(upbeat music) - Salt Lake County Parks and Recreation Try Hockey for Free program is great for kids to build confidence, socialize, and learn more about hockey.

Program manager, Jesse Gambrell, is here to tell us more.

Hi Jesse.

Thanks for being here.

- Thanks very much.

So this is a program you've had for a while and tell us how people try hockey for free.

- Yeah, absolutely.

So at all our ice rinks, about twice a year, we have these different events that are try hockey for free.

We invite everyone out to come out, experience the ice, get on the ice and have some fun.

- [Mary] All right, great.

And tell me where they are.

- So we have three ice rinks within Salt Lake County right now.

We have the Salt Lake City Sports Complex, which is located near the University of Utah.

We have the County Ice Center, which is located in Murray, and the Acord Ice Center, which is located in West Valley.

- Okay.

So they've got three choices.

And I know you do these February and November, so they're coming up.

So how do kids get involved?

I guess it's for the whole family though, right?

- Yeah, absolutely.

So we have hockey players who start as young as they can walk and go all the way to, we have some older people who can beat in our adult leagues.

So hockey's great out there for any one of all ages.

We encourage everyone to come out and experience it if you haven't experienced it before.

If you're looking for an event or something near you at a rink, please go to one of our websites and check it out, and it'll point you in the right direction.

- Okay, great.

And what about equipment?

Do you have to have equipment or is it available through your program?

- Yeah, so we do have it available through our program.

The thing we do ask is we ask everyone to dress warm and active, similar to something you do if you were hiking in the winter or out sledding or skiing, just because it does get a little cold in the ice rinks.

So gloves and some warm clothing you can move in is definitely very highly recommended.

- Okay.

And then all the other equipment you've got?

- Yep, we provide everything else, the sticks, the helmets, the pucks, the skates, we've got it all.

- All of it.

So people can just have.

And then who teaches it?

Tell me about who teaches it.

- Yeah, we have certified instructors and employees who are out on the ice giving you direction, pointers on how to skate.

The different basics of hockey skills, giving you a taste of what it would be like out there.

Kind of pointing you in the right direction and making it fun for everyone.

- [Mary] Well great.

Well, thanks for being here.

- Yeah, thank you so much for having me.

- And if you would like to know more about how you can participate in Salt Lake County Parks and Recreation's Try Hockey for Free, that's coming up November 2nd at different ice centers, Acord Ice Center, Salt Lake City Sports Complex.

Go to tryhockeyforfree.com.

I'm Mary Dickson, thanks for watching Contact.

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