Friday, Jun. 06, 2008

Breaking the Ice

Hockey Club Gives Future Dragons a Chance to Start Young

By Zach Warner

Staff Writer

Learning intricacies and techniques early on is beneficial for athletes in any sport, let alone a challenging, fast-paced sport like hockey.

That’s why the Southlake Carroll Hockey Association intends to help kids skate their way to stronger fundamentals on the ice with the introduction of the Dragon Hockey Association for junior players.

The youth organization, which is open for athletes ages 6-14 and includes travel competition, is scheduled to conduct tryouts June 14-15 at the Euless StarCenter. Information regarding tryout times for different age groups can be found by visiting the SCHA Web site at http://dragonshockey.org.

"We’re pretty excited to get the younger guys in the loop," said Tom Yockey, Carroll varsity hockey coach, who will also serve as coach for some of the younger divisions in the youth organization. "We want to put the kids on the right path early.

"All over the country, players get to age 14 and first get into hockey," he said. "They are trying to pass and shoot on the ice and they don’t know why things don’t go their way. This will help them get off on the right foot."

The SCHA wanted to begin the youth organization as a way to bolster Carroll’s talent base by the time players reached the high school ranks. They also wanted to instill in them a love for the sport at an early age, Yockey said.

Youth divisions include Mite (ages 8 and under), Squirt (ages 9-10), Peewee (ages 11-12) and Bantam (ages 13-14). Divisions are based on players’ ages as of Dec. 31, 2008. The organization is open to young athletes from Southlake and neighboring cities as well.

The official youth season begins in late August and includes 20-24 games that ends a little before the conclusion of Carroll’s high school hockey season (October to April). The Dragons youth teams will travel to face age-appropriate competition, with the younger divisions traveling locally and the older divisions possibly traveling to different locations across the state.

"If hockey’s their chosen sport, they need to learn dedication and commitment," Yockey said. "I want those things in a fun atmosphere.

"I’ve been in hockey all my life as a player and a coach, and I feel obligated to give back to the kids," he said. "They can learn respect for kids and adults, learn work ethic and commitment. Hockey’s a sport that can push you to the edge and make you stronger as a result. It can teach them all of that."

Yockey will serve as coach of the Dragons’ Mite division as well as an assistant on the Squirt team that will be coached by Ronnie Vogel. Coaches for the Peewee and Bantam teams have not been officially named at this point.

Keeping the youth division closely connected to the high school teams is a goal of the SCHA. The same organization that governs the varsity teams will oversee the youth teams. Youth practices will take place before or after JV and varsity practice so that the young players will see the older athletes in action. Players from Southlake will have a chance to look forward to joining the high school teams when their time comes.

"I think that’s pretty important," Yockey said. "It was a big decision for me when getting this started. I think that we need to have the groups related and to stay related.

"If we can get them young and teach them right, they’ll want to continue through high school," he said.

Varsity Wins Summer Opener

Carroll’s varsity team began the summer season with a win, earning a 5-1 victory over Coppell on May 29.

The Dragons (1-0-0) received goals from Taylor Nyhoff and Conner Gildenblatt in the first period, Marcel Toure and Austin Rae in the second period and Jeff Setian in the third.

The Dragons played the Marcus Red team on Thursday and next play the Marcus White team at 9 p.m. June 12 at the Farmers Branch StarCenter.

Yockey said that Carroll could soon begin benefiting from the return of several players who left the team for other travel hockey teams last fall.

"They said they want to come back," he said. "They went the [travel hockey] route … they were kind of burnt out with that.

"This will help them all get back on the same page," he said.