From the Locker Room to the Ice

Greg Carroll Learn 2 Skate: Day 1

Day 1 of Learn 2 Skate went very well! Often the first day is kind of chaotic, but not today. I think it was a combination of good planning, good communication with the schools, and lots of great helpers. At church on Sunday, John Foley, the founder of DinoMights was saying that our response to Easter ought to be service to others. He went on to say that if you were looking for an opportunity DinoMights Learn 2 Skate was starting this week. We ended up with three people saying they would help today (including John himself. Don't you just love it when people practice what they preach!) One of the new volunteers, Side who was an original DinoMight back in 1995, ended up bringing three of his brothers too. So we had plenty of good help to get the skates tied and to give lots of tender care and encouragement on the ice.


There is a lot of work that goes into this effort. All the equipment needs to be inventoried, managed, and packed before we can go. Program Assistant Eric Unger along with Andy, our new friend from Hamline University did an amazing job getting us from the Locker Room to the Ice.


Pictured here is a bit of the journey of the equipment before we actually get skating. We start out at "the 4-Plex" our storage facility. Then we get everything packed and into bags or boxes. It is loaded into the DinoMights vans and transported to Augsburg Arena. When we get to the arena we arrange the equipment in a very orderly way so that the students can get fitted as quickly as possible. When the kids come we have a very specific process for getting equipment, and before you know it they are on the ice giving it a shot.
A lot of the kids are afraid to even let go of the boards the first time, but most of them are venturing out at least a little bit by the end of the session. I love it when the kids have only been on the ice for 30 minutes in their whole lives and they will proudly proclaim to me, "I can skate!"