A former hockey power is currently under construction, being rebuilt from the ground up. 

For two decades, the Bloomington community dominated Minnesota hockey at both the youth and high school levels.

Combined, Bloomington's Jefferson and Kennedy High Schools hung six state championship banners at Bloomington Ice Garden, with the Jefferson girls team adding its own state title in 2001. 

But changing demographics, the rising cost of play, and other factors have eroded the program’s numbers on both boys and girls sides of the puck, previously thought impossible for a community with such a rich hockey tradition.

“The program right now doesn’t have a ton of numbers,” Jefferson alum and current girls coach Josh Levine said on Tuesday afternoon. “You talk to any Jefferson alum about that, it’s brutal. No one likes that.”

But Levine and numerous other community members are rallying to give the program’s enrollment a boost through Learn To Play, where youngsters can walk into the arena, get outfitted in full gear, and give it a shot without paying. 

“There’s no way (parents) are going to go to a store to get all of this equipment, and then (just) try hockey,” Levine explained, adding that the association distributes and recycles the equipment through grants from USA Hockey and Minnesota Hockey. “All you have to do is come through the door (and) put the equipment on.”

Levine estimates that the number of participants this week is around 50, the same number as last week. That’s 50 kids that may not have had the chance to test the game’s waters if not for the program, with parents also reaping the benefits of a trial run free of a financial burden or time commitment. 

Kurt Krenz, an instrumental voice in the measurable growth of the Bloomington Girls Hockey Club, said that the kids aren’t the only ones who need to enjoy coming to the rink. 

“The most important thing is to make it fun for the kids, but just as important in the five, six, seven-year-old range is you gotta make it fun for the parents too,” Krenz said. “Bring the parents into the hockey group, and all of a sudden that’s another social group for them,” Krenz continued, noting that engagement between coaches, parents, and administrators is a key component of a healthy program. 

“It doesn’t stop when they get off the ice,” Krenz said. It continues out in the lobby with a pizza party, (maybe) going to a movie or a social outing at McDonald’s.”

Krenz and the BGHC’s dogged work as ambassadors for players and parents has caused the program to multiply in size five over the past six years, with a substantial amount of that growth due to the Learn To Play program. 

“The second year after we started this, we retained over 90 percent of those kids,” Krenz said. “You do that for a few years, (and) you start to have a little success on the scoreboard, and it just kind of builds on itself.”

With the girls’ program growing to the largest in District 6 (with the exceptions of Minnetonka and Edina), Krenz is confident the grassroots participation is paying dividends but is cautious about resting on the effort’s laurels.

“Don’t get me wrong, we’re not there yet,” Krenz said. “But we’re on the right track.”