NJGA provides financially challenged children the opportunity to learn to play and enjoy ice hockey free of charge.
Founded in 2004, NJGA responds to the prohibitive cost of youth ice hockey, especially for lower income families, and to hockey’s lack of exposure within New Jersey’s diverse urban communities.
The first class of skaters from Morris and Union counties hit the ice in Spring, 2005. In the Spring of 2006, NJGA hosted its first group of participants from the greater Newark area. By Spring 2007, over 30 new children were enrolled in concurrent weekly sessions in both Union and Essex counties, NJ.
Boys and girls, ages eight through high school enroll in seasonal sessions taught by professional coaches. Development in the program instills the values of sportsmanship, competition, and athletic and academic achievement. With ice hockey as the catalyst, and the support of dedicated volunteers, children achieve athletic success on the ice, and improved life skills to help equip them off the ice.
A thirteen member board directs the organization, and adult volunteers and professional coaches administer the program.
NJGA takes great pride in its corps of high school aged hockey athletes who serve as assistant coaches and mentors for participants. High school volunteers qualify through their achievement in academics and sports. In 2007, NJGA launched an adjunct program that matches high school volunteers with program participants in need of academic tutoring or homework support.
