Ed Snider Youth Hockey & Education was created by the late Philadelphia Flyers Chairman Ed Snider in 2005 as his personal commitment to teach children important life lessons and empower them to build healthy, happy, productive lives. Our programs are targeted to boys and girls who otherwise would not have the opportunity to participate in quality after-school athletic and academic enrichment programming. The Foundation has experienced robust growth and now serves over 1,500 children from the City of Philadelphia and Camden, NJ. Snider Hockey provides children with the equipment, ice time, and experienced coaching needed to play hockey. Hockey is the “hook” with which we capture and keep students’ attention while we pursue our larger goal of immersing them in programs designed to foster academic success, personal development, and citizenship. All services are provided at no cost. Since our inception, we have addressed the need for accessible structured programming during the after-school hours when children are most vulnerable. Our Game Ready for Life! initiative maintains our program’s previous successes of keeping thousands of students in our After School Excellence program on track for on-time graduation, while perpetuating our mission of whole child development to include support during Snider students’ early adulthood.