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Columbus Ice Hockey Club Helping Kids Find Hockey Home

05/09/2018, 11:00am MDT
By Greg Bates

Partnership with city’s parks department gives new opportunities for kids to try hockey

Michael Watson got his boys into hockey at a young age.

Spencer and Sam both played up through the ranks of the Columbus Ice Hockey Club (CIHC). Now, Spencer is playing for one of the best prep hockey schools in the country, Culver Academy, and Sam is lacing up his skates for the Ohio AAA Blue Jackets.

The two kids have the central Ohio-based CIHC to thank for their development as players and young men.

“I think the ice hockey club really exposed them to and built the love of the game in them,” said Watson, who is president of the organization. “There’s not many kids of color that play hockey, especially during the time when they started. Diversity is something that has gotten better. But when I look at my two kids specifically, Columbus Ice Hockey Club really bred into them, not only the love of the game, but the importance of respecting the game, honoring the game and really what it means to be a good teammate — what it means to actually step outside of your comfort zone and find success.”

There have been similar success stories for some of the hundreds of kids who have played for CIHC over the years.

In a grassroots effort, John Haferman and Jeff Christian co-founded the club in 1999 and partnered with the Columbus Recreation and Parks Department (CRPD) to offer economically disadvantaged boys and girls of all ages in the Columbus area opportunities to play hockey. Roughly 60-65 percent of the kids in the program are either at or below the poverty line.

“I think the best thing about the organization is we are a program that is here to help feed the passions that the kids have to play hockey and once we start feeding that passion, one of the greatest things is we connect the kids,” said Watson, who has been associated with CIHC since 2006. “We show the kids through hockey all the different possibilities that hockey can bring to them.”

CRPD runs street hockey and learn-to-skate programs. CIHC then takes those skaters and allows them to play ice hockey through a learn-to-play program and in-house teams.

“One program couldn’t exist without the other,” Haferman said, who is the executive director of CIHC and director of hockey operations for CRPD.

Over the last 19 years, CIHC has grown to 11 teams: one 4U, one 8U, two 10U, two 12U, two 14U, one 16U, one high school junior varsity and one girls 19U.

“We’re a small group, but I consider us a developmental program for the city of Columbus,” Haferman said.

There are more than 4,000 kids who participate in Columbus’ street hockey and learn-to-skate programs with around 170 kids playing in CIHC, along with another 40-50 kids in the learn-to-play program.

“Hockey is growing in this city and we want to be part of that growth engine,” Watson said. “We want to be a key cog in the engine. And so, the way to do that is to continue to partner, continue to open up doors to schools and rec centers throughout central Ohio.”

The hockey club has a pretty solid retention rate as players who start in the system work their way up.

“Some years you’ll have a kid who goes from our October learn-to-skate to our November learn-to-play to playing games in January,” Haferman said. “It’s a little bit rare, but it happens every year.”

With nearly two decades of players coming through the CIHC program, the organization started an alumni game three years ago to celebrate its history. This year, the game brought back more than 40 former skaters.

“You don’t really know the kind of impact you have on peoples’ lives until years later when they come back and say what an amazing little ride they had and how much they liked it,” Haferman said.

Even more impactful is all but five or six of the nearly 30 coaches who help with the learn-to-skate and the 11 hockey teams played for the CIHC program.

“It’s amazing how kids are now coming back and coaching,” Haferman said. “That’s probably the best story; that we have kids who come back and want to coach after they graduate college.”

Said Watson: “Success is getting those kids to come back into the community and to give back in a meaningful way. We’re starting to see that.”

CIHC isn’t just about hockey; it’s about teaching good academic foundations. The program stresses having the kids do well in school and learn lifelong lessons on and off the rink.

“For us, if the educational component isn’t there, it doesn’t matter how good of a hockey player you are,” Watson said. “It’s your mind that’s going to get you further than anything else.”

When Haferman helped start the CIHC program, he never imagined where it would be nearly two decades later.

“I’m ecstatic,” Haferman said. “I don’t think there was ever any way we thought it would get to where it is now and we’re continuing to evaluate every year with things that are going right, things that we could do to improve and try to get one thing added every single year.”

Story from Red Line Editorial, Inc

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Things these days are different for 1976 U.S. Olympian Jim Warden. As a netminder turned assistant coach, he lived the game. Now, he admits he’s not a regular watcher of hockey – though he finds time to tune in during the Olympics and to watch his alma mater, Michigan Tech. 

Yes, Warden admits, he’s easily found a life outside of the crease; but still there, strong as ever, are the memories that area created for him.

“Hockey was my life for many years and makes up the fabric of who I am now,” he writes. “I cherish every memory as I grow older.”

Warden could write a book on his time with USA Hockey and the bonds and memories formed. He graciously crafted this letter to share with our community.

To USA Hockey Alumni and Friends,

I rarely get to talk hockey, living in the mountains of North Carolina. Right now I feel like a retired preacher who is asked to give a sermon after 25 years of rocking on the porch, but I am excited to talk hockey once again.

I call Wilkesboro, N.C., home, nestled in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. My time is spent working sales with Champion Buildings. If not there, I am playing golf with my dear friends at Oakwoods Country Club. Beyond that, most of my time is spent being a father, husband and caretaker of our family. I am blessed with good health and a wonderful wife, and I enjoy all that life is about.

For me, a large part of that life was hockey.

I am honored to have been an Olympic goaltender with the 1976 U.S. team, and I am proud to be a member of the 1972 U.S. World Cup team. In addition I’ve had the privilege to wear the red, white and blue for the 1975, 1978 and 1979 U.S. National Teams.

All of it was a good run for a kid from southern California. 

Putting that USA jersey on for the first time is something that I’ll never forget. Bob Johnson was leading the U.S. team into the World Cup of Hockey and was looking for a solid netminder. At the time, I was playing regularly as a freshman at Michigan Tech. Badger Bob asked coach John MacInnes if I was available to play. I am so grateful he never gave me an option. Coach MacInnes told me that I was going to represent my country, and reminded me what an honor it was to do so, not only for me, but for Michigan Tech, too. 

That was that. 

That was also the beginning of my relationship with Bob Johnson. I could go on forever and tell a million stories about that man. I am eternally grateful for whatever it was that he saw in me. Bob was a bit quirky, but he was so passionate about the game. He breathed it dawn to dusk and I’m sure in his sleep. I played for him on the 1975 U.S. National Team, which led to the 1976 U.S. Olympic squad.

Playing in those ’76 Olympics is where I learned some of the most valuable lessons that this game has ever taught me. I learned that sometimes it is your day in the sun, sometimes it’s your opponents’. Not too many people realize that we were one period away from winning the bronze medal after defeating Finland, 5-4 – a game where we were heavy underdogs. We were down 1-0 going into the third period against West Germany, the “home” team with the Olympics being held in Innsbruck, Austria. In those days, the tournament was designed where all we had to do was earn a tie to capture bronze. On that day it was Germany’s day in the sun – we lost 4-1 and it was truly agonizing.

I went on to play for John Mariucci on the 1978 U.S. National Team in the World Championship – the first year that they were open to professional players. 

My last time putting on the jersey for Team USA was in 1979 for the World Championship. I was chosen by Herb Brooks as the “professional” goalie to help prepare his team for the 1980 Olympics in Lake Placid. The other goalie was some kid from Boston University named Jim Craig. Herb got what he was looking for during those World Championships as Jimmy Craig played exceptional in his baptism of international hockey, and Herb’s system worked. We were competitive in every game and the college kids were instrumental and an integral part of our success – they won gold one year later after all.

I guess, in summary, it’s the players that I played with that I look back fondly on. My fellow Americans fighting and clawing during that era of NHL and Canadian dominance and the rise of the Russians – my teammates and coaches are what I remember most. 

It was an honor to play with them and for them, and being an Olympian is truly a lifetime honor.

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