A Message From Jr. Reign President

Dearest Jr. Reign families,

As 2021 comes to a close and we usher in 2022, I want to acknowledge our incredible community.  The past two years have been a time like none other, and for many of you, it has been the most challenging years of your life.  Thank you for your commitment to doing your absolute best to support your child's dreams in hockey in the most uncertain of times and for giving us all a sense of normalcy and hope through having the opportunity to watch your children play and grow.

You, the "hockey parent", is truly the most incredible type of person I have had the pleasure to know.  And now that our daughter has decided to start playing, Joyce and I have the honor of joining you for an inside perspective on this journey of being hockey parents :)

 Through good times and bad, through uncertainty, early mornings, driving long distances, balancing school work, and everything else that a parent deals with today, the "hockey parent" models grit, perseverance, and love as they do anything they can to support the passion and dreams of your young hockey player. We are truly inspired by you. 

I like to think of one word as I reflect on the past year.  Last year, I sent out a similar letter and the word was “gratitude” as we went through the most unpredictable season ever with schedule  changes and rink closures, only to come through with a stronger and more resilient and united club than ever before. That was thanks to you, our staff, and our rink partners.  As I reflect on 2021, the word that comes to mind is “inspiration”.

I am inspired by the growth of our young players as well as their ambition to be great.  I am inspired by our families commitment, dedication, and resiliency and especially by your selfless and positive attitudes with how much you care for others.  The Jr. Reign is truly becoming a unique place like none other, where families encourage and build each other up, communicate openly, and make everyone stronger and better by participating in being a part of something much bigger than any one individual or team could ever become.

I am inspired by our staff and incredible volunteers for their commitment to never ending growth, and even more so, for their commitment to collaborate with one another.  Sharing ideas, helping each other even with teams they are not assigned to coach, and truly caring for all families in the club, not just those they are directly involved with day to day.

I am inspired by our partners and leagues who through the most difficult landscape we could ever have imagined, gave all of us the opportunity to participate in one of the most important experiences in our children’s and families lives; the sport of ice hockey and all of the life lessons and experiences that come with it. 

I am inspired by the accomplishments of our amazing team and organizations and the exciting future to come which keeps getting bigger and better for providing opportunities for young players and staff.

 In 2021 alone, we have:

• Added Jr. A Hockey to the top of our development model pyramid with two partner teams in the USPHL, the Ontario Jr. Reign (IE) and the San Diego Sabers (Carlsbad).  This provides a pathway all the way through Jr. A hockey towards collegiate goals right here at home and connects our players with real live players and coaches competing at this level right now.

• Launched a new member communication platform TeamSnap that has allowed for more communication than ever before within and between our families and staff, often with a lot of entertainment!:)

• Fielded a full slate of CAHA Tier 2 AA teams (12U, 14U, 16U, 18U) and AAA Tier 1 teams including being one of only 4 clubs in the entire state to field all national bound AAA levels at the 14U AAA, 15U AAA, 16U AAA, and 18U AAA levels, the highest levels of play in the nation.

• Won the bid to host an NAPHL AAA showcase tournament at the end of January which brings some of the top 16U and 18U teams in the nation to compete with our AAA teams right at one of our home rinks in Riverside, CA!

• Had our club welcome event at the Kings vs. Kings game at Toyota Arena giving our young players the opportunity to see NHL players up close and personal in the IE and even had the opportunity to have a family skate on the pro ice after the game!

• Re-launched our own tournament series, the IE tournament series partnered with the LA Kings and Ontario Reign, to deliver exceptional tournament experiences at our home rinks.

• Found more ways to give and support our families in need.  Our charitable foundation will contribute another record amount of support to families in need this season and to those impacted severely by the pandemic.  We still have much work to do here!

We have many more plans to launch and improve and we can’t wait to share those with you in the new year including updates to our spring programming, launches of new spring/summer tournament team travel opportunities, improvements to our private training programs, expansion of Jr. Hockey opportunities, and much much more.

I sincerely hope that the Jr. Reign has been able to play a meaningful role in your life and served as a source of positivity during these unusual years. Our team has been working tirelessly to continue to make your experience better and provide the most value within the Jr. Reign programs and we are more motivated than ever to continue to do so.

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and Happy New Year and here’s to an amazing 2022 together!

Ben and Joyce Frank.