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26 SEPTEMBER, 2024

The Vipers are making hockey happen in North Shore schools!

Adrian Koit

Term 3 has been very busy for our club, the (Auckland Vipers Inline Hockey Club), not least because we finally had access to our home rink at ActivZone in Glenfield following a 5 month closure earlier in the year. But we have been active in the community, specifically with an initiative to increase awareness of our sport.

Over the last few years, I have learnt that a vast majority of people in the sport come to be aware of it through people they know. And this includes our own family. While word of mouth is great, it's not really enough. As a niche sport, we're unknown and hidden from the majority of people. Not only do you need to come to a rink, you need to come at specific times on specific days to see our sport in action. Chances of this happening accidentally are pretty slim to none.

So our club decided to change that by taking the sport out into the community. As part of our club's longer term strategic plan, we are currently reaching out to local primary schools within the immediate vicinity of our rink, to run a series of demonstrations during their lunch break to show kids a small sample of what inline hockey is. Planning began in Term 2 by reaching out to schools, as we appreciate that their schedules get filled up quickly throughout the year. We managed to lock in dates and times at five schools for Term 3, and we are still working on visits for Term 4 and into 2025, as we are also limited in our own capacity.

So far our demonstrations have been very well received by the schools and the kids. Our demonstration team with players from several grades run through a series of simple skating and puck drills, then into a micro scrimmage. It's these mini games that excite most of the children. When we had time, we would allow them to grab a stick and shoot some pucks, and long queues formed right up till the end of lunch bell. Where schools had club members attending, they were involved in the demonstration, a nice showcase to their friends of the sport they love. We had one of the kids say "that was the best lunch break at school ever!!"

Whether we end up getting any of these kids to start playing or not, it doesn't matter, as now hundreds of kids have 'inline hockey' in their vocabulary where it wasn't before. It might ignite a flame to learn to skate, or spark a memory with their parents of their youth playing in the 90's. Increasing awareness and exposure of our sport is the only way for it to grow.

By Adrian Koit - Club President, Vipers Inline Hockey Club.

If you're interested in setting up a school league in your local area, check out the IHNZ resource: Hockey Ready: Setting Up a Local School League.

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The Vipers are making hockey happen in North Shore schools!

The Vipers are making hockey happen in North Shore schools!

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