Desert Hockey Development

Dedicated to building youth hockey in Arizona

Bea Wyatt

Shop at Fry’s? Help raise funds for DHD while you shop!

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fryscommunityrewardsFry’s Food Stores is giving up to $2 million a year to non-profit organizations. Help Desert Hockey Development get a portion of those funds!

The second best part is that registration is easy.

The best part? It will cost YOU nothing, zip, zero, nada.

If you have not registered your Fry’s card online, that’s the first step.

Step One

  1. Go to http://www.frysfood.com
  2. Select “Register” in the top right corner.
  3. Under sign-in information, enter your email and create a password.
  4. Select “use card number” and enter your Fry’s V.I.P. card number, last name and zip code.
  5. Select your preferred store location, enter your zip code and select your store.
  6. Click “Create Account”.
  7. Check your email for the confirmation email.

Step Two

  1. Return to http://www.frysfood.com
  2. Log in with the account info you just created.
  3. Click on the link “Community” in the navigation bar across the top of the page.
  4. In the drop down menu select “Community Rewards”.
  5. Click on the “Enroll Now” button.
  6. In the search box enter either “43204 ” or “Desert Hockey Development”.
  7. Click search.
  8. Check the circle next to Desert Hockey Development in the search results.
  9. Click “Enroll”.

Then go shopping!

Thank you for helping to support Desert Hockey Development.

Did you know that when you are thirsty, you are already dehydrated?

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Stay hydrated!
Stay hydrated!

Children are much more prone to dehydration than adults because their bodies don’t cool down as efficiently. Taking a few simple precautions will protect your child and allow them to enjoy the fun safely.

It takes more than a full day to hydrate, so since we have clinics on Saturdays – make sure they’re getting enough fluids on Friday. That means lots of fruits, vegetables and healthy protein, and of course, six to eight glasses of water.

On clinic day, start out with a healthy breakfast. Some ideas are cereal and fruit or oatmeal and fruit. Just remember, don’t give your child too much fiber. While fiber does have water in it, it breaks down slowly and can cause bloating. Also make sure to have a low-fat protein such as eggs or turkey sausage. A glass of milk will be fine, but water or juice is much better for clinic days. They are easier on the stomach. Too much juice can cause bloating and cramping, so if your child wants more than one glass of juice-dilute it with water.

Additionally, The American College of Sports Medicine recommends drinking the equivalent of a standard bottle of water (16.9 oz.) about 2 hours before vigorous exercise.

Did you know there are two types of fluid loss?
One type of fluid loss is “sensible” fluid loss. That is losing fluids through sweat and urine. A second type of fluid loss is “insensible” fluid loss, which is losing fluids through breathing. The water gets broken down into CO2, and you breathe it out, so during exercise your lungs blow out a lot of fluid you don’t see. Parents will say their kids aren’t sweating a lot and they haven’t had to use the bathroom, so they aren’t losing any fluids. Not true. They are actually losing a tremendous amount of fluids.

It is recommended that kids stop for a hydration break every 15 – 20 minutes. We have instituted mandatory water breaks and the kids I think are doing a good job of keeping on top of the water situation. But please remind them to drink water even if they do not feel thirsty.

After we have clinic, we offer the kids a sports drink (Gatorade). Studies have shown that after 60 – 90 minutes of activity the body has probably used up its readily available sources of energy and many benefit from a fluid that contains carbohydrates.

At anytime during a clinic, if a parent is concerned that their child is becoming dehydrated, they should contact a volunteer, staff, or coach and as that their child be moved to the shade and get some fluids.

IT happened again! What is it? It is ANOTHER lamp was lit!

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On Monday December 23, 2013 a few of the Board Members of Desert Hockey Development headed over to the Bonsall North Park inline skating court. We were going to be meeting with Ms. Caitlin McGlade, she is a reporter with the Arizona Republic, to discuss the plans we have for the court (click here for story).

Desert Hockey Development had put together an offer to the City of Glendale to adopt the inline hockey court portion of the park through a program called “Partners N Parks”.  Through this partnership, we will spruce up the court and provide to the children of Glendale free sports instruction, a program which the City of Glendale has been unable to provide due to budgetary constraints.

While we were being interviewed by Ms. McGlade and her photographer was busy shooting the scene, a young boy came over to the court along with his dad and uncle.  They stood in the stands and watch while a few of the board members were skating around, hamming it up for the photog.  We asked the boy, who we later discovered was Adrian, if he wanted to play, to take a few shots at the goal.  He did, and I thought “Awesome!” because that is often the way I feel about hockey.

What it's all about (AZ Central photo)
What it’s all about
(AZ Central photo)

While Adrian was on the court, his dad told me that he loves to play sports, he often plays baseball and basketball, but had never played hockey, never really had even seen it played before.

Before long three, almost four, year old Adrian was running around the surface, stick handling the puck and taking shots on goal, and making them too.   Michael, the photographer took a lot of nice shots of Adrian, and Caitlin was running iPhone video.  I am so grateful for that, because they were able to capture the joy on Adrian’s face as he was playing, and in the video, the last shot was of little, first time with a stick in his hand, Adrian calling out to his dad, ”Hey Dad I did it!”.

That, for me is what this is all about. The pride of accomplishment when the lamp gets light, and I in this case I am being a little selfish, because while it was Adrian’s lamp being lit from his accomplishment, I was the one beaming.

Lighting The Lamp

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“Lighting the lamp” is a hockey term, it refers to the red light behind the goal that is lit when a goal is scored. Every hockey fan knows what it means and knows it’s a good thing.

Last night around 7, during our “Halloween Candy Hangover Hockey” event at the Glendale rink, I noticed a kid quietly hanging out at the edge of the action. He was five or six, and was watching the inline hockey intently.

“Hey man, do you want to play?”, I asked him.

He didn’t answer, but he also neither ran nor looked away.

I pushed a little, “Do you want to play some hockey? We’ve got a stick for you, it’s no problem.”

He still didn’t answer, but looked ready to give it a shot. We approached him and handed him a too big but as close as we could get stick. Being that he was a little kid, unaccompanied by an adult after dark in a public park, we asked:

“Are your parents here? Do they know where you are?”

“Yes,” he answered to both questions.

His folks were nowhere in sight, but may have been in the area.

We have currently set up shop for our hockey development project in Glendale’s (AZ) Bonsall Park. The park is a common resting place for homeless people in the area. Our kid was wearing worn but warm and mostly clean clothes and wasn’t wearing a “homeless” sign, but it doesn’t really matter where he lives.

So we got him set up with a stick and took him out on the rink between games to take some shots on one of the goalies.

He took three shots on the goalie. Our goalie made two incredible saves, his third shot hit the post.

The fourth shot went in, and that’s when the lamp lit. It wasn’t the goal light, though, it was the kid’s face. He looked like he won a million dollars, maybe two million.

It was time to start the next game, so we made sure to invite him back. We told him to be sure to bring his parents, and we’d see if we could set him up with hockey gear. He pointed at another kid’s skates. “Sure, we’ll see if we can get you some skates,” we told him.

That’s when the lamp lit again.

After the little guy left the rink, he shot the puck around with our youngest son for another half hour or so until our son was due back on the rink. He left without a further word after he put his stick back where it belonged.

I hope we see him again and I hope he brings his folks. I wish we’d gotten his name or at least taken a photo.