Foundation To Operate City Ice Rinks

(PHILADELPHIA, PA – November 18, 2008) – The City of Philadelphia and the Ed Snider Youth Hockey Foundation (ESYHF) have agreed to form an unprecedented public/private partnership whereby the non-profit group will administer all hockey programs at three City-owned ice rinks, recently slated to close as a result of Mayor Nutter’s recent budget cuts. ESYHF was founded by Comcast-Spectacor Chairman Ed Snider and today serves more than 2,000 youngsters by enabling thousands of boys and girls in virtually every neighborhood throughout the City to learn to skate and to play the non-traditional sport of ice hockey.

Through its new partnership with the City of Philadelphia, ESYHF will provide increased opportunities for boys and girls at destinations within their neighborhoods to participate in quality community-based recreational and supplemental educational programs during the out-of-school hours when these youngsters are most vulnerable to undesirable and dangerous activities.

“This is a groundbreaking arrangement for the City of Philadelphia,” proclaimed Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter. “We have a non-profit organization (ESYHF) with a successful history of positive youth development coming to the aid of the City in order to help bring about affirmative change. We are grateful to the Ed Snider Youth Hockey Foundation for its commitment to improving the lives of young boys and girls in Philadelphia.”

ESYHF will oversee all ice hockey programs at the Scanlon Ice Rink (Kensington), the Laura Sims Skatehouse at Cobbs Creek (West Philadelphia), and the Rink at Simons Recreation and Teen Access Center (West Oak Lane). ESYHF will provide all necessary equipment and professional hockey instruction, as well as supplemental academic services at no charge to participants. The program forms recreational and competitive teams among its participants, ultimately culminating in community-based intramural hockey leagues. The Philadelphia Department of Recreation will continue to maintain the rinks and operate public skating programs on Saturday afternoons to provide a fun and recreational experience for nearby residents.

“ESYHF participants will gain open access to the ice five days per week, but perhaps more importantly, they will also gain access to structured after school programs that include homework help and other learning projects,” said City of Philadelphia Recreation Commissioner Susan Slawson. “This is in keeping with the ESYHF core principal that on-the-ice activities are a privilege that students must earn through an ongoing commitment to academics and citizenship.”

The new partnership also allows ESYHF access to ice three afternoons per week at the Rizzo Rink (South Philadelphia) and the Tarken Ice Rink (Oxford Circle) and access to ice on weekday mornings at all five City rinks. This will enable the Foundation to expand its School Day sessions, which provide physical education programming for many of the Philadelphia public schools that are within close proximity to these sites.

“If the end product of this partnership is that boys and girls go on to play for competitive club, scholastic or even collegiate hockey teams, that would be great,” said Snider. “But more significant are the thousands of young people who will learn the importance of staying in school, staying out of trouble with the law, and the need to give back to their communities. These children will someday help to build a stronger Philadelphia.”

“We are thrilled by this alliance,” said Scott Tharp, President of the Ed Snider Youth Hockey Foundation. “This is a win-win situation. ESYHF will gain access to much needed ice time, and ESYHF, in turn, will relieve the Department of Recreation of the overhead needed to staff its hockey programs. Being recognized as the official youth hockey provider for the City of Philadelphia marks the achievement of one of the Foundation’s initial goals.”

“This is very exciting. The residents of the surrounding communities will gain a first-class program run by the most respected youth hockey organization in the region,” added Slawson. “What has impressed me most about ESYHF is its supplemental educational services, including its nationally acclaimed life skills curriculum; the end result is boys and girls who are turned on to self-improvement while being turned away from apathetic and dangerous lifestyles.”

The ESYHF is also working with the City of Philadelphia to procure land in the City for a hub facility, encompassing a state-of-the-art computer lab, classrooms, administrative offices, and multiple ice surfaces. The facility will also include public space designated for meetings and other related community functions.

Philadelphia Flyers founder Ed Snider created the Ed Snider Youth Hockey Foundation in 2005 as a personal commitment to provide opportunities to those who would otherwise not have such options. The Foundation has experienced rapid growth and uses hockey as its hook to gain and hold the attention of its young people, bringing inner-city children together resulting in positive youth development.

The mission of the Ed Snider Youth Hockey Foundation is to use the sport of hockey to help educate young people on how to succeed in the game of life.

Tuesday, November 18, 2008