Larson Retires, Joins Seals' Front Office
December 5, 2006 - SPHL (SPHL)
Florida Seals News Release
CELEBRATION, Fla. - All professional athletes know that their playing careers will not last forever. In most cases, it is the hardest thing that they will ever do.
For a select few, however, they remain close to the sport by taking a front office position with their team. It is a way to still be a part of the game and to give back to the community they have become a part of.
The Florida Seals professional hockey team today announced that veteran defenseman Brett Larson has retired from playing the game. It was also announced that the 34 year old native of Duluth, Minnesota will be joining the staff in corporate sales as well as public and community relations.
"He's going to start working with the community - community relations, just talking to the hockey fans, getting sponsors going and getting the community involved in knowing that there is hockey at the Silver Spurs Arena," Seals team President Michale Watson said. "I think Brett will bring a big, important factor to it because he's played for the Seals, he's got a championship ring and he knows marketing. There's a lot of good pluses to bringing Brett aboard."
Larson, who moved to Longwood, Florida with his wife Kelly during the summer, had been trying to balance the demands of a full time job with playing for the Seals. In six games, he had posted one goal and three assists and held a plus-2 rating.
With the knowledge that his work schedule would keep him from being with the Seals on the road for much of the second half of the season, Larson felt it was not fair to the team to continue holding a roster spot when another player who could help the team could be signed. After talking with Head Coach / V.P. of Hockey Operations Tommy Stewart, Larson made the difficult choice to hang up the skates.
"It was really hard. I certainly didn't want to quit but Tommy and I agreed that it was the best thing for the team," Larson said. "I'm getting old and they need a veteran who can be there every night but with my commitments and everything with my job I wasn't able to do it. I wanted what was best for the team and wanted them to start winning and hopefully they'll find a veteran to fill that spot that's a good player."
During Larson's career, he had the opportunity to experience the management side of the game. He felt that his past experiences would be translatable to the Seals' situation.
"When I played in San Diego, I was the player / assistant coach and I worked in the front office with marketing and corporate ticket sales," he said. "A lot of the ideas that I've had being around minor league hockey my whole life I want to bring to the Seals. The front office is working their butts off but there's not a lot of people in there right now with a lot of hockey experience."
When approached with the idea of bringing Larson aboard, Watson knew right away that having someone with hockey experience on staff would be a major plus. He also knew that Larson was the right choice.
"He will be a big factor for the staff because he's going to be very good for the overall gelling of the staff itself," Watson explained. "There's a piece missing and that piece was actually someone who is involved with hockey who has a championship mentality."
One of Larson's biggest tasks will be to go out and get the Central Florida hockey community involved with the Seals.
"The biggest thing for me is that I want to build a grass roots program with the hockey community in Central Florida. I want to get out and talk to every youth team out there and invite them out to the games, make sure we set up something special - whether it be giving the kids a tour of the locker room and meeting some players and doing things like that," Larson said. "Of course we want to get the men's hockey leagues involved and talk with them to get them to come out to games and have them introduce me to somebody at their company that I can talk to about season tickets or group tickets and things like that.
"I want to build a bridge with the Central Florida hockey community. I think coming from a background of being a player, I think maybe they'll give me a little bit more time than they'll give somebody else."
Larson is completely confident that if people come to see the Seals play, they'll come back again and again.
"It's an inexpensive family entertainment where a family can come out and afford it and enjoy it. It's a good quality of hockey. They don't realize how good a game of hockey they can see here for a very reasonable price and a good night out for a family," he said. "I think we can provide entertainment that people would really enjoy. They just have to find out about it and they have to know what's going on. We have to do what it takes to get the word out there."
As it was in what Larson considers a "non-traditional" hockey market in San Diego, he feels that the Seals can be the lynchpin of hockey - both amateur and pro - in the area.
"I want the Seals to be the head of the Central Florida hockey community. We're the team the kids want to play for someday. We're the team the parents want to bring their kids out to see. We're the team that people are going to hope that the players stay in the area and one day maybe be coaching their kids," he said. "That's what we did in San Diego. That's what I want to bring here. Hopefully I can help."
• Discuss this story on the SPHL message board...
SPHL Stories from December 5, 2006
- Vanderbreggen suspended - Twin City Cyclones
- Larson Retires, Joins Seals' Front Office - Florida Seals
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
