Next Generation Pioneers Will Be Home Grown

Colorado's elite 12 year old's compete with the nation's best

From: Denver Post
by Mike Chambers

From the outside, Audrey Anderson admits, it looks excessive.

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International elite hockey for 12-year-olds involving a commitment of thousands of dollars just to play, and travel more befitting a college team.

All with the idea of putting a young athlete on a fast track to landing a Division I college scholarship and eventually turning pro.

"It sounds extreme for people who aren't in it, but it works for us," Anderson said of AAA youth hockey, the equivalent of the NHL for adults. "Figure skaters spend more money than this, and there are a lot of other sports that kids get into that are very expensive, so I don't feel so crazy."

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Anderson is the team manager of the Colorado Thunderbirds AAA pee-wees - an inaugural Front Range all-star squad that has a 26-2-1 record and is ranked No. 2 in North America. Her son, Evan, is one of those chasing a dream with the handpicked, 18-boy team that is somewhat of a test model for Front Range hockey-playing families with big dreams.

The wide-eyed youngsters, who typically practice four times a week, are getting a taste of international competition this week at the world's biggest pee-wee tournament in Quebec City. More than 2,300 aspiring 12-and-younger boys from 16 countries are competing.

The cost and time commitment are huge. Audrey Anderson said each family paid $4,400 upfront to the Thunderbirds, money for ice rental, tournament fees, compensation and travel expenses for a four-person coaching staff and other incidentals. Parents and players also pay their own travel expenses.

That didn't slow the interest. Eighty kids tried out for the Thunderbirds. Ultimately, the Andersons, like most parents of the 18 kids who made it, hope to see their son make the big time.

"I'd be lying to you if I didn't think I'd like to see Evan get a scholarship to play Division I hockey," said Evan's father, Steve.

Having their son burn out on hockey is a concern for the Andersons. Simply getting their son to various practice rinks or tournaments can be a full-time job.

"The reward for us is how it has developed him as a person," Audrey Anderson said. "It's been totally worth it."

Evan Anderson, who is missing school this week to play in Quebec, said he feels lucky to "hang out with my friends in airports and airplanes," among other advantages.

"I love playing hockey all the time, and I'm very thankful for what my parents have done and how they devote themselves to what I love," he said.

Evan carries a 3.8 grade-point average and said his goal is to play hockey at the University of Denver. His mother said pursuit of that dream has molded him into a better student. The team has daily study sessions while on the road.

"Hockey keeps him out of trouble, and so much more. He's had to learn time management, and not only has to be responsible for academics, but his health. To be good he has to be healthy," Audrey Anderson said.

Indicative of the no-nonsense approach around the Thunderbirds is coach Kent Murphy, revered for his expertise but not one to buddy up to the adults.

Murphy, 47, moved to Colorado in 1994 from Minnesota, where he coached pee-wees such as Mark Parrish of the Minnesota Wild and Toby Petersen of the Edmonton Oilers at Bloomington-Jefferson. At last count, Murphy said he has coached 28 players who went on to play for Division I teams.

"He's not a real parent guy," Steve Anderson said. "But he's great with the kids. He teaches. He doesn't scream at them. He never curses. He's just an excellent teacher."

Murphy began the Thunderbirds' AAA team last summer after leading the Littleton Hawks AA pee-wees to national championships in 2001, 2003 and 2005. Those are the only youth national titles in Colorado's history, at any level.

Some, however, wonder if it's too much, too soon for young kids to be playing for national titles and worrying about college scholarships.

Even Air Force coach Frank Serratore, who founded the Thunderbirds in 2002 at the bantam (14-under) and midget minor (16-under) levels, is concerned about how hard some parents push.

"The problem you have is (AAA) is more driven by the parents than the organization and staff," Serratore said. "It's the parents looking for more, to fast-track their kids. Believe me, it's the parents looking to get more bang for their buck.

"I worry about it with my (twin) sons that are major-midgets right now. At Air Force, we get together no more than five times a week, making sure our guys have two days off. But at the youth level, the coaches feel pressured to play more, and you know the kids, they'll play every day, all day."

Projecting 12-year-olds as potential collegiate or NHL players is ludicrous, Serratore said. From DU's 2004 and 2005 NCAA championship teams, only two players are NHL regulars.

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"The bottom line is, you've got to have the talent, got to have the passion," Serratore said. "Only a select few are blessed with both."

To help balance their kids' lives, he suggests parents take away their sons' skates two months out of the year, like he does with his sons.

Currently, all Thunderbirds all-star teams, which include bantam, midget minor and midget major, are supported by the youth organizations at Littleton, Foothills, Arapahoe, Front Range and Hyland Hills. Arvada, Boulder and the Colorado Hockey Club in Monument are associate members.

Murphy said critics of the travel and time commitment are missing the point.

"When I tell my kids to take days off, they go to stick-and-puck sessions around town," he said.

"These are elite kids. There are different levels for different kids. This is the level for the ones who have that dream."

When not at tournaments, the Thunderbirds typically practice every Tuesday and Thursday at South Suburban Ice Arena in Centennial and twice on the weekends at the Air Force Academy near Colorado Springs.

Included in those sessions are two hours of dry-land training and an hour of watching film.

Evan Anderson also finds time to play basketball for his middle school. But for most of his teammates, hockey is their only sport.

Steve Anderson, a former collegiate soccer player, said he is concerned Evan might burn out playing one sport and not be prepared to play another sport in high school.

"I worry about it when he gets to high school, when he has peers playing football, basketball, and Evan won't have that," Steve Anderson said. "He plays hockey in front of his parents and a few people. We lose a lot of kids because they want to play for their school."

Historically, most Colorado youth players give up hockey before or during high school, because even the talented kids typically run into a competitive dead end unless they move out of state.

Eight Coloradans on DU's roster can attest to that. Only one, senior forward Steven Cook of Denver, made it to Division I from Colorado high school hockey. And Cook's route to DU first took him to Air Force and a step- back season in junior-A before he became a Pioneer. Seven Pioneers left home before or during high school to pursue their dreams in Canada, the northern U.S. or the East Coast.

But the creation of the Thunderbirds could help keep most of the state's talented kids at home. The organizers believe if the current all-star team sticks together for the next five years, they could develop a nationally competitive midget minor (16- under) and midget major (18- under) program, and promote the establishment of similar AAA Colorado-based teams. Midget AAA leads kids into junior-A, the top feeder system to the NCAA.

"It's a great opportunity to have one team in Colorado that's so good, and if you can keep those boys together the whole way up, it will be easier on everybody," said DU freshman star Tyler Ruegsegger of Lakewood. "I had to go away because there was nothing like this."

Ruegsegger, 18, and DU teammates senior co-captain J.D. Corbin of Littleton and junior Zach Blom of Englewood played pee-wees for Murphy. Blom's father, Buddy, is Murphy's goal- tending coach. Buddy Blom was a goalie at DU in the 1960s and has been coaching hockey on the Front Range since.

"In the past and if you were really talented like our kids now, you almost always had to go away, but it's getting to where, down the road, we're going to be able to keep them in-state," Blom said. "Maybe within the next three years, certainly within five."