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They locked in the first couple practice dates
before SFHL games began, now are nervously
awaiting the end of the schedule to be released
round out the practice schedule beyond December.
They also use that SFHL schedule to figure out if
there are any youth teams that our girls teams
can play in a scrimmage game during our practice
weekend in close proximity to where the practice
is held.
Part of color coded spreadsheet with
SFHL schedule
The 12U team holds practice about once per
month, while the 14/16U teams practice about
2-3 times per month depending on their game
schedule.
Game and tournaments
Scheduling tournaments is another crazy
component. Most out-of-state tournaments
require registrations during the summer. By
early August, most have reached capacity and
are locked. By July, well before the first practices
were held, the 14U and 16U teams were already
registered for tournaments in North Carolina over
Labor Day, in Rhode Island in October, in Detroit
in November and the 14U team was setup in
Chicago in December. The 12U team will serve as
the tournament host for a new girls tournament
coming to Florida in January at Florida Hospital
Center Ice called Mrs. Hockey being developed by
Selects Hockey in honor of the late Gordie Howe’s
wife. Navigating options for the 12U team are
challenging because they want to avoid common
tournament weekends that their players might be
committed to playing on their youth teams as well.
That team may play one of their tournaments
after the normal season in the Spring just to
avoid conflicts. At some point, the Alliance Girls
program hopes Florida can retain enough girls at
an older age so that they can also add a 19U girls
team. But right now, unfortunately the number of
players at the 17, 18, 19 age level will not support
that team.
In the past, teams would shift players up an age
level to fill spots on roster, often forming a 19U
team without having a 16U team. The Alliance
Girls program could have done this season
because there were a few players older than 16
they could have secured for the roster, but didn’t
want to create a situation where 15 year olds are
playing with and against 18/19 year olds before
they are ready. They also would needed to move
many 14 year olds up to fill the 16U team, which
had been a downfall of past girls programs. If at
all possible, they prefer to keep the girls playing at
age level designated by USA Hockey.
This not only helps the player development, it also
gives players more chances at leadership roles
within their actual peer groups.
Secondarily, when college scouts see their teams
at tournaments out of state, they can be assured
all players are at the right age level and are
competing at girls the same age for evaluation
purposes. Early in the season, they need to have
a few 14u players double roster on their 16u
team at tournaments to fill a full roster due to
play travel conflicts and injuries, and that would
have been a worse issue had they played up at a
19U level instead. The Alliance also knew that
a new program working with Saddlebrook Prep
was fielding a 19U team and encouraged those
older players to seek out their program to remain
playing in Florida.
During the first part of the season, the 14U and
16U teams have found success on the ice while
logging over 6000 miles of travel to tournaments.
Both teams won their divisions in 4 Affiliates Cup
in NC over Labor Day weekend.
The 14U team lost in the semi-finals, while the
16U team won the championship in RI. And in
early November the 16U team just missed the
semifinal round, but the 14U team captured the
banner at the prestigious CCM Girls Tournament
in Detroit.
Both of those teams have filed their National
Bound paperwork for competing at the SE
District Championship in March for a chance to
travel to New York for the Girls Tier 2 National
Championships.
The 12U team will play their first tournament at
the Hertz Arena Holiday Tournament hosted by the
Jr Everblades just before New Years as a warm
up for their MLK battle at Mrs Hockey in Wesley
Chapel.
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