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NGB News USA Hockey & U.S. Figure Skating 46 /MAY.JUNE.2018 USICERINKS.COM 2018-19 U.S. Figure Skating Community Development Grant Third Year's a Charm: USA Hockey Sees a Third Straight Year of Record-Setting , The 2017-18 season marks the third-consecutive record-breaking season for USA Hockey in the 8-and-Under age classification. Paulina Doughtie from Antioch, Tennessee became the 115,695th 8-and-Under player to join USA Hockey and set a new record for participation. Doughtie was introduced to the game in 2017 through USA Hockey's Try Hockey For Free Day and the Little Predators Learn-to-Play program, part of a league-wide initiative developed by the NHL and NHLPA that provides new players with six to eight weeks of beginner instruction and a full set of hockey equipment to keep. This spring, Doughtie will skate in the Nashville Predators Amateur Hockey Association house league at Ford Ice Center. Through growth initiatives like USA Hockey's 2 and 2 Challenge and Try Hockey For Free events, rinks across the country continue to see an increase of patrons. These events have grown significantly, having already introduced over 152,000 new families to the sport. For the 2018-19 season, national Try Hockey For Free Days are November 10, 2018 and February 23, 2019. November is an ideal time to bring families into your rink that may not have previously considered youth hockey and are wrapping up fall sports. February provides a great opportunity to attract new families who are thinking about hockey because it's winter. This will give you an advantage with your spring programs and in identifying new families for next fall. To learn more about 2018-19 Try Hockey For Free Days, please visit usahockeyprogramservices.com. , U.S. Figure Skating is awarding six grants for the 2018-19 membership year. The purpose of these grants is to provide money to selected member clubs, Learn to Skate USA programs and U.S. Ice Rink Association member facilities to develop community-based programs/ events to attract, involve and inspire new generations of figure skaters. Six $2,000 grants will be allocated to the member clubs, programs and facilities that most effectively demonstrate how they will use the grant to develop these initiatives. To apply for the grants, email a concise plan to U.S. Figure Skating in care of Susi Wehrli McLaughlin, Senior Director of Membership, at swehrli@usfigureskating.org. Each plan must contain the following information: 1) Complete contact information 2) Brief history or mission of the organization requesting the grant 3) Concise statement outlining your program/event plan 4) How this will benefit your community and U.S. Figure Skating 5) Who is your target audience? What is the anticipated number of participants? 6) Describe the marketing strategies and tactics to be used 7) How will you measure your success? 8) Timeline of your program/event Application Deadline: May 31, 2018. Grants will be awarded after July 1, 2018. Only applications submitted by email will be considered, please send your plan as a PDF, if possible. Plans received by the application deadline will be forwarded to a selection committee. All applicants will be notified of the results. Late applications will not be considered. , 115,695 8U players registered to play hockey in 2017-18—a new USA Hockey record.