Icely, 13, also is thankful for being trained by such
accomplished coaches and traveling with the
team. She also will not soon forget the times she
has been tabbed to skate at Amalie Arena for brief
youth scrimmages in between periods of Lightning
games.
“It was a big moment in my life,” she said of
skating between periods on the night the team
retired Vinny Lecavalier’s number 4.
As for the new program, ultimately it will help
provide opportunities for girls from all over the
world to experience the same environment,
training and facilities that the Olympians did.
Initially, most of the players in the Tier II program
are primarily from Florida and Georgia. Plans call
for players from other European countries and
Japan to join the program, much like Saddlebrook’s
golf and tennis programs that include players from
numerous countries.
“The goal is to get girls to come and go to
school there (at Saddlebrook Prep Academy)
and work with us, and that’s something we’re
trying to work on.” Strot said.
Since the program started, Grogan and Krause
echoed their sentiments about how well the young
players have progressed.
“The girls have improved tremendously,” Krause
said.
Added Grogan, “Their hockey sense and knowing
where to be have been key.”
passing and checking, are brought in, but first
and foremost the emphasis is on creating strong
skaters.
That approach, Strot said, is imperative in
getting players to ascend the various levels of
development. “You have to become faster every
time you go to the next level,”he said.
The season began with training sessions in
August and extends through early April with the
USA Hockey Nationals in Amherst, New York
if they qualify. At the beginning of the season
players for two teams---14U and 19U --- were
evaluated at FHCI. Since then they have competed
in tournaments locally as well as in Charlotte,
North Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina and
Rochester, New York.
Madi Icely, who plays forward on the 14U team,
said joining the Hockey International program has
benefited her game greatly. Most notably, she has
welcomed the power skating sessions with the
focus on her edges.
“Definitely,” she said. “It’s fairly intense training
and it’s definitely helped me get better.”
Icely, whose family counts themselves as avid
Tampa Bay Lightning fans, has a 10-year-old
brother, Henry, who plays hockey and after some
learn to skate sessions she initially played on his
teams. Nonetheless, she relishes playing with her
own gender and the confidence boost she gets
when she plays well.
Be humble and put forth the hard
work and dedication. Have good
attitudes and good grades.
-Krause’s advice to the girls
While the development of girls hockey in Florida
continues with the emergence of the Hockey
International program, there is still plenty of work
ahead.
Especially, noted Krause, since girls in Florida and
other southeastern areas of the United States, are
relatively new compared to established programs
in some northern hockey hotbeds such as New
England and places like Minnesota and Wisconsin.
Rosters for both Saddlebrook teams
“We have a unique approach to our training with speed and hockey skills-
Speed of hands, speed of feet, speed of mind.”- Strot
are as follows:
14U - Alicia McDonald, Gracyn McNinch, Alyssa
Allen, Mallory McCoy, Marissa Zuppa, Bella
Tomasso, Abby Cummings, Renee Furr, Kelly
Henderson, Alex Mills, McKenna Brown, Madi Icely,
Kayla Moriarty, Tricia Smith and Emily Scott.
19U - Lilly Rogers, Celeste Williams, Larisa
Gorgevska-Sharpe, Jane Rowell, Patricia Stella,
Haley McClarnand, Serana Michlovitch, Madison
Natter, Abbigail Patchin, Anne Ruperto, Chloe
Perakslis, Kennaeve Stanley and Abigail Fuzaylov.
WWW.FLORIDAHOCKEYLIFE.COM 7
/WWW.FLORIDAHOCKEYLIFE.COM