, there is the beautiful Bernick's Pepsi Arena, which opened in 2003, after what Anderson calls a "two-year labor of labor of love by Sartell Hockey members and community busi- nesses to build the future home to SYHA and our high school teams." "Prior to that, SYHA had partnered with the Sauk Rapids Youth Hockey Association, practicing and playing at other area arenas, sometimes an hour away," Anderson said. In 2019, Bernick's Pepsi Arena was nominated for Kraft Hockeyville USA and ended up winning $10,000 for rink upgrades and $10,000 worth of new hockey equipment from the NHLPA Goals & Dreams program. The Kraft Hockeyville excitement ignited community support for an additional sheet of ice. In 2020, as the pandemic settled, Sartell Youth Rec Center (the arena owner/operator) began expansion of a sec- ond arena and formation of SCHEELS Athletic Complex. SCHEELS Athletic Complex is home to Bernick's Pepsi Arena and RDR Arena (Regional Diagnostic Radiology). In the sum- mer, when ice is removed in Bernick's Pepsi Arena, turf goes in to support the local soccer, lacrosse and off-ice training, so it's a winner for the whole community. "All efforts to open both rinks were a result of donors and volunteers working long hours to make this happen," said Anderson. " We have so much support from families and fans for our program. If players don't have a game or practice scheduled, you can often find them showing up to the rink to support players on other teams just to watch hockey." 15 J A N / F E B 2 0 2 4 | M H J ON L I N E . C O M