Jr. Everblades
Expand Program,
Prep for USPHL
Keeping Our Florida Players Home
By Reba LaRose
Last season, the Junior Everblades of Estero
were limited to only their 16U Futures team.
Tony Lessel, Florida Everblades ice hockey
director, saw room for improvement.
In the past, United States Premier Hockey League
programs in Florida have struggled to compare to
the competitiveness of similar programs in the
Central and Northeastern U.S. Until now.
Lessel and his club created two new teams to
not only make a Florida-based USPHL juniors
program more attractive to hockey players from
out of state, but to also provide an opportunity for
Florida players to stay close to home and compete
in a successful program. For the first time this
season, they introduced two new teams, the 14U
and 15U Junior Everblades.
In their inaugural season, the new Junior
Everblades have partnered with the Jr. Blades
program to train new recruits from the South
Florida area, from out of state, and even from
out of the country. Even with the successful new
additions, it’s a continuous goal for the Everblades
to retain a higher number of players each year.
Photo Credit:
Florida Jr. Everblades For years, Lessel has seen talented hockey players
move out of state, away from their homes in order
to have the chance to play for a top-ranked ice
hockey program. He, among many other players,
coaches, and supporters, wanted to see that
change.
“Something that we would like to expand upon
is to grow and bring players to Florida that are
looking for that exposure. Try to get them here
and grow them through the program from start to
finish, you know 14U, 15U, 16U, all the way up to
juniors,” Lessel said.
During the 2017-18 season, the 15- and 16-yearolds
In order to become more competitive, the Junior
Everblades three tier 1 teams, and the Jr. Blades
Premier and Elite teams are looking forward to
playing showcases out of state a couple of times a
year to gain exposure and compete in a higher level
of competitive ice hockey.
The tier 1 teams get their extra ice time by practicing
with the Jr. Blades elite team. These practices allow
all of the players to build their skills together while
getting out of their usual competitive bracket.
Those who prove to be up to the challenge are
allowed to compete with the Jr. Blades in USPHL
games as well.
“A cool part for the 16U guys is their next season
they’re going to have to go to juniors if they want to
stick around, or they find something else – that’s
great, but they’re ready to play juniors because
they’ve already had a taste of it this year, so they
can step right in and play right away,” Lessel said.
In the near future, the program aims to carry on
the momentum by bringing more players down from
out of state who can build their skills and advance
throughout in one solid program while gaining
exposure in the eyes of college recruits.
Having three tier 1 teams training to lead the next
generation of Jr. Blades sets the program on track
for a fruitful future in the USPHL.
who played on the 16U team trained with and
periodically competed against the 21-year-olds on
the Jr. Blades.
Many of those younger players were not quite
ready to take on the size and skill of the older
players, prompting another reason for expansion.
“Obviously we want our teams to be
better and more competitive from a winlose
standpoint,” Lessel said, “We want
them to do really well. We want to get kids
to come in from out of state, maybe do
some more building here. Right now, we
have four players from out of state, and
one that’s from out of the country playing
on the 16U team.”
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