USA Hockey Foundation

Las Vegas is an unlikely hockey hotbed, having produced only one native drafted to the NHL- Jason Zucker. But some local firefighters are trying to change that.

With the help of donors like you, Las Vegas Firefighters Youth Hockey (LVFFYH) was born when they received a grant from the Foundation in 2011. A group of Las Vegas Fire and Rescue members saw the need to provide monetary scholarships to families having financial difficulty keeping their young players on the ice. With the Foundation grant, LVFFYH is able to give families a 50% reduction in dues to families who needed it.

Eric Littman, one of the founding firefighters of LVFFYH says receiving the initial grant from the Foundation was “nothing less than instrumental in establishing the program.” Many of the firefighters in Littman’s crew grew up playing youth hockey and realized that the skills they learned on the ice, they were using daily as firefighters. “We want to bring hockey to these kids to help them learn discipline, teamwork and other skills they will use the rest of their lives.”

“Ice hockey is the ultimate team sport teaching integrity, commitment and camaraderie,” says Littman. In the future, LVFFYH hopes to use grants from the Foundation and other fundraisers to expose disadvantaged youth to the game so they too can learn important lessons on the ice, and apply them throughout the rest of their lives.