NHL Launches Youth Street Hockey League
March 3, 2023
The National Hockey League (NHL) has partnered with RCX Sports – an organization working to improve the accessibility and inclusivity of sports for local youth – to launch NHL Street. The North America-wide youth street hockey league intends to tackle accessibility to the sport for children aged 6 to 16 and provide families with an affordable, neighborhood-based model.
NHL Street is the league’s latest effort to make hockey more affordable and accessible to young people – especially those from underrepresented and diverse communities. “We’re focused on developing a network of local youth organizers that provide kids and their parents a new way to access the sport that meets their budget, schedule and personal development needs,” said Andrew Ference, NHL Alumnus and NHL Director of Social Impact, Growth and Fan Development.
Designed to make young people feel like professional hockey players, NHL Street provides “kids and their families with the best of what youth sports can be: having fun, staying active, making friends and creating great memories.” The new initiative is committed to bringing programming to parents, athletes and community leaders looking to either start a league or play in an existing program.
By partnering with premier sports brands, professional leagues and businesses, RCX works to equip local youth sports leagues with the resources, training and tools they need in order to thrive. The organization believes that sport has the power to transform lives and is committed to improving the accessibility and inclusivity of sports by creating opportunities for all athletes to play.
Ice hockey is an expensive sport. Costs average around $7,000 a year and can reach as much as $20,000 a year for some leagues. RCX Sports CEO, Izell Reese, explains that “NHL Street will help alleviate many of the traditional barriers that youth hockey athletes face and allow them to experience the excitement and benefits of the sport first-hand."
Through NHL Street, children will have access to NHL-licensed equipment created by the league's partner Franklin Sports and will also receive an exclusive jersey when they participate. The initiative initially launched as a pilot project between February and September of 2022 and was supported by corporate sponsorships (Enterprise in the U.S. and Tim Hortons in Canada) to showcase 2,000 youth players at events in Las Vegas, Montreal, Nashville, Vancouver and Winnipeg. Student-athletes in attendance were given a first-hand look at the new and improved NHL Street through a series of games and hockey skill sessions.
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