A Word from the GM
Matt Smith
General Manager and Youth Hockey Director
It’s September and that means the kids are back in school and back and back to the rink. The Figure Skating Competition season is on and our fall/Winter hockey season for Adult and Kids is starting up! It’s never too late to sign up your son or daughter into one of our exciting programs.
Piranha Hockey
We had a fantastic season in our Youth Hockey Program the Piranhas! In the past year we’ve doubled in size with 5 new Metro San Diego teams and our Tournament Team! The coaches are doing something right!
September 12th is the first practice for our Tournament Team and the Friday the 13th is Minis, Mites, Squirts and Peewees. Check out the schedule under the Youth Hockey tab on the UTC Ice website. The 14th and 15th will be placement games/practices to make sure we have the correct players on the correct teams. We look forward to playing the other area rinks next weekend on September 21st and 22nd.
Check out our end of the season Party!!!
Skills Competition!
The kids stick handling, shooting and passing skills were put to the test in are all out Skills Competition!
Fastest Skater!
We had three winners in the Fastest Skater Competition! Coach Tiffany got the winner’s shirts to show off to the rest of their teammates in hopes they improve their speed and try to win these prestigious shirts!
Emma Ruddy won for the Minis
Joon won for the Mites
Ryan Nubling won for the Squirt/Peewees
Awards!
Everyone received a medal of honor to commemorate the successful season and there were some awards to mention. These awards are chosen between the coaches and hockey director for 5 different and very important parts of the sport. Here are you winners!
Nick Zemljic won the Vezina Trophy for Best Goalie
Creigton Seiders won the Norris Trophy for Best Defenseman
Emma Rudy won the Calder Memorial Trophy for Best Rookie
Andrew Smeltzer won the Lady Bing Trophy for Most Sportsmanlike
Ryan Nubling won the Hart Trophy for MVP
Pizza Party!
After our skills competition, parent player game and awards we all had a well deserved pizza party in our party room. Kids, parents and coaches stuffed their faces with pizza and soda to finish off our season! Can’t wait till the new season starts!!!
Special Needs Hockey
Hey our special needs hockey program is really taking off. We have about 17 kids participating and it’s looking like we may have a team in the next several months. Our dedicated coaching staff is giving their time to this very exciting program.
UTC Ice loves giving back to the community like this, but we need some help. We’re looking for donations to help get the kids proper helmets and gear as well as cover some of the ice time. If you are interested please give Matt Smith a call at 858-452-9110 ext 4 or email Lisa Granet at lrbecker@san.rr.com.
Figure Skating
Brittney Olson
Figure Skating Director
September is upon us which means back to school! Autumn is near and cooler weather will be here soon! I want to remind everyone that if you are a current Ice Skating Institute (ISI) member that it is time for renewal. All memberships expire on August 31st so now is the time to update so you can take your ISI tests and compete! If you are not yet a member I recommend joining now. Anyone can join, even tots and beginners, and ISI offers great deals. You can purchase a 1 year membership for only $15 or buy a longer membership for discounted prices; 2 years for $25 or 5 years for $50. All UTC Ice Skating Academy classes follow the ISI curriculum.
Private Lessons
Private lessons are a great way to boost your skating skills and progress at a faster pace. Sometimes skaters get stuck on one really difficult skill like t-stops, Mohawks, or the dreaded change foot spin. The best way to master these complex skills is to come to your Skating Academy classes every week, practice the skills on your own by utilizing your free public sessions, and add a private lesson! All of our coaches at UTC Ice are trained, certified, and background checked. Talk to a coach you connect with to set up a lesson, or you can fill out a request in the box office and we can find the right coach for you!
Did you know that many skating skills are named after the people who began doing them first? For example, the axel jump was first performed by Axel Paulsen in 1882, the biellmann spin is named after Denise Biellmann who did not invent it but made it popular, and Ina Bauer is the woman who invented the Ina Bauer element.
Epic Edge
We are still looking for more skaters to join our ISI team. This team is for kids in Beta level and higher. Even if you have never skated with a team or group before that is not a problem. This team is a fun way to improve your skating skills and make great friends at the same time. We practice on Wednesday evenings 6:10-6:40pm and would love for you to join us!
If you are interested please contact Team Manager Gina Williams at gwiilia7@san.rr.com or Epic Edge Coach Brittney Olson at brittney.olson@epic-edge.org
Adult Hockey
Mike Duffey
Adult Hockey Director
A little history featuring Maynard Howe
I grew up in Portland Maine and when I was in High School (’71 – ’73) we had an independent Hockey team, as did all the commuinities here, because the school systems didn’t pick it up as a “school sport” We got our own sponsors, did fund raisers, with the rest coming out of pocket – like skates and sticks etc…. Well, For a season Maynard donated his time to coach our team, meaning an early morning session during the week, and our Friday night games. We did have a couple of other road trips too. He taught us all a lot about the game, and even now, 40 years later, I have great memories of our time as a team. I’ve always respected him a lot for his contribution to the growth of Ice Hockey in the schools of southern Maine.
The local school systems eventually picked up Ice Hockey as an official school sport and I like to thik we all played a part inkeeping the fire alive until it was. There’s a nice little rink almost adhacent to where we had an outdoor rink.
UTC Ice Hockey Summer 2013 Champions
Copper Pfizer
Bronze Stemedica
Siver Rangers
Gold Team Warrior
Platinum Maple Leafs
