U17 Calgary Royals are city tournament champions for the third year in a row in Bantam AA. The tournament is put on by Hockey Calgary every year. (Taylor Boisvert CMRU.ca)
Hockey Calgary oversees over 13,000 minor hockey players in Calgary
Hockey Calgary is a non profit organization that has helped keep hockey in Calgary safe, inclusive and affordable for over 60 years. The organization is a volunteer driven organization that has been dedicated to helping young hockey players since 1949. Their mission is to make hockey inclusive for all through their many partnerships that help run tournaments, special events, equipment donations and much more.
Hockey Calgary’s goals for success in youth hockey
The benefit for youth hockey in Alberta with hockey Calgary is immense. Executive director Kevin Kobelka has been around the organization for over 25 years and has a main philosophy including many core expectations. Hockey Calgary’s goals are access, Development, fun, inclusivity, life skills and safety of all its players, coaches and officials. Of course as many know hockey is also one of the most expensive sports to play, however hockey Calgary has also began to take donation for lightly used equipment in partnership with the Flames foundation to offer at heavily discounted prices to be able to make sure that everyone can afford to play the great sport of hockey. Donation bins are scattered around many arenas in the Calgary area. Furthermore Hockey Calgary is always looking for volunteers to help with operation of tournaments, refereeing, donations and much more, visit their website for more information on how to become a part of this organization. Many ongoing partnerships include: Hockey Alberta Provincials.
Hockey Calgary partnerships:
- City Championships
- Esso minor hockey week
- FESP Cup golf tournament
- Hockey Alberta Provincials
- RHC year end tournament
- U7 Timbits Jamboree
Hockey Calgary’s efforts to keep hockey safe and friendly
Hockey Calgary’s mandate and mission statement is “Provide a positive youth sporting experience through hockey by engaging and leading our volunteer driven membership. As well as core values like Consistency, Fun, accountable, sportsmanship, safety, respect, collaborative and inclusive. Whilst having these values and goals Hockey Calgary continues to elevate the experience that should be had by all youth hockey participants with a goal of further growing the sport as well as making hockey change rooms and teams all around Alberta a better place to play. Hockey continues to expand with these ideologies in place to gain further notice and regulatory practices to make hockey the most enjoyable sport it can be. Kevin Kobelka adds that “ without the continuous help from all volunteers and partners, hockey Calgary will continue to make hockey a safe and inclusive sport for decades to come”. At the end of the day there is a place for everyone in this great game of hockey.
Impact on the author:
Assignment 5 was a project that I believe will help open the eyes of the community in Calgary in many different ways. In the case of my project based around the non profit organization called Hockey Calgary, I believe it will leave an impact on the hockey community that is so vast in Calgary for a few reasons. With the known fact of hockey being a very expensive sport, I believe Hockey Calgary is doing the right thing by partnering up with other organizations to make the game of hockey more affordable for all through donating equipment to the less fortunate. They also have a goal to make hockey inclusive for all and have many different types of hockey that caters to everyone from high junior hockey all the way to the grassroots. They also have one of the largest grossing female sectors in Canada which allows all genders, races and backgrounds to enjoy the lovely game. If you take a look at their website you will see all the different partnerships and volunteers that help run hockey leagues all over Calgary, and make them run as smoothly as possible. I hope with my video it will help impact how hockey is looked at in the community and how it can be now seen as a universal sport for everyone and not just a rich man’s game.
With assignment 5 however, I did have many obstacles in trying to find the right organization to partner with on this project. This led to many organizations denying the offer for an interview or even many organizations pulling out of the interview just days before they were planned to be recorded. This led to a lot of stress in finding an organization that would not only cater to my passions but as well that would actually enjoy taking part in their project. When Kevin Kobelka from Hockey Calgary agreed to do the interview. I was happy because it aligned with something that I am passionate about, which is sports. Kevin was a great interview subject who was fully immersed in the game of hockey from a young age. He was super knowledgeable as well on the entire organization which led to very good interview responses that really showcased what Hockey Calgary is all about.
Through creating this project I realized that it takes effort and a relentless attitude to get what you want in the broadcasting industry, and many may say no to what your idea is but if you keep trying and putting your idea out there you will be heard and create projects you are happy to showcase.
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