COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — A total of $125,000 in grants will be distributed by The USA Hockey Foundation to five sled hockey programs in 2017-18 through Labbatt USA’s Pass It Forward initiative.
This is the second year of the program, which was created to help in providing access to hockey for everyone. Through the initiative, Labatt Blue is bringing partners together and increasing awareness of sled hockey through advertising, promotions, social media and limited edition packs of Labatt Blue and Labatt Blue Light “Cheers to Hockey” cans, which includes a sled hockey can design.
In 2015-16, a total of 10 sled hockey programs — including five newly created programs — each received $25,000 that was used for items such as sleds, sticks, ice time and uniforms.
“We’re thrilled to have Labatt USA involved in furthering access to sled hockey and strenghtening the sport overall through its varied promotional initiatives,” said Dave Ogrean, executive director of USA Hockey. “Over the past year, the funding provided by Labatt USA has helped bring the sport of sled hockey to new areas such as Montana, South Dakota and Wisconsin, and we look forward to identifying new programs this year to continue the momentum.”
“The goal of our ‘Pass It Forward’ initiative is to make hockey accessible for everyone, and based on the steps last year’s grant recipients have made we feel this initiative with USA Hockey is achieving that,” said Lisa Texido, brand manager of Labatt USA. “We’re excited to continue bringing access to hockey to more athletes who want to play the game.”
Programs interested in applying for the grant can do so by clicking here. Application deadline is March 19. The grant is open to any sled hockey program that is brand new or has been operating for less than two years.
To learn more about Labatt USA’s Pass It Forward initiative, visit www.LabattUS.com/sledhockey.
