Minnesota Sports and Events, the local organizing body for the 2026 IIHF World Junior Championship coming to its state in December, prioritizes making sure every major sporting event that comes to Minnesota has an effect that reaches beyond the field — or ice sheet.

The World Junior Championship provides a great runway to get the state even more excited for hockey.

With that in mind, the organization launched the Assist26 initiative program this past February. Assist26 is a year-long, statewide community legacy initiative led by Minnesota Sports and Events to expand access to hockey and increase awareness for World Juniors.

Youth hockey clinics are just one part of the program’s variety of community events, initiatives and projects to grow the game among fans and players of all ages across Minnesota.

“[Assist26 is about] everything from these youth clinics to connecting with fans at different games with different drives to give back to their local community, partnering with different events and things that already are happening to get more kids involved and bringing hockey to more underrepresented areas where they might not have this easy access to ice to get more familiar with the game,” said Andrea Graham, co-executive director for the World Juniors for Minnesota Sports and Events.

Ahead of the World Junior Championship, Minnesota is hosting multiple youth hockey clinics across the state. Duluth/Proctor held the first clinic Oct. 16. Bemidji is set to host a clinic Oct. 26, then St. Paul on Nov. 2, Rochester on Nov. 9 and Mankato on Nov. 23. 

Interest has been good so far, with both clinics in Duluth at full capacity of 50 kids. The clinics are free and open to anyone in the designated age groups. Kids don’t have to be members of a youth hockey association or Minnesota Hockey to participate.

These five cities across Minnesota were tapped to host the program, featuring co-ed Learn to Play clinics for 8U players and girls-only skills clinics for 12U players. Girls hockey became a focus for the clinics because of the very strong girls’ sports community in Minnesota.

“It’s a priority for our local hockey community to continue to foster and grow that,” Graham said. “Also internally, Minnesota Sports and Events, we have a really dedicated women’s sports initiative, and this is part of that as well.”

They’re also working with college hockey teams at the clinics from Minnesota Duluth, Bemidji State and Minnesota State in Mankato. At the first clinic in Duluth, UMD Bulldogs’ sophomore defenseman Adam Kleber, who won a gold medal with the U.S. at the 2025 World Juniors back in January, attended the event and spoke with the kids about his experience as part of that national team.

The men’s and women’s hockey teams from Minnesota State are leading all the clinics in Mankato. Rochester’s NAHL team, the Grizzlies, will be involved in that clinic, and the Minnesota Frost from the PWHL will run the clinic in St. Paul at their practice home, TRIA Rink.

Each clinic will be a little different, with host cities determining the experience, according to Graham. All participants can expect a variety of drills, games and a lot of quality time on the ice. They can also expect to have some question-and-answer time and conversations with the coaches and players leading the clinic.

The organizing committee hopes kids participating in the clinics take away some good memories and get a chance to see how these clinic leaders have developed their hockey careers after starting to play the sport at similar ages to the kids.

“Just to see that hockey is something that they could play through their entire youth and into their adulthood, and that it’s a lifelong love of the game,” Graham said.

The clinics were developed as part of the Assist26 legacy initiative and designed to grow the game with the hopes of introducing new players to hockey. 

Targeting younger ages with the clinics will hopefully bring in families new to hockey, “especially those who might not be from legacy families in Minnesota,” Graham said.

“What we really tried to do with the Assist26 legacy program that these clinics are a part of is really expand on and maximize the work that our local hockey community here is already doing to grow the game,” Graham said. “Between Minnesota Hockey and the [Minnesota] Wild Foundation and all of the local hockey associations, we just wanted to bring more resources and opportunities and chances to get more kids on the ice and give them more opportunities for both them and their families to fall in love with the game and the culture.”

One of the goals, too, is to educate about the World Junior Championship, making sure communities are familiar with it and excited for it.

Assist26 also wants to lower any barriers, like cost or proximity to rinks, that might exist for kids to try hockey, making it as easy as possible. They encourage kids to attend the clinics with friends who want to try hockey.

“Even if you’ve never touched the ice in your life, to come give it a try and be a part of it,” Graham said.

Story from Red Line Editorial, Inc.

Click here to purchase your 2026 IIHF World Junior Championship tickets.