NHL.com reports that in Florida, Hockey team Tampa Bay Lightning has partnered with Girl Scouts of West Central Florida in an initiative to grow the sport of Hockey around the world, starting at the community level. The Lightning is a member of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL). They have one Stanley Cup championship in their history, in 2004. The team is commonly referred to as the Bolts.Unlike the NHL’s regular season, which spans the first week of October to the beginning of April, the program will provide opportunities for youth and teenage girls year round. Areas of focus for in-season activities include educating girls about various aspects of the game including the rules, players, basic skills and proper nutrition, exercise and training techniques common to many athletes in the sport. The program will also encourage the demographic to pursue careers in the professional sports industry, affording them the opportunities to become strong leaders in the community and in business as well.
The Lightning organization will make trips to various camps to continue promoting the message during the summer months. The camps are scheduled to have two visits apiece with about 30-60 girls attending each session. The sessions themselves are designed to be both fun and educational, with the Lightning Fan Experience Truck scheduled to make appearances, while bringing street hockey gear on site to run girls through drills, practices, scrimmages and instruction. Fun!
In other news, I was personally never good at Hockey - maybe that's why I'm Blogging about it...