GP Wheelhouse "Try it Day" a Huge Success

May 10, 2018

After almost three years of hard work and constant dedication to the growth of our sport, the peace region has a youth roller hockey league. GP Wheel House as a league is very excited to have reached this point in the road and we are ready for the next step. 

 A process such as starting a new league isn’t something that happens over night. Especially bringing a whole new sport to town and I understood that before I started the league. What I didn’t know was how hard it would be to spread the word about the sport and reaching as many parents as possible, not only in Grande Prairie, but the surrounding areas such as Sexsmith, Wembley, Beaverlodge.. etc. That’s why we didn’t have an opportunity for the youth players the first two seasons. We just didn’t have the interest yet. I knew if I could at least get something started for the adults that we could officially join the AMRHA family and let Grande Prairie know roller hockey is here. We ended up with three teams the first season and just provided the opportunity for players to come give the sport a try. Last season we jumped to five teams which is what we have this year as well. 

After 2 solid years of advertising on posters, radio stations, newspaper, social media and everything in between. We were able to announce our first ever youth try it day. Facebook seemed to be the best tool to reach all the parents and we were overwhelmed by the response. Emails and messages started pouring in and we had close to 90 kids registered for the day! It was a great response from all the parents and the questions started rolling in about the sport and the interest grew and grew. I knew if we could put on a great clinic that we would have enough players for the official season to make a program work. 

Having AMRHA on our side made the whole day such a smooth experience by providing the proper size skates for any player who needed them and giving a helping hand anywhere it was needed. All my coaches and directors had to do was run some fun drills and teach the kids about roller hockey. It made for a fantastic day and we are very proud of the outcome. 

The season is about to kick off on May 16th for the youth players and we officially have 40 kids signed up and ready to go. Be on the look out for new roller hockey talent coming from the north! 

Nick Darke

President- GP Wheelhouse Roller Hockey