News & Media

Village Kids receives funding to support multisport programs to get kids off to the right start in hockey

Village Kids is excited to offer a land-based sport and wellness program to help the young hockey  players and their families get the right start in sport by introducing skills based on child development  principles designed to light up the body and the mind, building connections and confidence that carries  over into the home, school and playground.

“Being a change-maker in sport is important to us at Village Sports. As such, we are grateful for the opportunity from KidSport's grant to push forward with our introduction to hockey programming which is focused on doing things differently. Our goal is to help those being introduced to hockey, to understand the benefits of working on overall athletic development in a fun-filled and engaging environment beside their hockey development. This grant helps with land-based equipment, extra coaches and other items and we are excited for it.” Paul Bradley, CEO Village Sports

Village Sports has been awarded a Return to Play grant from KidsSport and the Government of Alberta! The grant will be used to support the launch of Village Kids Multisport sessions for  U7 and U9 players.  We are partnering with several local minor hockey associations for the 2022/23 hockey season including McKnight, Simons Valley, Wolverines, SW Cubs and Hockey Calgary.

The 5 multisport physical literacy based sessions are designed to get kids and their families off to the right start in sport. 

The sessions incorporate themes such as: I Like to Move It (skill development) Game Sense (and a little nonsense), X Marks the Spot and more. 

Unique features of the project include:

  • Families participate together for the last 10 minutes of each program
  • Social-emotional learning
  • Parent education and resources
  • Coach education and resources
  • Working with the associations to discuss how to make hockey more inclusive and accessible to a broader audience.


The Return to Play Grant is designed to support Albertans in their return to sport, physical activity, and recreation programming through financial support to organizations (for and non-profit). Funded by the Government of Alberta and administered by KidSport Alberta and Alberta Recreation and Parks Association, this program supports community level organizations in their delivery of sport, physical activity, and recreation programming.

Download the Press Release Here pdfPRESS_RELEASE_-_Return_to_Play_Grant.pdf