Mustangs good in the community too

December 2, 2013

The Mustangs competed at the NA3HL’s Silver Cup Championships last year, returning to Peoria with runner-up honors. This achievement from last year is creating a lot of buzz around the Owen’s Center and the Peoria area.  

 

However, the Peoria Mustangs Organization is not stopping at on-ice achievements, Mustang players are giving back to the hockey community by assisting lower level youth hockey teams to develop into better hockey players. Peoria Youth Hockey Association (PYHA) is primarily a volunteer run organization. Their annual membership ranges from 450-500 players, making it challenging to find enough volunteers to take all of the teams. 

 

Drew Cassidy, President of PYHA, praised the Mustangs for… “Their willingness to give their time to our players/teams this season has really helped us to meet that challenge. Not only has it provided our coaches with the qualified manpower that is needed to run good, effective practices, but it has provided an additional benefit that was not particularly expected. Mustang players on the ice with our teams they have been uniformly attired in the team warm-up,s which makes for a very good appearance. I believe that it demonstrates not only a level of class for the Mustang organization for our kids to aspire to, but also a professional appearance that spreads into our practices and gives our kids the impression that they are themselves involved in a class program.”

 

At practices, Mustang players shoot on goalies during down time, as well as help sharpen and teach valuable hockey skills. The Mustang players are role models for the youth hockey players they are helping on and off the ice. The Mustangs are committed to maintaining and growing the notable position and accept the responsibility as ambassadors and leaders in the Peoria area. The youth hockey program is very appreciative to have a great NA3HL Junior A Tier III team located in Peoria. 

 

The Mustangs participate in the annual campaign, Stuff-a-Bus, to collect non-perishable food items to benefit the food pantry at the Peoria Friendship House. During the month of November, the public was encouraged to purchase and donate food items at participating Peoria-area Kroger stores.  The Stuff-a-Bus food drive started 26 years ago with a partnership between CityLink and the Peoria Friendship House.  The event helped the Peoria Friendship House to distribute over 52,000 meals to those in need in the Peoria area. This season the team had a “Stuff-a-Bus Night” at the November 9th game against Wisconsin Whalers.