{"id":391,"date":"2013-02-14T02:18:57","date_gmt":"2013-02-14T02:18:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lbpost.com\/articles\/sports\/hockey-team-connects-players-from-across-long-beach-high-schools-2\/"},"modified":"2013-02-14T02:18:57","modified_gmt":"2013-02-14T02:18:57","slug":"hockey-team-connects-players-from-across-long-beach-high-schools-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/hockey-team-connects-players-from-across-long-beach-high-schools-2","title":{"rendered":"Hockey Team Connects Players From Across Long Beach High Schools"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"LBPrep<\/p>\n

Photo by Jeff Clester <\/em><\/p>\n

Southern California and hockey are about as synonymous as sun bathing and Siberia. When Long Beach is mentioned in conversation, Snoop Dogg or 2nd Street are likely topics, not the adrenaline pumping, hard hitting action of the local high school ice hockey team.<\/p>\n

The lack of recognition that sport receives was one of the main motivators that drove Chreryl Stanovich, team manager for the Long Beach Prep hockey team, had in mind when she helped create the squad two years ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy oldest son went to Lakewood high and three of the boys at Lakewood won the state championship,\u201d Stanovich said. \u201cAnd when they back to school on Monday after winning the state championship there was nothing at the school about it. They wouldn\u2019t even put it in the bulletin.\u201d<\/p>\n

With her youngest set to enter high school, Stanovich couldn\u2019t face the prospect of two of her sons going unnoticed while playing the sport they loved. Something had to change. So in a grassroots effort that required the cooperation of several schools in the district, parents and the National Hockey League\u2019s Anaheim Ducks, Stanovich helped to establish a high school ice hockey team in Long Beach.<\/p>\n

\"restingatpractice\"<\/p>\n

Photo by Jason Ruiz<\/em><\/p>\n

Long Beach Prep<\/a>, which plays in the Anaheim Ducks High School Hockey League, pulls players from schools all around the city including Poly, Wilson, St. Anthony\u2019s, Stanford and Lakewood high schools. In an attempt to be impartial, their logo is a black and yellow LB, a play off of the NHL\u2019s Boston Bruins\u2019 jersey, an idea conceived and designed by the players. Practices are held at Glacial Gardens in Lakewood and all games are played at the Anaheim Ice facility near Disneyland.<\/p>\n

The Ducks, who recently purchased Glacial Gardens, help subsidize the cost of playing for all 12 teams in the league by donating equipment and paying for top-notch coaching which helps make the league as competitive as travel leagues which can be costly, both monetarily and in terms of time away from home. All other costs, including the $400 hourly ice fee for practices, come out of the dues required from each player. The Ducks aggressively promote the league and even hold college fairs where high school athletes are invited to gather and watch free college hockey games.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a lot of the things that they do like that that\u2019s just above and beyond,\u201d Stanovich said. \u201cI can\u2019t say enough about how the Ducks have grown this program. It\u2019s amazing to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hal Kempfer, whose son, Sam, is a freshman forward on the team, said that the cost of playing travel hockey can reach upward of eight to ten thousand dollars a year and create economic barriers for entry to the sport. With the contributions from the Ducks and travel expenses nearly eliminated, he estimates that Sam playing for Long Beach Prep has cut those costs in half. It\u2019s also reduced the headaches of driving long distances for practices and games.<\/p>\n

\"Goalie\"<\/p>\n

Photo by Jason Ruiz<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThere were times when I was doing work in Anaheim, I\u2019d go home to pick up my son in rush-hour traffic, turn around and go back to pretty darn close where I just left,\u201d Kempfer said about being a parent with a child in a travel league sport. \u201cAnd you sit there and kind of look at it and say \u2018this is really kind of a pain.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

The elimination of the constant commuting was a just a bonus to the sense of community that Stanovich hoped to create when she began this project. Travel teams not only created gaps in family time but also disconnects between teammates because they often lived in different cities, sometimes even counties apart. Now, with Long Beach Prep, the team is comprised of classmates and kids from the same neighborhoods. And with no natural rivalries, the players have embraced the idea of so many schools coalescing to form one team.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell I think with a city like long beach, hockey isn\u2019t a priority,\u201d said 15-year-old Noah Belkin, a sophomore defensemen from Poly High. \u201cSo when you get so many schools together you get a lot more talent. You get a lot higher talent level because it\u2019s not just one school.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although the team has struggled to a 3-10 record this year, much of which is attributed to the lack of a junior varsity team, forcing them to play younger and smaller players against larger, more experienced opponents, they have tasted success in the past. Last year, Long Beach Prep made it to the championship game which was held at the Honda Center before losing 4-2 to Damien High School. Despite their record, because every team in the league qualifies for the playoffs that start next month, they do have an outside shot of returning to the big stage.<\/p>\n

\"LBPrep<\/p>\n

Photo by Jeff Clester<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cFor the kids last year it was awesome,\u201d Head Coach Rob O\u2019Rourke said. \u201cSome of those kids made memories that they\u2019ll take to the grave most likely. When they scored a goal, heard the big buzzer and all the other stuff that goes along with playing at the Honda center. It\u2019s a big deal.\u201d<\/p>\n

A bigger deal, and something Stanovich and other parents have been working on is getting the schools and the district to recognize the athletes. One day they\u2019d like hockey to be a letter sport, so their kids can don letterman jackets just like students playing more traditional sports. Until then, Freshman Justin Campbell will enjoy the disbelief he gets from his classmates at Wilson High when they hear about the team.<\/p>\n

“They\u2019re all surprised. Nobody in my school plays hockey so when I tell them I play they\u2019re like \u2018what\u2019s hockey? You play hockey?\u2018\u201d Campbell said with a smile. \u201cIt\u2019s a really big surprise to them but it also makes me feel really special at the same time because not everyone does it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Long Beach Prep will compete in the California State Games this weekend in San Diego before ADHHL Playoffs start March 2nd. They\u2019ll be hosting a free skate in march for anyone interested in joining the team. Cheryl Stanovich: stanohckyfam1@yahoo.com  <\/em><\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\"LBPrep<\/p>\n

Southern California and hockey are about as synonymous as sun bathing and Siberia. But thanks to some dedicated parents, Long Beach high school students who want to hit the ice now have a team comprised of players from across the city.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":76,"featured_media":16680,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","inline_featured_image":false,"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":"","_":"","_author_alias":"","cap-aim":"","cap-description":"","cap-display_name":"","cap-first_name":"","cap-jabber":"","cap-last_name":"","cap-linked_account":"","cap-newspack_employer":"","cap-newspack_job_title":"","cap-newspack_phone_number":"","cap-newspack_role":"","cap-user_email":"","cap-user_login":"","cap-website":"","cap-yahooim":"","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_email_html":"","newspack_email_type":"","newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_hide_page_title":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_show_share_buttons":"","newspack_sponsor_byline_prefix":"","newspack_sponsor_disclaimer_override":"","newspack_sponsor_flag_override":"","newspack_sponsor_only_direct":"","newspack_sponsor_url":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-391","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/391","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/76"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=391"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/391\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16680"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=391"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=391"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=391"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newspack_spnsrs_tax?post=391"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=391"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}