Here’s some of the hot hockey action captured on that cold February day…
CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS <—–
photo credits: Ryan DeFazio and Brandon Brownlow
charlottestreethockey
Bumpy Assphalts…Almost Winter Classic Champions!
Congrats to Bumpy Assphalts for winning the oft rescheduled, fourth annual Almost Winter Classic at lovely Waymer Park in Huntersville, NC! They defeated Techno Destructos in the tournament finals 8 goals to 4.
Tournamant MVP Bryan Buchalski!
A tender moment between captain and cup.
As always, thanks to everyone who participated this year! The 5th AWC will be bigger and better than all the rest!
ALMOST WINTER CLASSIC 2/21/15 – RULES AND SCHEDULE
The 21st of February is finally upon us. Time for the often delayed 4th annual Almost Winter Classic street hockey draft tournament!
Below are the rules/format and the game schedule. BE SURE TO READ THE RULES THOROUGHLY!!!Just a few important things to call out…
- DRAFT IS PROMPTLY AT 8:30AM please plan to arrive around 8 as we will need help setting up and whatnot (FIRST GAME IS AT 9AM)
- BRING WHITE AND DARK SHIRTS!! I cannot stress this enough. NO GRAY, RED, YELLOW, ETC. Dark blue is acceptable.
CLICK HERE ——-> 2014 AWC rules
CLICK HERE ——-> 2014 AWC Game Schedule
ALMOST WINTER CLASSIC 4 street hockey tournament RESCHEDULED FOR 2/21/15
They say the third time is a charm…
Time to sign up for Charlotte’s best (and only) annual FREE draft style street hockey tournament!
NEW MAKE UP DATE: February 21st, 2015
THERE WILL BE NO MORE MAKE UP DATES FOR THIS EVENT!!
Format will be 99% similar to previous AWC’s (details to follow)
PLEASE PLAN TO STAY/PLAY FOR THE ENTIRE TOURNAMENT! There were a pretty good number of players that left halfway through leaving their teams at a disadvantage. If you do leave early, you will not be eligible for whatever cheesy prize we have this year. If you think that you will not be able to stay for the entire tournament (runs from 9am till around 2pm) please DO NOT RSVP!!
Number of goalies will determine number of teams.
REMINDER: the surface at Waymer Park is abrasive so plan your equipment choice accordingly.
Bring your family and friends!
Let’s make this the best AWC ever!!
ALMOST WINTER CLASSIC 4 street hockey tournament: 12/6/14 Time to sign up!
Here it is…the moment you’ve been waiting for!
Time to sign up for Charlotte’s best (and only) annual FREE street hockey tournament!
December 6th, 2014 (Inclement weather date is January 10th.)
Format will be 99% similar to previous AWC’s (details to follow)
PLEASE PLAN TO STAY/PLAY FOR THE ENTIRE TOURNAMENT! There were a pretty good number of players that left halfway through leaving their teams at a disadvantage. If you do leave early, you will not be eligible for whatever cheesy prize we have this year. If you think that you will not be able to stay for the entire tournament (runs from 9am till around 3pm) please DO NOT RSVP!!
Number of goalies will determine number of teams.
If you DO NOT want to play but want to participate, we could use a steady referee (with some sort of experience).
REMINDER: the surface at Waymer Park is abrasive so plan your equipment choice accordingly.
Bring your family and friends!
Let’s make this the best AWC ever!!
News and Notes
Here are a few things in the works:
- Obviously pick-up at Breakaway Sports has been a runaway success! In light of this I have scheduled all August Saturday pick-up games there. The fate of pick-up games at Waymer is at this time undecided. However, one option would be for another person to be “in charge” of Sunday Waymer pick-up (which means mainly “in charge” of storing/hauling the nets to the park and back).
- Even though we found an indoor venue for our antics, I (and a few others) are still working on finding a suitable outdoor venue as well as getting in touch with local towns to see if a public rink or court is feasible.
- I’m attempting to change over to a common scheduling format (something like Evite). This will help get an accurate headcount since I cover 3 different platforms for recruiting and scheduling. Probably starting with the August 2nd pick-up, I will be posting the invite on the Charlotte Street Hockey web page and then posting the link to Twitter, Facebook and email list.
- Breakaway Sports is planning an Ironman sometime in August. One of the pick-ups scheduled may be affected.
- Breakaway Sports has also been kicking around the idea of a league in the fall. I’ll keep you posted on any happenings there.
- The Almost Winter Classic: the venue for this is TBD. Part of me says it should still be played at Waymer but another says an AWC at Breakaway could make it a “real” event. My intent is to keep it free as it has always been so maybe some corporate $ponsorship is in order? More to come.
As always, thanks to all who support this group by showing up and playing! I think that due to our popularity we have (finally) outgrown our roots at Waymer Park. That being said, I’m sure there are a few purists among us that will gladly play in the great outdoors once in a while. We’ll see how pick-ups go this month and go from there.
Lou
A New Hope
Greetings all!
I am happy to announce that CSH has entered in an agreement with Breakaway Sports in Charlotte and will be staging pick-up games beginning Saturday June 28th!
It’s been a long time coming to be able to play in a facility such as this one. With our steady numbers at weekly pick-up along with the “youth” movement, we felt it was time to put the feelers out to see if it would be viable to play at Breakaway.
Mark Abarelli (father of Nina and Adam) contacted Keith at Breakaway early this week and laid the groundwork for the group to play there on a trial basis (once a month?) at a reduced cost per player. I finalized the details with Keith this afternoon. To boil it down, Keith would like to grow street/ball/dek hockey and our group can certainly funnel players that way. I would still be doing the scheduling, event invites, twitter/web/email, etc. It would be similar to our relationship with the Morrison YMCA.
There are many benefits to playing there.
- indoors (air conditioned)
- full boards, glass, sport court, bleachers, scoreboard (and scorekeeper).
- locker rooms
- pool table, air hockey
- vending machines
- “centrally located”. I did a quick check of how long it would take from where most everyone lives and all (except for RJ and Brendan) are within 20-30 minutes.
Equipment:
- Shins and gloves I believe are required. Helmet is optional (you will have to sign a waiver). If you do not have any of the mentioned equipment they have a bunch available to rent.
Price:
- Initially the cost will be a paltry $5 per session (2-3 hours). The price will increase (not by much) the more the program grows (maybe $7 or $8 was mentioned by Keith).
I think the timing is perfect for some games there. Lets see how it goes! Myself (and others in the group) are still working on the surrounding municipalities with the intent to have a public facility built in some shape or form.
I would like to thank Mark for doing a lot of legwork with this. He and a few others have been pretty passionate about finding a good facility to play for us and future generations!
IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS please email me using the form below. If I can’t answer your question then I can surely get the info from Keith.
Thanks everyone and see y’all next Saturday at the indoor rink!
Lou
Memorial Day Tiny-Tourney Champions!
Tourney champs Team Zoltan
Congrats to Team Zoltan for winning the hastily arranged impromptu Memorial Day Tiny Tourney 3 games to 1 over Team 2 Hands! All hands on the Silver Sutter!
A letter from the commish…
Hi folks!
Let’s start on a good note…attendance at weekend pick-up games has been great the last several weeks! Not sure why but I’d say the nicer weather may have something to do with it.
As you know by now, we are on our 4th year of weekly pick-up games/tourney’s/league games. Some of it has gone smoothy, some of it…not so much (I’m looking at YOU Fall 2013 League).
All and all, I think we have a great bunch of guys (and girls) that enjoy all the fun and camaraderie that comes with being in our group. That being said, there is always room for improvement…
The most obvious improvement would be, of course, a decent place to play. Yes, Waymer has served us well since the Winter of 2010. But as you know by now, this is not a perfect place to play for many reasons. We all know what they are so I won’t bother to list them here.
I’ve been working diligently on Huntersville Parks & Rec…letting them know of our plight, offering solutions and filling them in on how much a facility could/would be used, based on our growing numbers alone. Unfortunately, government runs at a pace slower than molasses in Alaska and I have yet to have any meaningful dialog (or even a response) at this point.
So, I have a “mission” for the members in the group that are as dedicated and visionary as I am that would love to see a purpose built street hockey court of some kind built and used. Since we have had a huge influx of new members (and seems to be growing weekly) this “mission” may be easier and more fruitful.
Your mission….keep your eyes and ears open for new places to play! Huntersville may be a dead horse so keep a lookout for any place that you think may be a good alternative to Waymer Park. Here’s what to look for:
– Fully enclosed court (i.e. little used basketball or tennis court)
– Smooth surface (relative to Waymer)
– Safe neighborhood
Also, in the event that Huntersville (or some other local town) is interested in creating such a facility (or converting an old one), shoot some ideas my way in regards to fundraising or locating some locals with deep pockets. One thing I have realized in pitching this to the City of Charlotte is that the more money that YOU can provide, the more receptive they are. No, it’s not right…but that’s the way it is.
Any other ideas you may have, please send my way. There is a form below this post so do not comment on here please.
Thanks for your time as always. I’m optimistic that someday we will have a permanent place to play but in the meantime, let’s keep the numbers up and show ‘em that street hockey is alive and well in the Charlotte area!
Lou
