sahofhockey

Effective June 3, 2020

From Jeff Novotny & Jane Solverson, Florida Alliance Girls Co-Program Directors

Due to the closure of ice centers in Florida, our tryouts scheduled for April 2020 were postponed.  Several weeks ago, the SAHOF Board voted to allow tryouts to be planned for the Florida Alliance Teams in mid-July, a few days before all other travel SFHL teams in the state. We have been coordinating with ice facilities in Florida that plan to be open at that time to secure ice times for our tryouts.

We have secured ice time at AdventHealth Center Ice in Wesley Chapel for all team tryouts. Below are the times for each group: 

• Sunday July 12, 2020 for our 12U and 14U teams (2006-2010)

10am - Arrive - Check in opens, pickup jersey

10:30-10:45 - Player warmup

11am-12:30pm - Ice Session 1

Between sessions - parent meeting, player testing/workout

3pm-4:30pm - Ice Session 2

5pm - Depart

• Sunday July 12, 2020 for our 16U and 19U teams (birth years 2001-05)

11:45am - Arrive - Check in opens, pickup jersey

12:15-12:30 - Player warmup

12:45pm-2:15pm - Ice Session 1

Between sessions - parent meeting, player testing/workout

4:45pm-6:15pm - Ice Session 2

6:45pm - Depart

Players will not be notified immediately after tryout whether they are selected to team.  Coaches will confer after tryouts and notify players the following week.

Tryout registration & $75 payment link below.

https://sahofhockey.sportngin.com/register/form/094347750

All players planning to participate need to pre-register so accommodations can be made for the number of players that will be attending.

The camp will involve 2 ice sessions, an off-ice workout and a parent meeting to explain our programs and to field any questions.

Players should plan to arrive at least an hour before the ice time to check-in and receive their instructions and locker room assignments so they can be ready to jump on the ice at the start of the first ice session.  

If you have questions, please contact Jeff Novotny at JNovotny@sahofhockey.org.  All current players on 2019-20 Alliance Girls teams are required to register and participate in these tryouts to be considered for the 2020-21 team.

We apologize any inconvenience and hope all players and families remain safe during this unprecedented time.  We all look forward to the return of our program and all hockey programs around the US.

The state of girls hockey is growing leaps and bounds!  That means we are looking for more talented and dedicated coaches to help train and lead this growing population of hockey players in our state.  The success to any hockey program lies with the quality of their coaching staff. Since our Florida Girls Hockey program has multiple levels and is a statewide program, we are looking for the best coaches from all over Florida to support us in our mission to grow the game for girls and provide them as many opportunities to play as possible. From learn-to-skate training support at each rink/association, to being a practice/bench coach for an in-house/rec girls team at your local rink, to supporting or Florida Alliance Girls teams as a rostered coach or skills/off-ice trainer, we are looking for you!  One of our long term visions is to build a sold team that includes female coaches who work with girls to provide them both the skills as hockey players, but also as female athletes and female leaders beyond athletics.

If you are interested in joining our team, supporting girls as a coach and adult mentor, please complete the coaching application by entering information in this online survey courtesy of SurveyMonkey. Please only complete the application one time. If you need to make a change after submitting the application, please forward an email to the address listed below.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/XWX8KSQ

If you have any questions about the different levels of the Florida Girls Hockey Program or our Florida Alliance Girls teams, please contact us at the email address below. You may forward a written coaching resume to accompany your online application by sending it to: JNovotny@sahofhockey.org

To streamline your completion of the online application, below is a PDF file with the application questions so you can review prior to completing it online.

The Florida Alliance Girls 16U and 14U teams capped off the inaugural season with an appearance at USA Hockey National Championships in Amherst, NY the weekend of April 5-8.  Both teams advanced after capturing the first place banners at the Southeastern District Championships in March.

The 16U team faced strong competition at Nationals falling to the Baldwin/RIverfalls Black Cats 4-1, perennial powerhouse Kensington Valley 1-0 and then narrowly dropping an overtime decision to the Jr Flyers 2-1.  Goalie Adelyne Olson stood tall with a solid 93.6 save percentage and Forward Maddie Pope scored both goals for the Alliance 16U team.

The 14U team, favorites to advance past the round robin games, did just that with wins over the Alaska AllStars 3-1, blanking St Clair Shores 5-0 and crushing Norfolk-Norwood 10-4.  They continued their winning with a 6-1 polishing off of the Carolina Jr Hurricanes in the quarterfinal game.  They ran into a tough Boston Jr Eagles team who proved too difficult, dropping the semi-final game 4-3.  Down 3-1 starting the 3rd period, the Alliance 14u team drew close, scoring 2 goals in less than a minute late in the period, but couldn't register the game-tying goal. Alexis Fitzsimmons buried her 3rd for her third hat-trick of the weekend on that last goal. Goalies Danielle DePascquale and Mikayla Bowman each notched 2 wins leading up to the final game. Jordan Ray was the assist leader for the entire 14U division going into the final game with 16 assists and added 2 goals to score 18 points, while Alexis Fitzsimmons, not only led the Alliance with 16 goals (2 assists), but also led the 14U division in goals going into the championship game.  Bryn Prier also buried 4 goals and 9 assists while Zoe Puc scored 6 points with 3 goals and 3 assists.

Overall, it was a very solid showing for the Alliance Girls program at Nationals. The Alliance Girls want to congratulate the Alliance Boys 14U Tier 1 team on their strong showing at Nationals as well and Championship game appearance in Pittsburgh against Little Caesars.

Florida Hospital Center Ice in Wesley Chapel will be host to the inaugural Mrs Hockey Invitational showcase for elite 12U teams. The showcase will take place over MLK weekend (Jan 18-21 ,2019). Legacy Sports developed this showcase in honor of Colleen Howe, the late wife of hockey legend Gordie Howe and in recognition for all she meant to hockey.

Elite girls 12U teams from across the US, Canada and Europe are planned to attend.

The Florida Alliance Girls 12U team will serve as the host team for this prestigious tournament.

To learn more about the showcase, go to http://mrshockeyinvite.com/

Florida Girls Hockey and our Florida Alliance Girls teams were formally unveiled at the 2018 SAHOF Board and Annual Meeting.  Since then, our program directors have been hitting the road to explain and answer questions about this program and to accept volunteers to support various aspects of the program.

May 12 - Florida GIrls Hockey was first presented to the parents and players attending the tryout session for the Florida Alliance Girls 14/16/19U tryouts at Ellenton Ice Complex.

June 13 - we were invited to present to 44 girls at a classroom session at the Tampa Bay Lightning's Lighting Made girls hockey clinic at Florida Hospital Center Ice in Wesley Chapel. This was the first girls-only several day clinic in their program's history. The girls learned about the past, present and future of girls hockey in Florida.

June 16 - the road show continued in a presentation to the Florida Women's Hockey League Annual meeting in Winter Park. We presented the overview of the program and showed how the sustainable future of the FWHL will in part be determined on the future of growing the girls game in Florida. The women's team expressed interested in supporting and Florida Girls Hockey will look to align with the FHWL season schedule so some girls events can take place in conjunction with the FWHL tournaments to bring resources together.

June 17 - Florida Girls Hockey was unveiled to parents and players at the first tryout for the Florida Alliance Girls 12U team at Skate Zone in Lake Worth.

August 18 - Florida Alliance Girls 14U and 16U National bound teams began their season with their first team practice at RDV Ice Den.

August 25 - Florida Alliance Girls 12U Elite team held their final round of tryouts at RDV Ice Den and selected players for their 2018-19 team roster.

October 6/7 - Celebrate IIHF Girls Hockey Weekend by attending a girls hockey event at your local rink. 

October 20 - Breast Cancer Awareness at Ellenton Ice. Florida Alliance Girls 12u and 16u teams practiced and in the showcase event the Alliance 14u team played the Gulf Coast Flames Peewee A team.

January 2019 - The Florida Alliance Girls 12U team will be the host team for the inaugural Mrs Hockey that will be held at Florida Hospital Center Ice.

If you would like to hear more about Florida Girls Hockey, or participate in a presentation about this program, please contact Jeff Novotny at JNovotny@sahofhockey.org.

There are three levels of focus for growing the number of girls hockey players in Florida, expanding their development opportunities, collaborating with rinks and associations to create more intra state teams and development opportunities, and a set of elite/National Bound Girls teams under the Florida Alliance program.  The images below show how the program and these levels are structured.