On March 25th, Beijing time, as the U8, U10, U12, U14 champion trophies were awarded, the 2017-2018 Beijing Youth Hockey Club League officially came to an end at Aozhong Ice Sports Club.

From the first game on October 28, 2017 to the end of the last game on the morning of March 25, 2018, over the past five months, Aozhong Ice Sports Club not only successfully completed the reception of 132 games in the previous regular season, but also completed the reception services of the events in the three-week post-season competition of 58 games with first-class venue facilities, and helped this event successfully concluded.

Since its establishment, the Beijing Youth Ice Hockey League has been in its 10th year. At the beginning, only about 60 people participated in it, yet today, 212 teams from 29 clubs, and nearly 3,000 athletes, more than 100 coaches and referees from Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei and other places participated in the game. The event has developed into the largest ice hockey event in Asia with the longest duration and the largest number of participant athletes. The competition level and influence have also increased significantly. This also demonstrates the development speed of ice hockey in Beijing from a different perspective.

This is closely related to the parents’ increasing awareness of the ice hockey and the enthusiasm in recent years. Many parents began to regard ice hockey as one of the means of quality education. They believe that ice hockey is favorable for cultivating children’s awareness of hard work, respect for rules and teamwork. In addition, after the success of Beijing’s bid to host the Winter Olympics, both parents and schools support and encourage children to participate in ice hockey.

Except the vigorous promotion of the government, schools and parents, the role of social forces represented by O.R.G. in promoting minor ice hockey is equally important. As early as January 2016, one month after O.R.G. signed a cooperation project contract with the Boston Bruins, O.R.G. worked with the Beijing Ice Hockey Association to select 22 outstanding ice hockey minors from various clubs and fully funded them to the Boston Bruins to receive a ten-day special training.

In the following 2016-2017 Beijing Youth Ice Hockey Club League, O.R.G. not only joined hands with partners to sponsor the event to “replenish energy” for the participating athletes, but also selected a group of excellent ice hockey minors and fully funded them to receive special training at Boston Bruins during the Spring Festival in February 2017.

With the completion and operation of the Aozhong Ice Sports Club in July 2017, O.R.G. has a more grounded base in the promotion of youth hockey. With an area of 7,000 square meters and a building area of 12,000 square meters, this multi-functional professional ice rink is not only equipped with the physical therapy rehabilitation center and video training room, providing a world-class rink facility with a complete high-level professional base protection for team training, but also has 8 locker rooms, 400 square meters of ground training venues, and complete functional packages such as the NHL Museum and Pro-Shop. It becomes one of the few professional comprehensive ice project venues in China. Besides, Aozhong Ice Sports Club has also become the venue for the 2017-2018 Beijing Youth Ice Hockey League.

As Mr. Zhou Yunjie, Chairman of O.R.G. Packaging, said in an interview with the media earlier, “There are two prominent issues in the development of ice hockey in China. One is the talent, and the other is the venue. The fundamental solution to these two issues will not come in a day, nor will it depend solely on the state and government. Therefore, as a responsible enterprise, O.R.G. should also make a due contribution to the prosperity and development of China’s ice hockey. After carefully researching many ice hockey professional venues in the United States and Canada, we invested in the construction of this ice rink comparable to the NHL professional competition venue, hoping to provide a professional-grade sports venue for the minors who play ice hockey, so that they can better enjoy its fun.”