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45 Associations Attend Annual Leader Conference

By Minnesota Hockey, 05/01/18, 12:15PM CDT

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On April 27-28, Minnesota Hockey hosted its third annual Association Leader Excellence Conference in St. Louis Park, MN. Nearly 90 youth hockey leaders from 45 community associations across the state attended the event, which provides opportunities to learn and share best practices, ideas and resources for enhancing the sport at the grassroots level.

 “The conference is a perfect way to reflect on the previous season and set goals for the upcoming season,” said Brian Thul of Armstrong Cooper Youth Hockey Association, who has attended the event all three years. “It’s a great resource for any association and makes all of us in Minnesota Hockey stronger.”

The event kicked off the evening of April 27th with a series of roundtable discussions on the topics of growing the game, fundraising, parent resources and fair play. Following the discussions, participants were encouraged to stay for a social hour where they had the opportunity to follow up on the ideas they had just heard with additional conversations about the strategies and processes that led to various successes.

On Saturday, the conference offered 20 breakout sessions on topics ranging from goalie development to developing a positive culture to managing finances and grievances. The sessions were led by Minnesota Hockey and USA Hockey representatives, as well as topic experts from organizations such as Minnesota Gambling Control Board, TRIA Orthopaedic, Positive Coaching Alliance and local high school coaches.

“The sessions provide many opportunities to learn from fellow leaders and experts in the hockey community,” said Thul. “Every year I am inspired to bring the information back to my local association and develop a plan for implementation.”

In order to maximize the impact of the event, several associations had three or more board members attend, including Mound Westonka (6) and River Lakes (5). The participants, which came from Moorhead down to Redwood Falls and Rochester all the way to Silver Bay, also represented a great cross section of community size and demographic.

“One thing that I’ve really noticed about these conferences is the energy it provides,” said Minnesota Hockey’s Derek Ricke, who serves as the primary organizer of the event. “Certainly, the ideas and resources are what draw people in, but it really is a motivating experience. You have all of these local leaders interacting in one place and sharing their extraordinary passion to make hockey even better in Minnesota. You can’t help but walk away excited to make a difference in your community.”

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