Cats & Coffee: Ball Hockey Championship, Learn to Play

Good morning and welcome to “Cats & Coffee,” a weekly segment presented by Community Coffee in which we get you caffeinated with an exciting look at the week ahead for the Florida Panthers.

No ice? No problem!

After what has definitely been far too long of a hiatus, hockey will finally return to the BB&T Center this week as nearly 500 children descend upon the Florida Panthers’ arena to compete for ball hockey bragging rights.

In partnership with local Boys & Girls Clubs and YMCAs, the Panthers’ inaugural “Summer Cats” ball hockey program succeeding in bringing the sport of hockey to many local children, providing street hockey equipment (nets, sticks, shin pads, gloves, goalie gear, etc.) and rink borders to all locations.

Throughout the summer, the program hosted internal ball hockey leagues that were run at the Mite (ages 6-8), Squirt (ages 9-10) and Peewee (ages 11-12) age levels.

Now, the Top-4 teams from each age division from both the BGCBC and YMCAs will head to the BB&T Center on Aug. 3 to compete in a one-day playoff in order to crown the program’s first-ever South Florida Champions.

LEARN TO PLAY

If you have a child that is interested in learning to play hockey, there is no better time to start than the present.

The “Florida Panthers Learn to Play” initiative is run in partnership with the NHL, the NHLPA and USA Hockey. The six-week program costs $100 and is directed at boys and girls ages 4-8 who have never participated in an organized ice hockey program.

The program’s curriculum is designed in conjunction with USA Hockey’s “Gold Standard,” which utilizes an age-appropriate development …

continue reading in source panthers.nhl.com