COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT

The Oklahoma City Barons are interested in being upstanding members of the communities in and around Oklahoma City while growing the sport of hockey from its grass roots level.

The Barons have identified they would like to work with three different organizations during the season with solid ties to the communities around Oklahoma City.

The first group identified is Oklahoma City Youth Hockey Association. The Barons want to grow the sport of hockey from the ground up and a healthy relationship with OKCYHA is vital. A solid foundation to mimic is the success the Dallas Stars have had with their youth program. Starting from the grass roots level in the early 90’s after a move from Minnesota, the Stars franchise has helped grow the number of kids participating in youth hockey to over 7,000 in the DFW area.

They started with a program that gives parents an opportunity to let their kids “test drive” the sport of hockey. One deterrent to hockey is the cost of the equipment, ice time and coaching. This program gives the equipment to the children and lets them try the program for six weeks. If they don’t like the sport, they give the gear back and walk away. If they do like it, they purchase the equipment and continue in the program. Theory is they stay in the youth hockey program and continue to play.

The Oklahoma City Barons look forward to fostering the relationship with OKCYHA for this season and many to come.