USA Hockey Magazine

34 // JULY 2023 USAHOCKEYMAGAZINE.COM PHOTOS BY Justin Felisko When the Riverside, Connecticut, native busted through the locker room door, his teammates proceeded to shower him with water and ice in celebratory joy. USA Hockey champion hats were tossed into the air as the group jumped up and down before erupting into song and dance, belting David Guetta and Sia's "Titanium" at the top of their lungs. "This feels so good," Cleaves said. "No one really thought we could do it. We as a group wanted it more than everyone else. We were saying it all week, and we just ended up doing it. From the first day, we were all hanging out in one room getting to know each other. We bonded faster than any other team I have ever been on. That is really what got the job done for us." Smiles. Exhilarating competition. Team unity. Pride for your district. Lifelong memories. All of these were some of the hopeful goals for USA Hockey when it revamped the USA Hockey-BioSteel Boys 17 National Festival into a District team-based tourna- ment format for the first time since 2004. The Festival featured USA Hockey 's 12 districts and 216 of the top players of the 2006 birth year. The priority was still to improve and showcase the individual players partici- pating, who were also competing to earn a n i nv i t e t o t h e 2 0 2 3 H l i n k a G r e t z k y Cup Camp on July 20-24 in Plymouth, Michigan. The players continued to expe- rience a competitive, age-specific envi- ronment with on-ice training (drills, small area games, competitions, etc.) and off-ice training (strength & conditioning, team building, mental skills, nutrition, class- room, etc.). The rosters featured primarily players from the district, while teams also had some at-large players who earned an opportunity to attend the camp as well. " We had been talking about it for some time, and we want to make each of our Select Camps or National Festivals different," said Bob Mancini, USA Hockey's assistant exec- utive director of hockey development. "We felt like we had the Select 15s really dialed into what it is—a combination of exposure and information, and also some skill devel- opment. Then at 16 and 17, we are picking international teams. But by the time kids got here at 17, we wanted to give them some- thing exciting. Something new. We wanted to return to the format where kids are now coming to national camp and are getting a chance to play with their friends. We also knew it could have tremendous benefits for coaching and player development." Pa r k e r M e t z , t h e c a m p d i r e c t o r f o r the Boys 17 National Festival, has been helping run USA Hockey-BioSteel Player Development Camps for 15 years and he knew there was something special brew- ing this year when Mark Tabrum, USA Hockey's director of youth hockey, unveiled the championship trophy during the first day of orientation at Daemen University. "The bar was set pretty high when we pre- sented the trophy at our opening meeting," Metz said. "You saw the kids eyes light up for opening ceremonies. It was cool to see that at the front end of it. Then you talk to the team leaders and the coaches through- out the week, and they had a goal to aspire to reach. You saw them get really hungry right away." Ta b r u m e x p l a i n e d t h a t t h e B o y s 1 7 National Festival is the last of the Player Development Camps for youth players in the USA Hockey development structure. " We decided let's give them a sense of pride with the district they are from," Tabrum said. "It is neat to see all the dis- tricts and teams together. The coaches and team leaders we selected are from those districts as well. You see the district unity. All of their t-shirts were color-coded based on their jersey, so they were wearing those around town, and we had district logos on the locker rooms. We tried to incorporate district pride into everything we did." Tabrum and Mancini agreed as players continue to develop that they ultimately begin to play alongside national talent in their later teenage years. Therefore, the Boys 17 National Festival reunited some players with friends from earlier youth squads. "The majority of kids at this age are play- ing all over the nation, no matter where they are from," Mancini said. "Now they are going back, and they are playing with the kids from their district where they grew up with and who they competed against at 10, 11, 12, 13 or 14. What we saw this week was more kids were tuned into the team aspect of play. They wanted to play well together because it is for their district. They want to play well together because there is a win and WE BONDED FASTER THAN ANY OTHER TEAM I HAVE EVER BEEN ON. THAT IS REALLY WHAT GOT THE JOB DONE FOR US." – COOPER CLEAVES

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