Photo by Sam Thiel A young player receives high-fives as they skate to receive their certificate during the final session of the Little Minnesota Wild Learn to Play program on Sunday at the Red Baron Arena and Expo. The session also featured a visit from former Wild defenseman Keith Ballard.

MARSHALL – A few weeks ago, dozens of area kids laced up hockey skates and put on pads for the first time and slowly made their way to the ice. As the weeks progressed, their confidence improved and their excitement increased, and on Sunday afternoon at the Red Baron Arena and Expo, the newest group of hockey’s youth in Marshall left with smiles on their faces and a new skillset picked up.

In four short weeks, the Little Minnesota Wild Learn to Play program came to town where players learned basic skills such as skating, passing and more before earning their certificate. Program director Christian Becker said it was amazing to see how quickly the skillsets of the young players improved from the first session a few weeks ago to now.

“It’s just amazing to see their skating capabilities improve with just four hours of ice time and having a NHL veteran like Keith come into town to showcase this event is amazing,” Becker said.

That veteran would be former Wild defenseman Keith Ballard. Ballard, who serves as the Learn to Play manager, spent 10 years playing for the Phoenix Coyotes, Florida Panthers and Wild, scoring 38 goals and recording 137 assists.

This is Ballard’s third year with the program. He said he enjoys seeing the communities come out in waves with coaches, parents and kids getting involved in order to make the program happen.

“Just after I retired, the Wild asked if I wanted to help out with it, and it’s been a really fun program,” Ballard said. “You go to communities like this and you see all of the volunteer coaches that are there and between them and the parents that take the time to sign their kid up and get them here and the kids for being here and doing it, it’s amazing. There are so many people that make this program happen; I love being a part of it.”

The program, which is intended for kids ages 5-8 who have not been a part of USA Hockey organized youth hockey programs before, provided four, one-hour sessions throughout the month of September. The final session highlighted skating, passing with the puck and playing some games such as “Sharks and Minnows” and a scrimmage.

“They did some skating basics, some edgework and a lot of games. This was the final day and they got their certificates, but it was edgework and games,” Ballard said. “The basis of this program is No. 1 the kids get better without really knowing it, there’s a lot of games and stations. They’re playing different tag games where they have to figure out who’s it and how to get away from them, and they’re using a lot of their skills without knowing that they’re using them, which is really cool. And they also got to do a little scrimmage which was a lot of fun for everybody.”

Ballard said the main message of their program is to get kids involved and introduced to hockey and teach them the necessary skills through having fun.

“I think the main message is we’re here to have fun and we’re here to introduce kids to hockey in fun atmosphere and environment. Everything that’s included, the ice time, the equipment – all of that, it’s amazing,” Ballard said. “Our goal is to introduce kids to hockey, get them involved and get them an opportunity to possibly to start their own careers in whatever community they’re in.”

Ballard added this program helps provide an avenue for kids to do something that they can enjoy with their family and friends at any age.

“It’s so fun and it doesn’t matter what sport you’re in and it doesn’t matter the age either. If it’s something that you enjoy, you tend to gravitate towards that and you spend more of your free time doing it whether it’s in the backyard with your friends, at a park, wherever it is,” Ballard said. “That’s what we kind of try to do here we try to introduce these kids to the game and make it fun so in turn, they’re going to want to spend their free time whether it’s in the basement with a stick and tennis ball or signing up for this program. That’s our big goal, is to sign kids up for hockey.”

Becker said they’re appreciative of the work and support they received in order to have the program come to Marshall.

We just appreciate the co-operation that we got from the Minnesota Wild and Minnesota Hockey to bring this here into our beautiful town,” Becker said.

Going forward into the future, Ballard said he hopes the program just continues to grow and see that their hard work is paying off but most importantly get the players’ foot in the door in the sport and see where it takes them.

“That it continues to grow. The first few years we had 16 sites and this program has grown every year, we’re running 20 sites now. We’re getting a lot of feedback where No. 1 the kids are having a blast and No. 2 it’s leading them to sign up for youth hockey, which is so important,” Ballard said. “Not crucial for them, but it shows us that what we’re doing is paying off and we’re getting these 5-to-8-year olds introduced to the game and wherever it goes from there, that’s okay, it depends on the kid. But to get them in the door, get them fitted for equipment, teach them some basics and that kind of show them that hockey is a fun game. That’s what we love doing.”