Beer League Hockey Practice is in its third year and is doing well, providing much needed hockey workouts, drills and fun play for adult recreational players in southern Ontario.
Co-Founders Peter and Shelby Munro from Peterborough became frustrated with the lack of available ice time for recreational players to practice and become better at the game they love.
There are plenty of adult leagues in the southern Ontario area but in order to improve their skills they need the practice time to augment the games.
Traditionally, the availability for this sort of service has been sparse at best particularly for adults.
There are some workouts available through various municipal programs and there are a few private companies in the business but not enough to meet the demand.
The Munro’s took the risk and started their own family run business and have been doing quite well with the concept.
They coined the name to connect to the storied past that saw beer companies traditionally sponsoring adult men’s leagues.
They have some slick social media campaigns that are enticing and put them clearly ahead of others in the business.
The service is geared toward the adult beginner male and female player who most likely did not play minor hockey as a child and is looking to take up the game in later life.
Shelby, an NCAA scholarship women’s players from Quinnipiac University in Connecticut had the hockey knowledge from her playing days so together with husband Peter they started the company in 2020 and now have training sessions in 9 cities across southern Ontario with plans to expand to 12 cities next year.
Beginning with their first registration just over three years ago, they now have over 1200 male and female players benefiting from structured workouts, drills and friendly shinny games.
I personally attended the winter session in Brampton and found the workouts to be interesting, challenging and well organized. The instructors were knowledgeable and made the workouts fun.
I am an experienced player with over 50 years in the game but had been away from the game due to Covid, so the workouts helped me get the rust off.
Ice time is at a premium in southern Ontario so the Munro’s spend a lot of time searching for acceptable arenas to carry out their service. Many of the older arenas in the smaller centres are geared towards children with Adults traditionally being an afterthought. Through experience and together with the suggestions from their growing client list, the Munro’s have developed a template for the ideal arena set up that will give their clients the best possible experience.
The Munro’s have a good connection with their clients who have been telling them that the social part of their program is as much a part of the experience as the workouts. To that end the Munro’s are planning to include post workout socials, visits from VIP celebrities and maybe even a weekend fantasy camp as part of their future goals.
The future looks bright for Beer League Hockey Practice as they continue to develop this niche market in the game of hockey.
We wish the Munro’s all the best in their journey.
See you at the rink.
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