PARK CITY, Utah — The Utah Mammoth hockey team is hosting "Mammoth Week," featuring free hockey clinics and activities throughout Utah. The event drew approximately 500 people who RSVP'd for activities in Park City.
The week includes different specialized clinics each day. The Park City event featured sled hockey for disabled athletes, with high school hockey scheduled later the same day. Previous days included a goalie clinic, while upcoming events include a clinic focused on girls' hockey.
"This is the fun part of my job, where we can just bring hockey to our fans," said Kristen Bowness, the director of youth programming for the Mammoth. "Every ice clinic has a different objective. So today we're sled hockey. We have high school. Yesterday, we did a goalie clinic. Tomorrow, we're doing girls' hockey."
Outside the ice arena, participants enjoyed street hockey, challenge games with radar guns to test shot speed and accuracy, plus other activities like dodgeball and spike ball.
Daniel Bell, who plays right defenseman for Utah's first sled hockey team, began playing the sport about a year ago after being recruited by his roommate from a rehabilitation hospital.
"After getting paralyzed and losing my legs, it was really dark for a while," Bell said. "Hockey has really been great. It's a great group of guys to hang out with. Everybody has gone through something difficult — not necessarily the same things, but we've all gone through hard stuff."
Bell enjoys helping with clinics for children.
"The feeling of satisfaction that I get from watching them have fun and get out of, you know, if they're in wheelchairs or arm crutches or whatever, we don't care. We're all-inclusive," Bell said.
Bowness, who figure skated as a child because girls' hockey wasn't available where she lived, emphasized the importance of accessibility in hockey programs.
"Everyone deserves a chance to try," she said. "Whatever we can do to just provide more opportunities to try, I think we should."
The Utah Mammoth, the state's first NHL team, will continue Mammoth Week with events in Cottonwood Heights, Ogden, Enoch and St. George . Information about upcoming events can be found on the Mammoth's website HERE.
