TUTORIAL: Hockey’s untapped playbook to supercharge growth
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The Alliance of European Hockey Clubs presents the fifth in a series of online tutorials in 2025. It is titled “HOCKEY’S UNTAPPED PLAYBOOK TO SUPERCHARGE GROWTH” and will be presented by Amy Walsh.
The fastest way to grow the game is to open it up to new groups that have historically been outside the hockey ecosystem, like women and new residents. But hockey’s a tough game to access. It’s expensive, exclusive and hard to learn. Despite decades of programs and initiatives to make hockey more accessible, many leagues across the world struggle to grow participation and fandom. That’s what inspired the launch of the Future of Hockey Lab in Canada. It’s the only innovation lab in the world dedicated to breaking down systemic and cultural barriers to grow hockey for good. The lab fuses Silicon Valley’s proven innovation methods with inclusive Canadian values. As a national non-profit, its partners include major brands, universities, professional and amateur hockey associations, and community organizations.
In this presentation, CEO Amy Walsh shares examples of how the FHL has used innovation sprints to tackle issues like access to ice time and female participation, and highlights how an innovation sprint approach can help teams break out of the box to find new solutions to their hockey challenges.
In 2020, Walsh co-founded the Future of Hockey Lab to help combat past and present incidents of racism, discrimination and inequities in hockey. It was inspired by three core bodies of work that Amy spearheaded when she was executive director of Hockey Nova Scotia from 2018 to 2022, including the Hockey Nova Scotia Diversity & Inclusion Task Force Report. She is the past chair of the Hockey Canada Diversity & Inclusion Task Team, chair of the Women’s Worlds Legacy Development Committee, member of the NHL & NHLPA Female Hockey Advisory Committee and served on the Canadian Junior Hockey League Diversity & Inclusion Committee. Amy was previously the director of sport development with Sport Nova Scotia where she led a large team charged with the growth and sustainability of quality sport experiences for all Nova Scotians. Amy, a mother of three boys and former competitive hockey player, has coached at various levels and continues to passionately volunteer in the community for the game she loves.
This tutorial will take place on Wednesday, 26 February at 13:00 CET.
This will be the E.H.C. Alliance's fifth online tutorial of 2025, following:
- Oliver Wohak and Robin Schürmann’s “GENERATE A COMPETITIVE EDGE FOR YOUR CLUB - TAP INTO THE POTENTIAL OF DATA” on Thursday. 16 January,
- Angela Lindeberg’s “HOW SDHL BECAME ONE OF THE BEST LEAGUES AGAINST ALL ODDS” on Wednesday, 22 January, and
- P.G. Fahlström's “SUCCESSFUL ELITE ORGANIZATIONS: THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES AND LESSONS FROM REALITY” on Wednesday, 5 February.
- Juan Fuentes Fernández’s “GROWTH IN FAN AND BUSINESS RELATIONSHIPS” on Wednesday, 19 February.
To secure your spot in any of our online tutorials, kindly email European@hockeyclubs.eu.
We look forward to your participation! (It’s free)