The LaRance family is one of many throughout the United States who have taken their first steps onto the ice thanks to Try Hockey For Free, presented by Discover, events, and it was only natural for them to participate at this month’s event in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Derek LaRance and his 5-year-old son, Alistair, were on hand at the most recent Try Hockey For Free event on Nov. 2 at the new WeStreet Ice Center, a one-time department store at the Promenade Mall that now is the practice home for the Tulsa Oilers of the ECHL.
The LaRance family were living in Las Vegas when the NHL’s Golden Knights burst onto the scene in 2017 as an expansion franchise, becoming the first team to make the playoffs in their inaugural season.
That caught the attention of Derek and Emily’s oldest son, Warren, now 10. As a result, the entire family has become involved in the sport as players or coaches — or both.
“When he was 4, we took him to a practice for the Golden Knights and he got to see them skate around. And, he was like really, really into it,” said Warren’s mom, Emily.
Not long after that, Warren participated in his first skating lesson. While the COVID-19 pandemic momentarily stopped him from building up his skills, the ice rink was one of the first places to re-open, so Warren routinely took skating lessons there to make up for lost time.
Neither Derek or Emily played hockey growing up, but Emily started playing about two years ago, and Derek followed suit shortly after.
“After I saw her play her first season, I thought, ‘I should do this,’” Derek said. “I tried it out, and the rest is history.”
Emily said she got involved in hockey soon after her son started so she could help him, as well as learn more about the game. Like Warren, once she started skating, her desire to play continued to grow.
Emily then organized with other parents to start Oklahoma’s first all-women’s hockey league after learning how to skate eight weeks earlier.
“It was hockey moms,” she said. “All of our kids were playing and we just kind of wanted to be able to play with them or participate a little bit and learn the game a little bit better so that when we’re watching our kids, we had firsthand experience.”
“It’s easy for us to sit in the stands and yell, ‘Skate faster, pass the puck.’ But once we started playing, we’re like, ‘Oh my goodness, it’s not that easy,’” Emily said.
Warren attended his first Try Hockey For Free event in the spring of 2022, and Alistair attended his first a year later.
Try Hockey For Free events are a good way to introduce kids to the sport, said Chi-Yin Tse, director of hockey operations for the Tulsa Ice Centers and the general manager of the Tulsa Junior Oilers in the North American Tier III Hockey League.
“It’s getting kids exposed to the sport who may not have had the opportunity to learn the sport, and then make them lifelong hockey fans,” Tse said. “Whether they become hockey athletes or not, that’s a different story. But as long as they have something involved in the sport, I’m pretty happy about it.”
Due to Oklahoma hosting 39 different Native American tribes, Tse said multiple Native families regularly participate in the Try Hockey For Free events, including the LaRances.
Oklahoma is home to 39 different Native American Tribes. According to the LaRances, Tse noted that multiple Native families regularly participate in the Try Hockey for Free events.
Derek, a former Army officer and West Point graduate, is a descendant of the Morongo Band of Mission Indians of California and the Fort Yuma Quechan Tribe of Arizona, while Emily is a descendant of the Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians of Montana.
Tse hopes to provide the Native community in Tulsa with more opportunities to enjoy the sport of hockey.
“One of my goals here is to try and have a youth hockey league, and then specifically getting out to the tribes and get them to bring their youth to our facility so we can run a program for them once a week and try and make it free,” he said.
As with many youth sports or activities, the participants often are the best recruiters.
“He talks about it to his friends,” Emily said of Warren. “There were two girls in our neighborhood that started at Try Hockey For Free because of learning about it from their friends.”
Story from Red Line Editorial, Inc.
National Native American Heritage Month is observed in November and calls attention to the culture, traditions, and achievements of the nation’s original inhabitants and of their descendants. To learn more about Native American Heritage Month visit www.nativeamericanheritagemonth.gov
