Josh Smith, 13, receives instruction from coach Connor Morris as part of a lesson at Morris Hockey Training, 731 Broadway in Lorain. (Martin McConnell — The Morning Journal)
Connor Morris has been coaching hockey ever since graduating from college in 2017, and playing the game for a lot longer than that.
Morris' father, Steve, has been the head hockey coach at Marion L. Steele High School, 450 Washington St. in Amherst, since the program began in 2002.
Morris said following in his father's footsteps into coaching was an easy decision for him.
In 2022, the two coaches opened Morris Hockey Training at 731 Broadway in downtown Lorain with the aim of expanding the game of hockey throughout Lorain County.
The facility offers private lessons to aspiring hockey players to hone their shooting, passing and various other skills.
“We're opening in October 2022,” the Morris brothers said. “Really, our concept was to give them a space to hockey hockey skills.”
“The problem with hockey is that it's so expensive to practice because it's so expensive to play on the ice. You can't (usually) go to the ice rink.”
Morris said one hour of ice time at a traditional rink can cost more than $300 per player.
Luckily, he said, his facility is anything but traditional.
Complete with an artificial hockey rink, the building allows for practice sessions to be held during hockey's summer off-season.
“What we have here is what we call synthetic ice, which is like plastic, but you can skate on it,” Morris explained. “You can't skate on it as well as you can on real ice, but it's good enough and the puck moves the same way it would on real ice.”
“So that means you can still hone your skills.”
Morris said that while the artificial rink isn't exactly the same, it still offers a low-cost replica of regular ice. In an effort to popularize hockey in Northern Ohio, the Morris family became interested in breaking down the biggest barrier to entry for the sport.
Morris said that currently the facility is not designed to hold an entire team practice.
Instead, he said the coaching staff focused on improving each player's technical skills.
“We're focusing on three main skills: shooting, stick handling and passing,” Morris said. “Those are the things we can do most effectively with the space we have.”
“It's a very unique sport, and once kids start, they tend to get hooked.”
Morris said the facility has seen strong growth and improvements since it began operating almost two years ago.
He said the five-year plan is to expand the artificial rink to have enough space for the team to practice.
“In the last year and a half, we've had anywhere from 100 to 115 kids come here,” Morris said. “People are starting to understand what we do, and we've been growing steadily.”
He said there is still work to be done, but he is happy to see hockey growing in Lorain County.
Morris said he hopes the sport will see a real boom in popularity as hockey becomes more accessible.
“Hockey has really grown in the Lorain County area,” he said. “Elyria has an ice rink and has always had a presence, but towns like Amherst, North Ridgeville and Sheffield are starting to see a lot more kids playing.”
“The hardest part is getting access to it.”
