The Junior Railers Hockey Club (JRHC), a 501c3 non-profit youth hockey corporation, located at 112 Harding Street, Worcester, is pleased to announce the launch of its hockey player neck guard initiative. This initiative has been sponsored by the UMASS Memorial Medical Center (UMASS), also located in Worcester, MA. The UMASS Trauma and Critical Care team has contributed a $6,000 donation towards the purchase of 400 neck guards to be offered, free of charge, to any JRHC full-time player that wishes to obtain this valuable piece of protection equipment.  

The use of neck guard protection has been a high-profile discussion within the youth hockey spaces, due to the fatal injury of a Connecticut high school player last year and the fatal injury of former NHL player Adam Johnson, while playing in a game in Europe earlier this fall. 

In speaking about this initiative, JRHC Director of Hockey Operations Bobby Butler stated, “this is an amazing effort towards the prevention of major injuries in our sport and with those youth participating in our community. The fact that we can offer this to our membership through a generous local sponsor and community partner such as UMASS, is truly a blessing.” 

For more information regarding this initiative, Mr. Butler can be reached at bbutler@juniorrailers.com