Although Merrill and Antigo left the WVC for the Great Northern conference, the Valley will still have its share of thrills.

The usual suspects will battle for the Valley crown–Wausau West, Stevens Point, and Wisconsin Rapids–along with last year’s surprise team, DC Everest.

We pick West to repeat last year’s feat even though the team lost 11 seniors to graduation.
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The opening games are less than a week away. Can the team reps for the PointStreak system please enter your rosters?

• Complete Varsity roster entry by this Friday. If names are spelled the same as last year, player data will synchronize.
• All team admins are still ACTIVE. Team Admin’s usernames are their EMAIL addresses. If they have forgotten their password, they can click on ‘forgot password’ to reset.
• If a team needs a new team admin, they can email WiPH, their Section Heads, or PointStreak and we will add a new one.
• There are admin tutorials to view online once a Team Admin logs in.
• In-game Scoring Applications are available, please email PointStreak if needed.

In the meantime, you can send donations to the fund by sending checks to:

(Make checks payable to WAHA)

Don Kohlman Memorial Scholarship Fund
2189 E. Prairie Creek Drive
Neenah, WI 54956

Please note “Don Kohlman Memorial Scholarship” in Memo field on check. Colleen Walbrun will be handling the contributions, and you can contact her at 920.252.2513 if you have any questions.

Thank you in advance for contributing to this very worthwhile cause.

 

 

Last season the Wisconsin Hockey Coaches Association and Wisconsin Prep Hockey teamed with PointStreak to provide team and player stats. The project was a big hit with fans, coaches, players and media all having access to better information throughout the season. We started slowly, but eventually received cooperation from 95% of the teams.

This season, we want 100% participation. We need a representative from each team to input the scoresheet data during or after each home game. It is a fairly simple task and can be done on a computer or Blackberry. You can view a brief tutorial here.

Some of the coaches like to do this themselves, and others would prefer to delegate this job. Please talk to your local high school coach to see if this important task has been assigned. Thank you for your support.

By Dan Bauer

It is official, all youth athletics are nuts.  Hockey may have earned the right of getting there first, but every other sport has now fallen in place. They are all too organized, travel too much, too expensive and too time consuming.  We place put too much emphasis on keeping score and winning and too little emphasis on having fun.

As another youth hockey season descends upon us I have some simple advice for parents to help make your hockey experience more enjoyable.

Skip tryouts.  Leave the rink, go to a movie, have dinner with your spouse, just stay away.  If your child makes the A team, be happy and humble. If your child makes the B team, be happy and calm.  Next to skill, the most important quality of a good athlete is confidence.  Benefit:  Stress Reduction.

Every rink has a water fountain.  Save time and money on the Gatorade, because I’m not certain that 10 year-olds even have electrolytes. And if they do, I bet they have a lot of them.  We only start losing things when we get older.  Savings:  80+ games & practices @ $2.00 = $160.

They can carry their own bag and if they can’t it’s too big.  You don’t carry your kid’s backpack to school for them; you shouldn’t have to carry their hockey bag either.  Donate your wheelie bag to a stewardess and get one that has to be carried.  Benefit:  Increased leg strength.

Kids can dress and undress themselves—go get a cup of coffee and relax.  Once they have been through it a few times they can figure it out.  And if they can’t, that is why they have teammates.  Eventually they will get it on or off.  Be patient.  Benefit:  Team Unity.  (PS: Coffee is cheaper then Gatorade)

Teach them to tie their own skates as soon as possible—good skaters have loose skates, so let them get use to it early.  As long as you keep tying them they are going to let you.  Haven’t we learned this “helpless� lesson before?  Benefit:  Ankle strength.

New equipment is for Christmas, maybe a birthday—but should not be a birthright of every new season.  Buy used equipment—a 58lb squirt doesn’t need the support of a $300 pair of skates. A $300 pair of skates could be worn by a 58lb squirt for ten years and still not be worn out—it’s basic physics.  Today’s skates are as rigid as marine core training.  Savings:  $200+.

On the subject of skates, as soon as they are old enough to drive, they are old enough to get their own skates sharpened.  If they tell you they don’t have time, compare your schedule to theirs, then hand the skates back to them.  Benefit:  Time for you & responsibility for them.

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My name is Laurie Muffler and I’m a Producer & Host for the local access cable TV show “Rockin’ The Cable Show”.
 
I’m currently producing a special interest TV Series featuring the game of Hockey.   Each episode will be an hour long and feature various local teams in the 5-county area and throughout Wisconsin starting with the youngest up to the Milwaukee Admirals and all the ages in between.   There will also be interviews with a few NHL players/teams (hopefully including my favorite team Toronto Maple Leafs).
 
I’m hoping to set up an interview with coaches, players and administrations of various hockey teams/leagues throughout Wisconsin.
 
Here are just a few questions of the many questions that will be asked:
-  what are your goals as a coach
-  the passion of playing hockey
-  how long has each player been playing hockey
-  goals of each player with hockey (playing in college and beyond)
-  balancing hockey practice with school, jobs and social life
-  family/friends support / interviews with parents
-  the expenses of hockey equipment
- getting to know the hockey rinks and facilities in the area (promoting what each facility offers and any addition information you’d like viewers to know about)
 
Interviews can take place almost anytime at your convenience.
 
Currently this Hockey TV Series “For The Love of The Game” will be seen throughout the state on local access cable and Time Warner On Demand. 
 
I’m hoping to promote the game of hockey for new players & fans and also the current players & fans.
 
If you have any questions and need more information, please feel free to contact me at 414-573-2609 or by email at rockinthecableshow@charter.net
 

Mike Connor and Dave Witting have given countless hours of their lives to hockey, asking for nothing in return.

Now, the game will give something back to these gentlemen.

Next month, the two men will be inducted into the Wisconsin Hockey Hall of Fame during a ceremony held in Eagle River on September 6.

Visit http://www.wihockeyhalloffame.com/ for more details and biographies.

Congratulations Mike and Dave!!

Defenseman Josh Nelson (Wisconsin Rapids), forward Kyle Heck (SPASH), and forward Mike Lennon (Reedsburg) have made their respective NAHL teams’ rosters.

Nelson will play with the Bismarck Bobcats, while Heck and Lennon will lace ‘em up for the Marquette Rangers.

Good luck to Josh, Kyle, and Mike! 

 

Over the years, the Reedsburg community has been an outstanding supporter of the Reedsburg Youth programs.  After the devastating floods hit the LaValle, North Freedom, Reedsburg and Rock Springs communities, Reedsburg Youth programs started planning on what they could do to help their families, friends and neighbors who have suffered through these trying times.

With this in mind, representatives of Reedsburg Little League/Babe Ruth (Chuck Carter), Reedsburg Youth Football (Russ Lankey), Reedsburg Hockey (Deb Rosholt) and Reedsburg Swim Team (Teri Senzig) have been meeting and planning a fundraiser for Sunday, August 10th.  While these organizations have been involved in the initial planning, they welcome any other groups that would like to be involved.  As has been noted, “This was a large tragedy which had an affect on many families and friends in our area.  We would like to show our support and thanks to these communities for the support they have shown our youth in the past.  Also, part of our commitment to our youth is to set an example of giving back to our communities.�
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By Alice Read and Tom Geilfuss

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