A Message from the Jr. Reign President

Dearest Jr. Reign families,

As 2022 has come to a close and we have officially ushered in 2023, I have made a habit of taking the time to reflect on the past year and share that with you.  

Over the last two years, I sent out a similar letter in January and I summed up my reflection with one key word.  

Two years ago the word was “gratitude” as we went through the most unpredictable season ever with schedule changes and rink closures due to the pandemic, only to come through with a stronger and more resilient and united club than ever before. That was thanks to you, our families, our staff, and our rink and league partners.  

As I reflected on 2021, the word that came to mind was “inspiration”.  

I was inspired by the growth of our young players, their ambition to be great, and especially by our families commitment, dedication, resiliency, and selfless positive attitudes with how much you cared for others.  The Jr. Reign was 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.

This year the word that comes to mind like a hammer to the head is…

Family.

As I reflect on the past year, there has been a lot of growth.  A lot of exciting things and opportunities that we were passionate about building for our young players and their families to see a full pathway to their dreams and have all of the pieces available to support them on their quest.  We achieved and built a lot.

And, with fast growth also comes challenges and learning.  As we move into 2023, what hits home for me as paramount is a complete and utter focus on our Jr. Reign families.  

We have the most amazing hockey families in the world.  You love your kids and you love one another.  You organize family cookouts, holiday parties, cheer positively at games, represent our club with class, volunteer in many roles, and are willing contributors to the club by sharing your feedback and questions constructively because you truly want to be part of helping make our club great for your family and others.

In 2023, and every year forward, we will lean into our core families and your incredible passion and strengths. 

Appreciate you… 

Listen to you… 

Collaborate with you… 

Continue to invite conversation and participation from you… 

I very much look forward to this ongoing process together.

I also like to recap the achievements of the year to appreciate all of the work and effort our players, families, and staff have put in.

In 2022 there were many to be acknowledged:

• We fielded a record number 20 teams across all ages and levels from 8U through 18U B, BB, A, AA, and AAA and were invited again to compete in the prestigious NAPHL for Tier 1 and also the new THF league.
• We connected our pathway with high school hockey, collegiate programs, and a network of people around north america for player advancement opportunities.
• We added a number of new coaches and staff members to serve our growing membership.
• Our Jr. A Hockey teams at 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) have experienced great success this season both being towards the top of the standings and featuring rivalry games against one another where we filled the stands with our young players cheering them on, doing intermission skates, and giving the players knuckles in between periods.  This provides a pathway all the way through Jr. Hockey towards collegiate goals right here at home and connects our players with real live players and coaches competing at this level right now.
• The launch of our Jr. Reign “Mom Squad” booster club that has organized get-togethers and events across all levels and helped to build community and connection across our club from 8u through Jr. A.
• Launched a Jr. Reign family survey where we were able to collect valuable, detailed and specific feedback from nearly 300 families. Thank you.
• Had our club welcome event at the Ontario Reign game at Toyota Arena with over 300 families giving our young players the opportunity to see professional players up close and personal in the tunnel and even had the opportunity to have a family skate on the pro ice after the game!
• Our own tournament series entered its second year and has quickly become one of the largest tournament series in all of California, 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 again this season.  We still have much work to do here!

Still, we have so much we need to improve and adjust going forward.  We can’t wait to share with you the exciting updates and changes we are making for our program for next season that will begin with the launch of our spring programming later this month.

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 and excitement. 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 2023 together!

Ben and Joyce Frank.