Barracuda in the Community: November

Dec 2, 2015

Just two months into the inaugural season and the San Jose Barracuda are making their presence in the community felt in a big way! November was a busy month for the Barracuda off the ice despite a season long 7 game road trip. Let’s look back at all the fun!

This past month kicked off the first of many schools visits this season and also introduced the Barracuda Math Class. This community outreach program for elementary school-aged children is designed to generate excitement and interest around math. This program has been created based off of the standards outlined by the California Board of Education to teach students all about the game of hockey while practicing their everyday math skills at the same time.

Troy Grosenick and members of the Barracuda front office staff kicked the program off by going to Santa Clara Christian School to visit some 1st and 2nd graders. After getting to know Troy and having a short discussion about the game of hockey, the students were split into two teams so they could play a round of math jeopardy! There were some very smart students in this group and the second graders were great role models for the younger students.

A few weeks later, Gus Young and Joakim Ryan visited Anne Darling Elementary in San Jose to help Ms. Llyod’s 2nd grade class sharpen their math skills! Gus and Joakim both spoke to the students about the importance of studying hard and going to college along with breaking down the layout of a hockey rink. After splitting up the students, the Barracuda defensemen each joined a team and became group leaders for math jeopardy. Both players worked with the students to make sure their answers and work leading up to those answers were correct. Joakim Ryan’s team came out victorious by a slim margin!

As participants in the Barracuda Math Class, all students received Barracuda school supplies and signed photos of the players who visited their class. For completing the program, each student was also given a free ticket to be used at a Barracuda game later this season!

School visits were not the only appearances that Barracuda players made this month. On November 7th, the San Jose Barracuda held their first ever Teddy Bear Toss during the game against San Diego. Over 2,000 bears were thrown onto the ice and then donated to a number of local nonprofit organizations. Some bears were held behind so Barracuda players Mark Cundari, Dylan DeMelo, Ryan Carpenter and Jeremy Langlois could deliver them to children in the pediatric wing of Kaiser Permanente Santa Clara Medical Center a few days later.

The visit was a huge hit with all of the children and everyone was very excited to have members of the Barracuda right there in their rooms! During the visit the Barracuda players were invited to a school play later this year, they helped think of gift ideas for a young girl’s Christmas list and they even bought some artwork from a young artist who is selling her clay creations around the pediatric wing.

The Mercury News was also there for the visit and they took some great photos along the way! Take a look at some of the finest moments from the teddy bear delivery here. 

That wraps up the month of November and looking ahead to December, there are even more fun places for the Barracuda to visit. Check back next month to see a full breakdown of all our stops!

If you would like to learn more information about the Barracuda and our efforts in the community, please visit our Community Relations page or email jgoldstein@sjbarracuda.com!