Category Archives: Youth
The Mill opens in Tempe, offers slew of training options
July 30th, 2020Jarred Smith and his wife, Bailey Young Smith, had been thinking about opening a hockey training warehouse for a while. At the end of February, their dream became a reality as The Mill Hockey Training Warehouse opened in Tempe. Just three weeks later, the COVID-19 outbreak caused the doors to close. In late May, those…
AHU thrilled to add Radke as new 14U Bantam White coach
July 30th, 2020As hockey in Arizona slowly gets back to open rinks and players suiting up in anticipation of the upcoming 2020-21 season, the Arizona Hockey Union has made a major move in the association’s coaching ranks. Longtime youth hockey coach Tony Radke will join AHU next season as the club’s new 14U Bantam White coach, a…
With recent move to Tier I, Jr. Sun Devils planning to develop elite-level players
July 23rd, 2020When Brad McCaughey took over as the Desert Youth Hockey Association’s hockey director in 2017, he came in with a plan and a list of items to tackle to make DYHA a preeminent youth hockey club in all of Arizona. With the association’s recent approval for Tier I status starting with the upcoming 2020-21 season,…
Mission 18U sees chance at nationals’ redemption vanish
June 17th, 2020Just days before most of the country went into quarantine to address the coronavirus pandemic, the 18U AA team from Mission AZ was riding high. The squad had just captured its second straight Arizona Amateur Hockey Association (AAHA) state championship and was gearing up for a return engagement at the USA Hockey National Championships. This…
Jr. Coyotes’ Tier I coaching staff a wealth of knowledge
June 16th, 2020In what has been an annual event, the four Jr. Coyotes teams swept the Tier I Arizona state championships earlier this year. And while the players get the lions’ share of the credit – and deservedly so – the coaches behind the benches for each team put in hours of week behind the scenes, giving…
AHU continues to provide stability, opportunities with many alumni now coaching
June 10th, 2020The organization known today as the Arizona Hockey Union began nearly 15 years ago as the Phoenix Polar Bears, a coach-driven and athlete-centered organization playing out of the Chandler Polar Ice facility. The Arizona Hockey Union is a youth hockey organization that operates under the non-profit 501 c3 charter of the Arizona Hockey Clubs, Inc.,…
Stephenson ‘brings a lot to the table’ as Titans skills coach
May 21st, 2020Changes are on the horizon as the VOSHA Titans look ahead to next season. The Titans remain committed to player development above all else, but this next season will bring many new features to the organization to push that commitment further along. Garrett Stephenson will take over as the organization’s skills coach next season. READ…
Despite cancer battle, DYHA coach Wakabayashi staying motivated
May 6th, 2020As the director of goalie instructions for the DYHA Jr. Sun Devils, Hiroki Wakabayashi works with all of the program’s netminders to improve their skills in the crease and how to help their team fight to win a hockey game. Truth be told, Wakabayashi is in a fight much bigger than one fending off a…
NCAA Division I St. Lawrence the next stop for Jr. Coyotes grad Deckhut
April 8th, 2020St. Lawrence University checked a lot of boxes for San Diego native Sam Deckhut. “I liked the coaches, and I knew (head coach) Brent Brekke from his time at Miami,” said Deckhut, who committed to the NCAA Division I Saints (ECAC Hockey) in mid-February. “I like that it’s a smaller school, the academics are strong,…
Gylling bringing creativity as AHU’s new skills coach
April 6th, 2020Cody Gylling is an Arizona product that started playing hockey when he was just 5 years old. A Chandler native, he grew up playing at multiple rinks in the Valley before leaving at 17 to pursue his dream of college hockey. His playing days complete, Gylling is now giving back to the game as the…