As Scott Crowder was finishing up his college degree, he felt there were two options.
“Am I going to get a 9-to-5 job or am I going to try and start something on my own?” said Crowder, a former NCAA Division I hockey player from New Hampshire.
Crowder chose the latter and started a grassroots sports event management company, Pond Hockey Classic. His company now runs multiple pond hockey tournaments, including the increasingly popular Lake Champlain Pond Hockey Classic, presented by Labatt Blue and sanctioned by USA Hockey.
The 2014 Lake Champlain Pond Hockey Classic will be held Feb. 14-16 in Colchester, Vermont. Teams can register at www.pondhockeyclassic.com/LakeChamplain.
We sat down with Crowder to talk about one of the premier pond hockey events in the New England area.
USA Hockey: Why Colchester? What’s the appeal for players?
Scott Crowder: Burlington is one of those unique college towns. It’s an old college town with a great downtown area. It’s right on Lake Champlain – but it doesn’t freeze there. So we ended up going just 10 minutes north of Burlington to a town called Colchester. And a little area of Lake Champlain called Malletts Bay where it freezes.
USA Hockey: You must have a hockey background if you wanted to take on this project.
Scott Crowder: I do. I grew up in a hockey family. My dad and uncle played professionally. I grew up knowing my dad as a college hockey coach. The summer I was born was the last year he played professionally. Then, for the first 22 years of my life, he was a college hockey coach with the University of Maine. He was an assistant there and then he took the head coaching job at the University of Massachusetts-Lowell and then was the head coach at Northeastern for a number of years. I played growing up. I played junior hockey and then college hockey at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst for four years.
USA Hockey: What’s been the key to the success of the Lake Champlain Pond Hockey Classic?
Scott Crowder: Through our relationship with Labatt Blue and Labatt’s relationship with USA Hockey, we were able to strike a great partnership to collaborate on the creation of that event up in Vermont. We’re going into our third year and each year has grown. More and more people are coming out to participate and have some fun out on the pond.
USA Hockey: Why take on this initiative?
Scott Crowder: I studied sport management and marketing. I got an inside look from a higher education standpoint at how that industry works. When I was getting out of school, I was like, ‘What am I going to do? Am I going to get a 9-to-5 job or am I going to try and start something on my own?’ I ended up opening a summer business and that went well. I noticed the pond hockey culture and all the outdoor games. Just seeing the community go from the indoor rinks back to the outdoors was exciting. I noticed a lot of people in greater Boston and New England were flying out to these other pond hockey tournaments, including the Labatt Blue/USA Hockey Pond Hockey National Championships in Wisconsin. We have frozen lakes here and we have a passionate hockey community, so I figured, why not start one?
USA Hockey: Tell me about that gorgeous tournament trophy, the Champ Cup. There’s quite a story behind it.
Scott Crowder: We tried to create a fun and unique trophy. That story isn’t actually true. A lot of participants come up and say ‘This is the actual Champ Cup’ because they read the story. We’re just trying to paint a larger picture of how unique pond hockey is. It’s not just a tournament. It’s being a part of a greater experience. It’s a neat story. It certainly gets people thinking ‘Is this true or are they just pulling our leg?’ It’s all about having fun. The more we can create that locker room atmosphere, the better. We put some gold plating on a Labatt Blue pony keg. We engraved a Champlain logo on it. Each year the winners of the divisions get their names carved in the side for all to see. It’s on display in one of the bars in Burlington for the entire year. It’s pretty neat.
USA Hockey: Nice touch with the Labatt keg. Safe to say the relationship with them and USA Hockey has been solid?
Scott Crowder: Labatt is a premier brand that hangs their hat on pond hockey, so it just makes complete sense. They’ve been an awesome partner and helped make the experience for the participants really enjoyable over the course of the weekend. And anytime you can partner with the organization that runs and controls hockey in your country – that’s a great, great honor. It brings a lot of clout to the event.
USA Hockey: It must help that USA Hockey’s overall adult registration numbers continue to increase.
Scott Crowder: The sport teaches so much. I look back at all my closest friends and the ones that I grew friendships around the rink with. Those grow into adulthood. The sport is special. What USA Hockey does in these tournaments provides an opportunity to grow those friendships and continue to bond around the sport.
USA Hockey: In one sentence, why should players come out to Lake Champlain?
Scott Crowder: It’s certainly captivating and it gives the adult hockey player the experience and the opportunity to come outside, spend a weekend with their buddies playing some hockey and drinking some beers.
Register for the Lake Champlain Pond Hockey Classic now at www.pondhockeyclassic.com/LakeChamplain.
