Photo: Kemmetmueller Photography Inc
OMGHA partners with the Minnesota Wild to bring hockey to hundreds.
That first time on the ice is intimidating. Ankles are wobbly; footing is uncertain. A fall is practically inevitable. But regardless of the trepidation, each year children ages 4 to 9 lace up skates, don helmets and pads, and hit the ice for the first time at ice arenas in Brooklyn Park, Maple Grove and Osseo. And, when they do fall, volunteers from the Osseo Maple Grove Hockey Association (OMGHA) Mites program pick them back up, dust them off and send them back out to try again.
But sitting in the stands, parents might have different anxieties. “It’s scary, right?” says Mites vice president Hailey Fischer-Anderlie. “‘Does my kid want to play hockey? Do they not?’ It’s not easy just to go to try it, because getting on the ice isn’t cheap to do.” OMGHA understands this apprehension, which is why it offers free registration for first-year Mites players. “We just want to make hockey accessible for everybody and just grow the game across Minnesota,” Fischer-Anderlie says.
Last year, the Minnesota Wild recognized Hailey Fischer-Anderlie for her work with the Osseo Maple Grove Hockey Association. Photo: Corey Anderlie
OMGHA isn’t the only organization looking to grow the game. The Minnesota Wild and its Minnesota Wild Foundation introduced the Skate It Forward campaign in the 2025–26 season, and OMGHA was one of the 11 community programs it partnered with. “Skate It Forward was created to assist in preserving, strengthening and celebrating community hockey across the state of Minnesota,” says Mike Snee, vice president of the Minnesota Wild Foundation and community relations. The goal for OMGHA, specifically that season, was to encourage more kids from Brooklyn Park to try hockey for the first time, and the new program saw marked success. “The 11 Skate It Forward pilot associations increased the number of new hockey players in their communities by over 40 percent year-over-year in 2025–26,” Snee says. “We hope to see even more of that this year.”
The Minnesota Wild Foundation’s Skate It Forward campaign will fund new equipment for all first-time Mites players for the 2026–27 season. Photos: Kemmetmueller Photography Inc
For the 2026–27 season, Skate It Forward works a little differently. OMGHA received a grant that will fully fund new equipment for all first-time Mites players alongside the waived registration fee. Beside the cost, Snee says hockey equipment can be intimidating for parents unfamiliar with the game. “Providing first-year loaner equipment at no charge and showing them how to put the equipment on their child can be all it takes to get a kid to try the game and ultimately fall in love with it,” he says. Fischer-Anderlie says OMGHA’s goal is to grow the number of new players to 150. But even though numbers are great to meet, the individual impact remains more important. “I think even if we get any new players, especially players that might otherwise not be able to afford the gear, I think that is going to be just so beneficial for our community,” she says.
Before committing to a season, parents can bring their kids to one of 10 Try Hockey for Free sessions at the Brooklyn Park, Maple Grove or Osseo ice arenas. Fischer-Anderlie often meets new Mites players through one of these open houses and sees them through their first season. “I run our end of the season jamboree, and getting to see the start to finish is the most rewarding thing,” she says. “Getting to see the progress and then the smiles on their faces is just amazing.”
Like Hailey Fischer-Anderlie herself, her daughters are coming up through the Osseo Maple Grove Hockey Association (OMGHA). Here her eldest is playing with OMGHA’s U8 at the 2025–26 end of the season jamboree.
So, if everything goes to plan, players get their start in Mites and fall in love with the game. (And with a retention rate of over 90 percent, those odds are pretty high.) Then what? “A lot of people don’t know that Osseo Maple Grove offers assistance,” Fischer-Anderlie says. Alongside this application-based program, OMGHA’s free equipment rental program has taken off in recent years. “We outfitted over 30 kids with full sets of gear last year,” she says. OMGHA board members also manage the Facebook page (OMGHA Hockey Equipment Sell, Swap or Give), which is 1,500 members strong and a great way to keep rapidly growing players in gear that fits.
Like Fischer-Anderlie, plenty of local residents have come up through the OMGHA and look for ways to give back to the program that gave them a lifelong passion for hockey. The nonprofit funds itself through its charitable pull tab program at Duffy’s Bar & Grill, Hy-Vee Maple Grove, Malone’s Bar & Grill and Maple Tavern. As far as donations go, Fischer-Anderlie recommends supporting Skate It Forward directly. “If we can give back to the state of hockey in general, we think that’s huge,” she says.
For those interested in a more hands-on approach, she notes that OMGHA is a strictly volunteer organization, and there is always room on the board. “We’d love to have anyone interested in volunteering come take part,” she says. “It’s such a rewarding thing to do.”
Osseo Maple Grove Hockey Association
Facebook: OMGHA
