{"id":650196,"date":"2026-05-05T22:00:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-05T22:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/650196\/"},"modified":"2026-05-05T22:00:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-05T22:00:08","slug":"community-new-ice-district-event-park-will-help-more-kids-find-their-place-in-sport","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/650196\/","title":{"rendered":"COMMUNITY: New ICE District event park will help more kids find their place in sport"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Together, we&#8217;ve brought the sport to Fan Park @ ICE District for watch parties, open rink sessions, community days and special events where kids can pick up a stick without pressure or expectation. Those moments, the laughter, the nerves, the spark when a kid realizes, &#8220;hey, I can do this,&#8221; are what keep us going.<\/p>\n<p>By creating more inclusive public spaces like the new event park, there will be even more opportunity to grow programming and give local groups a place to come together in the heart of our downtown.<\/p>\n<p>Nowhere has that energy been more visible than in the ICE District and at the ICE District Classic tournament.<\/p>\n<p>Our first ICE District Classic in 2023 drew just under 20 teams. The next year, we hit 30. Last year, more than 50 teams packed Fan Park for three days of ball hockey and community pride. This August, we&#8217;re preparing for more than 60 teams and 2,000 participants across four full days \u2013 a milestone that shows just how hungry Edmonton is for accessible, community-driven sport, one that kids now count down to and parents plan around.<\/p>\n<p>The weekend has become as much a celebration of belonging as it is a tournament. It&#8217;s where players from BHE1, other local leagues and the general public share the same surface.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Together, we&#8217;ve brought the sport to Fan Park @ ICE District for watch parties, open rink sessions, community&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":650197,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[433],"tags":[49,48,448,82],"class_list":["post-650196","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-nhl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/650196","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=650196"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/650196\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/650197"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=650196"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=650196"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=650196"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}