It takes a great amount of hard work to make it to the National Hockey League. In order to make it to the NHL level you have to start somewhere. That’s where the NHL and the Dallas Stars come in.
This season the NHL partnered with its 31 teams to bring the game of hockey to kids ages 4-8 years old.
The Stars are hosting the clinics throughout cities in Texas and two locations in Louisiana, Shreveport and Baton Rouge.
At Leo’s Iceland Dr. Jim Winges, a kinesiology professor from LSU, is the man in charge of the program in Baton Rouge. Dr. Winges, also known as “Coach Jim,” is originally from Minnesota and is doing everything he can to bring the game that thrives up North down South.
“We’ve been given $21,000 worth of equipment to allow new kids to come in and learn how to play hockey,” Winges said about the program.
“Dallas is trying to invest in our community because they want us as part of their fan base, and for all these little kids to get the opportunity to play hockey, which they wouldn’t.”
The kids in the program were measured for equipment before the program started. They get to keep everything they used once the program’s finished.
Winges, along with the Stars and some help from local hockey club the Baton Rouge Blades, are trying to get the game to catch on in the area.
“The Baton Rouge community used to have a pro team called the Kingfish and it was an exciting time,” Winges said.
“When the Kingfish left, youth hockey that was going on kind of dwindled. Now we’re trying to grow it back again, and that’s really our goal.”
For more updates you can follow along with Baton Rouge Blades on their Facebook page. www.facebook.com/brbladeshockey