SGAA Rocking...Nationals on the Horizon

Well, well, well....don't look now, but Atlanta has taken over the Southeast market.  We have a whopping 41 teams this weekend competing in our Atlanta Regional here at SGAA, and this market is growing the right way!  Organizations like the Tour Lizard Kings, Alkali Bulldogs, and Alkali Rampage are building a culture that promotes team camaraderie and competition, and you can tell they are doing a great job by the energy these kids have around the rink and the amount of teams they are fielding.  They are genuinely excited to be here, and have a love for the game that is very refreshing to see.  Jerry Fecteau(Mission Sting), George Goodwin(Jr. Gladiators), and Delmar Prowant(PTC) have long been promoting this kind of atmosphere, and its nice to see other groups in this market continue to promote roller hockey from a grassroots level.  This is exactly how we build as a sport, and I hope other markets in the Southeast follow their lead.  Well done guys.  Well done!

Another key factor in making this event a success is the amount of out of towns teams that traveled in for this event. Tennessee always represents at this event, and this year is no different as they have a team in every division.  The Scorpions have traveled up from Florida, and Dragons and Assault have made the trip from North Carolina.  These teams attendance makes a huge impact on the entire event, and we sincerely appreciate them making this weekend one that was on their travel schedule this year!

Another event we hope is on the travel schedule this year is our National Championships.  As everyone should know by now, we are in Taylor Michigan in the heart of 'Hockey Town' at the Taylor Sportsplex June 26 - July 5.  If you have not made the trip to Taylor before, TSX is an amazing facility, and one that is prefect for hosting our National event!  The Tour Lizard Kings look like they already have their bags packed, and we are looking forward to seeing Tim Harrington and his group represent in a big way in Detroit!  The Assault will be bringing an army from North Carolina, Kevin Brown has his 2000 Bulldogs group locked, and is working on others, while Shane Parker will once again be bringing his Knuckleheads in from the Music City!  We are hoping many more from this market book their plans, as it will undoubtedly be one of, if not, the premier event this summer.

On that subject, as many of you know, but some do not, one really cool aspect of our event this year is that we will be hosting the IIHF Mens Team USA Tryouts and Training Camp as part of our event this year.  Tryouts will take place Monday and Tuesday(June 29-30) followed by Training Camp(July 1-2) before the team heads to Tampere, Finland for the 2015 World Championships!  This will be a great opportunity for the younger kids to watch the world's best players.  We will be working with Team USA on having player availability so the kids have the opportunity to meet the players, get autographs, and take photos.

As for the hockey this weekend, the Dual Decks are already rocking this morning!  We have the younger age divisions rolling, and not only are the kids bobbing their heads to the music, but so are the parents!  We have a full slate of games on the schedule today and tomorrow, and George Brown, Mike Bell, and myself will be keeping a close eye on the action in order to get these teams qualified.

We will check in with you a bit later....if not already, be sure to follow us on Facebook(TORHS.2Hot4Ice) and Twitter(@TORHS_2H4I), and track all the scores live here, http://www.torhs2hot4ice.com/stats/tournament_scoreboard