Disney Sets High GOALS With Plans for Youth Hockey : Crime fighting: Company donates $500,000 to start the widely praised program. Two gang- and drug-infested neighborhoods in Anaheim are initial targets. Education, camaraderie will be stressed.
Reaching out to youngsters in two of the city’s most crime-ridden neighborhoods, the Walt Disney Co. on Wednesday announced plans for a youth hockey program aimed at teaching underprivileged children positive values and getting them off the streets.
The program will target the gang-infested Jeffrey-Lynne neighborhood and drug-plagued Ponderosa Park area this summer. Eventually, it will branch out to other Orange County cities and then across the country, said officials of the Disney company, which also owns the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim.
“When we started the Mighty Ducks, we knew we wanted to create a youth hockey program that would have an impact on the lives of its participants,” said Disney Chairman Michael D. Eisner. “Through its Anaheim ice hockey program, (Disney) will not only give kids a sport they can become fanatical about, but will provide them with lessons that will serve them well throughout their lives.”
The program was widely praised by city officials and others.
Disney’s nonprofit program called GOALS--Growth Opportunities Through Athletics, Learning and Service--is modeled after a highly touted New York program named Ice Hockey in Harlem.
David Wilk, who spearheaded that program, was hired by Disney to run GOALS.
“I’m still a little bit numb that Disney has judged it to be a good program and something they want to invest in,” Wilk said. “I know the program works. . . . I know the problems and challenges and needs of inner-city kids are just the same here as they are in Harlem.”
Eisner, who spoke at a press conference at the Anaheim Arena, said the program will give adolescents, particularly those who might be lured into gangs, an outlet to get their “testosterone working in a positive way.”
Disney will donate $500,000 to start up the program, but it is relying on community volunteers as well as other sponsors to help sustain the venture.
“Money alone is not going to build the program,” Wilk said. “People and relationships will.”
Disney officials said the Anaheim program will use hockey to teach the youngsters three concepts: “Discipline and camaraderie of sports, the development and empowerment of education, and the goodwill and growth of community service.”
The program will move beyond athletics and include mandatory after-school classes and participation in community service events, as well as clinics in skating techniques. The children will also compete in hockey matches, meet hockey stars and have the opportunity to earn camp and school scholarships.
The city and Disney are discussing building an ice rink that would be used by the program as well as by the Mighty Ducks.
Wilk said the program will be open to girls and boys up to 18 years of age. All participation and equipment costs will be free. As the children re-enroll over the years, they will be encouraged to become mentors and coaches to new participants. Wilk added that the program will try to accommodate as many underprivileged children as want to participate.
The program’s two initial target areas, one of which is less than a mile from Disneyland, were selected with the input of city and community leaders.
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“Anything that can get these kids off the streets is good,” said Harald Martin, a police officer who walked a beat in the Jeffrey-Lynne neighborhood as part of a now-defunct community policing program. “I think the kids would get a kick out of ice skating. It’s obviously something they don’t normally do.”
In a statement released Wednesday, Gary B. Bettman, commissioner of the National Hockey League, also commended Disney’s efforts.
“The combination of inadequate resources for youth programs and an increase in crime affecting youth have made too many kids fearful of the present and without hope for the future,” Bettman wrote.
To supplement Disney’s contribution, Mighty Ducks officials said they will hold a “FanFair” benefit March 20 at the Anaheim Arena attended by Ducks players and coaches. Ducks President Tony Tavares said the organization hopes the event will raise $300,000 for GOALS.
The team is committed to making GOALS work and to bringing hockey to children who might not have been able to enjoy the sport because of its costs, he said, noting that equipment and ice times for youth hockey leagues in Southern California can run as high as $2,000 per person for one season.
“This is a natural thing for us to become involved with,” Tavares said.
Disney officials said the final details of the ice-rink project are being worked out and an announcement will be made soon.
