Firebirds street hockey clinic reaches Mecca; sessions will wrap next week and resume in August
Following street hockey clinics all over the region that have included more than 5,000 boys and girls, the Coachella Valley Firebirds began to wind down their initial run of clinics Monday in Mecca.
More than 40 children attended the free event, which is part of a community outreach program designed to engage with children and families and teach the fundamentals of hockey, discipline and leadership. The goal is to generate excitement for hockey and for the Firebirds’ inaugural season, which will begin later this year at Acrisure Arena, near Palm Desert.
The arena, which is expected to host concerts, AHL games and other sporting events and family shows, will have a secondary rink for recreation hockey leagues.
The final street hockey clinic for the spring will be held June 2. Clinics will resume in August.
“The community response has really been great,” said Zoe Hickel, the Firebirds’ manager of hockey programming and community relations.
Hickel is a Team USA gold medalist who joined the Firebirds following an assistant coaching stint at Ohio State, where she won a national championship with the Buckeyes.
“Going from winning a national championship to being out here teaching kids how to hold a stick is really fun,” Hickel said. “There’s an excitement.”
At the clinic, girls and boys from ages 7-13 assembled to learn hockey basics, from how to hold a stick to how to pass and take shots at goals. Kids were divided up into teams and then coached through scrimmages.
The Firebirds had a number of key organizational figures in attendance Monday. Arena and team president Steve Fraser was present as was arena general manager John Bolton and team brand ambassador Gino LaMont.
Riverside County Supervisor V. Manuel Perez also was among those at the event.
Shannon Miller, the team’s vice president of branding and community relations, and a five-time collegiate national championship coach, joined Hickel in leading the clinic.
“It’s a bit of a drive to get out here,” Miller said, “but it’s worth it to see these kids and help them learn about the game.”
Miller said that as the clinic was coming to an end, one participant asked when the Firebirds will be coming back for another. “One more day?” she was asked.
After dozens of clinics, at schools, YMCAs, Boys & Girls Clubs and community parks, Miller had to break the news that after next week the Firebirds will take a break from the clinics for a stretch this summer.
“We’ve really loved all these clinics,” Miller said. “But we’re pretty tired, so we’ll take a break and start back up in August.”
Andrew John covers sports for The Desert Sun and the USA Today Network. Email him at andrew.john@desertsun.com and find him on Twitter at @Andrew_L_John.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Coachella Valley Firebirds host kids for street hockey clinic in Mecca
