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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

Q-and-A with Connor Dunlop

09/07/2017, 2:00pm MDT

By USA Hockey

A Game of Generations

01/31/2014, 3:45pm MST

By Touchpoint

It's been often said hockey is a lifelong game. For some that means they continue to lace up the skates decades after there are any fans in the stands. For some it means they give back by coaching, officiating or volunteering. For others the lifelong connection is through the network of teammates, friends and life lessons learned along the way; a bridge of sorts that keeps them closely connected to the sport in the business world. USA Hockey recently caught up with 1968 Olympian Jack Morrison, who continues to find success off the ice, long after he received his accolades on the ice.

When you see Jack Morrison these days, he has the contented look of a life well-lived.

Morrison, a Minneapolis native who played on the 1968 Olympic team in Grenoble, France, was the only American to be among the top 10 scorers (tied for eighth) in the tournament, registering two goals and six assists in seven games. In 1967, he completed an illustrious collegiate career at current NCAA champion, Yale University, where he was named first-team All-American East as well as first-team All ECAC his senior year.

He left Yale as its all-time leading scorer, with 51 goals and 68 assists for 119 points.

“When I look back on that period of my life, it was an honor to be mentioned in the same company with players like Ken Dryden and Jerry York (who were fellow All-Americans), and, of course, to be an Olympian,” Morrison said. “Due to the Vietnam War, we were unpopular among the French crowds. The Czechs and Russians were actually more well-received. We had a fantastic team and probably could have fared better. It was a terrific experience nevertheless.”

Following amateur athletics, Morrison attended Harvard Business School and, after a stint with Kidder Peabody, went to work for the Pillsbury Company, where he rose to the position of Executive Vice President and President, Pillsbury Consumer Foods Group. After the company was acquired by Grand Met (now Diageo), he decided to join three longtime associates to form Goldner, Hawn, Johnson & Morrison, which quickly became a highly successful private equity firm.

Morrison received an extraordinary opportunity to wear a different Team USA uniform, when, in the middle of his presidency, former college classmate, George W. Bush, requested that he serve on OPIC (the Overseas Private Investment Corporation) and, later, PFIAB (the Presidential Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board), overtures he happily obliged.

While his sense of duty to country is longstanding, Morrison has also maintained an enduring commitment to Minnesota, which has been home to he and Chris, his wife of 46 years, since 1975.

He and his son, Jeb, have invested in a handful of small Minnesota companies and Morrison has been a longtime director at Andersen Corporation (Bayport, Minn.) and Hormel Corporation (Austin, Minn.).

Jeff Ettinger, Chairman of the Board, President and Chief Executive Officer at Hormel Foods, is quick in his praise.

"Jack Morrison has been an outstanding member of the Hormel Foods Board of Directors since 2004,” Ettinger said. “He is a man of broad interests and experience, from his Pillsbury days, to other boards, to the Bush White House, to his hockey connections, to his private equity success. He brings both business sense and common sense to his role as lead director with our company."

Jay Lund also lauded Morrison’s contributions and character.

"Jack was one of Andersen’s first outside directors,” said Lund, Chairman of the Board, President and Chief Executive Officer of Andersen Corporation. “Over his 16-plus years on our board, he has helped guide our company through a major business transformation and the most severe recession in the housing industry since the Great Depression. As Lead Director, he has been a mentor and friend for me and a great ambassador for our company."

Although numerous exciting opportunities have come Morrison's way since his playing days, his family and friends, above all else, are his abundance. Kelly, his daughter, resides in Minnetonka and Jeb is close by in Hopkins. They each have three children, which makes him one busy grandfather – as five of his six grandchildren play organized hockey.

It's an identity that suits him though and, in his eyes, the most enjoyable "jersey" he's ever worn.

“I love the game and have always been most comfortable when I’m on the ice,” Morrison said. “The only thing better than that is watching my grandchildren play.”

John Johannson reflects on his brother, Jim

02/23/2018, 7:15am MST

By John Johannson

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