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Ely - Hockey at the “End of the Road”

By Minnesota Hockey Inc., 01/04/12, 9:15AM CST

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Recruiting efforts in Ely are providing results

Recent successes in Ely, America’s “Coolest Small Town” have put more youth on the ice and kept ice skating programs for the entire community going strong.
 
Recruiting efforts by the Ely Blue Line Club including USA Hockey’s “Try Hockey for Free Day”, waiving association fees for mini-mites and all first year skaters, and attending “Back to School” nights with youth hockey information in Ely, Babbitt and Tower schools have resulted in a 13% increase of youth ages 4 to 8. Blue Line officers and board members are also going out of their way to promote a welcoming and inclusive environment at all association events which keeps members and the public coming back with a smile
 
Another success has been the raising of funds for a new (used) zamboni. The effort began with help from Dale Hansen at R&R Specialties who helped us locate the perfect machine at an affordable price. The entire community including businesses and individual donors stepped up to donate over half of what was needed. It’s really been a great effort and has helped bring the Ely hockey community together. The final success in our fund raising campaign came when we received a call from the Royal Bank of Canada to whom the Blue Line Club had submitted an application to their “Play Hockey” grant program, a program intended to break down barriers for entry into hockey for minorities, First Nation people and women. Ely received $10,000.00, one of four grants awarded to Minnesota cities in 2011.
 
Although our recent successes have created an exciting buzz for hockey in the Ely area, there are still challenges ahead for our community. We were recently informed by the company that services the 1972 vintage Ely Arena that the cooling system is beyond repair and we are now hosting all our programs on “natural ice”, which seems to be arriving later and leaving earlier each year. Of course we hope our next success story includes the news that we were successful in our efforts to repair or replace the arena’s cooling system so we can continue to offer youth hockey at the “End of the Road”.
 
The Ely Blue Line Club’s efforts to recruit new players and raise the funds necessary to keep youth hockey strong and vibrant to this point in time have not required earth shaking effort. As a local Club we’re simply doing what it takes (with a smile) to offer the opportunity for area youth and adults to experience the fun and excitement we’ve come to expect from our sport in the great “State of Hockey”.
 
For more information about hockey in Ely, please visit www.elyhockey.com
 
If your association recently did something that had positive results, please email what you did to info@minnesotahockey.org.  And if you would like to get involved at a statewide level, please contact Shari Olson.  Shari oversees the Recruiting & Retention Committee and can be reached at (218) 348-2417 or shari@duluthheritagesportscenter.com.  For more information about growing hockey in Minnesota, please visit the recruiting and retention sections of www.minnesotahockey.org or www.usahockey.com