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Day One is in the books.

Storm and Grinders battled it out on the south side, while Outlaws and Street Kings opened their season on the north side as the first games of the HWB Development League got underway.

More importantly, new players took the floor, learned the game, built confidence, and experienced hockey in a way many never thought possible.

Two games down. Four teams on the board. Five weeks of development ahead.

A SPORT MADE FOR US.

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Youth Ball Hockey is coming fast... and we’re gonna be there when it arrives.

JOIN THE MOVEMENT.

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School's almost out. We're gonna be BALLIN' at Central Community Center on Monday, June 1st. New players, new sticks, and a whole lot of hockey. See ya there.

A few spots still open for the July Session at Central Community Center, Aurora, CO.

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One stick can change a game.

One opportunity can change a life.

Through Give A Stick, Colorado businesses, community leaders, and philanthropists are helping introduce hockey to kids who otherwise may never get the chance to play.

Join us in building confidence, teamwork, and opportunity across Aurora.

Donate today:
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For years, youth sports organizations have focused almost exclusively on reaching the grassroots. They hang flyers, post on social media, run ads, and hope families discover their programs. While those efforts remain important, there is another strategy that can often accelerate community growth even faster: working on the "grasstops" in order to reach the "grassroots."

The concept is simple.

The grassroots are the families, kids, volunteers, and community members who ultimately participate in a program. The grasstops are the influential people who shape opinions, open doors, create opportunities, and help validate an idea before it reaches the broader public. These can be mayors, city council members, parks and recreation directors, school administrators, business leaders, nonprofit executives, media personalities, community advocates, and respected local influencers.

At TOP CHEEZ Sports Initiative, this approach has become a critical part of our mission to build hockey where it never existed before.

When we introduced Hockey Without Boundaries and our vision for Colorado’s first Scholastic Ball Hockey League system, we knew that simply asking families to sign up would not be enough. Many communities had never seen organized ball hockey before. Many parents had never considered hockey as an option for their children. In some neighborhoods, hockey simply was not part of the conversation.

Before we could reach the grassroots, we needed to reach the grasstops.

That meant building relationships with Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman, Aurora City Council Member Amsalu Kassaw, and Aurora Parks and Recreation Director Brian Green. It meant sharing the vision with leaders who understand the importance of access, youth engagement, public spaces, and community-based sports opportunities. It also meant developing relationships with school advocates, volunteers, media contacts, nonprofit organizations, and business partners who could help carry the message into the neighborhoods we hope to serve.

These relationships are not about politics or prestige. They are about trust.

When a mayor recognizes the value of a youth initiative, the community pays attention.

When a city council member helps create connections, doors begin to open.

When parks and recreation leaders see how an underused space can become a new community asset, programs become possible.

When a school administrator shares information with families, parents listen.

When a local media voice tells the story, new audiences discover something they may have never known existed.

This is how a new movement gains credibility before it gains scale.

At TOP CHEEZ Sports Initiative, the goal is not influence for the sake of influence. The goal is access.

Every successful grassroots movement needs pathways into the community. The grasstops help create those pathways.

Today, as TOP CHEEZ Sports Initiative works to introduce free hockey experiences to first-time players through Hockey Without Boundaries, launch Colorado’s future Scholastic Ball Hockey League system, and revitalize outdoor hockey culture, we recognize that growth happens from both directions.

We build from the ground up through kids, families, parents, coaches, and volunteers.

We build from the top down through trusted community leaders who believe the vision deserves a chance.

When those two forces meet, something powerful happens.

A new sport becomes accessible.

A new community begins to form.

A child picks up a hockey stick for the first time.

And what started as a conversation with a handful of influential leaders becomes a movement embraced by families across the city.

That is the power of working on the grasstops to reach the grassroots.

And for TOP CHEEZ Sports Initiative, it is one of the reasons we believe hockey’s next generation will come from places nobody expected.

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Some kids grow up believing hockey was never made for them.

We’re here to change that.

Every stick placed in a kid’s hands is a chance to belong, compete, build confidence, and discover something bigger than the game.

76 sticks down. 924 to go.

Help us grow the game where it never existed before.

Give A Stick Count: 76/1000


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