Photos provided by:
Michael Ross
Lightning Made Hockey has
given away 90,000 street
hockey sticks. If you lined
those sticks up end to end, they
would stretch all the way from
Tampa to Walt Disney World!
would weigh 2.5 tons – as much
as the average car!
currently have a home sellout
streak of over 160 games and
counting – Lightning Made
has definitely done its part to
How “Lightning
Made” has Helped
Turn Tampa into a
Hockey Town!
Growing the game has
always been the plan
By Wyatt Ross
Part 2
Last month I introduced you to “Lightning
Made” Hockey and how they helped turn
Tampa into a hockey town by focusing on programs
for kids.
This month, we’re going into a lot more detail
about everything Lightning Made. I’m going to
unwrap the history of Lightning Made and spill the
beans on everything the Lightning’s community
hockey organization does for its hometown and for
the sport of hockey.
Let’s start at the beginning. Less
than five years ago, the Lightning
community hockey department
consisted of just one person –
Tom Garavaglia.
Many readers may recognize Tom,
because he has been on the ice and in the locker
room for just about every Lightning Made Summer
Camp and Holiday Camp since the beginning.
Tom has now taken on a new challenge as the
Manager of High School Hockey.
At the end of 2013, Jay Feaster had just ended his
run as General Manager of the Calgary Flames,
and was contacted by the Lightning to come
back to Tampa and help build the Lightning Made
program.
Up until then, community hockey was an outreach
program paid for by the Tampa Bay Lightning.
But at the same time, the NHL and the Players
Association had just signed their latest contract.
Included in the contract was the creation of an IGF,
or Industry Growth Fund. Teams were required to
contribute millions of dollars each year into a fund
to help grow the game of hockey across the league.
Each team’s programs could then apply for these
funds for new community outreach initiatives, all
with the same goal – to grow the game of hockey.
And that’s when things really took off.
What was once just a one-man
operation has now grown to a
full-time staff of nine employees,
with another thirty or so parttime
employees and one intern.
Of course, leading the whole
effort is Mr. Feaster, whose
official title is Vice President of Community Hockey
Development.
Josh Dreith is the Manager of Youth & Street
hockey; Aaron Humphrey works with Josh as
the Coordinator, Youth & Street Hockey. Kristen
Bowness is the Manager of Diversity & Sled
Hockey; Sara Bustad works with her as the
Coordinator. Tom Garavaglia, as I mentioned
previously, is now Manager of High School Hockey;
Mike Ross (again – no relation!) is the Coordinator
that works with Tom.
Jassen Cullimore is the Hockey Director, and
Mathieu Garon is the Assistant Hockey Director.
By the way, Jassen and Mathieu are both
retired from the NHL, and both are Stanley Cup
Champions!
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