USA Hockey Magazine

June/July 2012

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2012 NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS I 20 Staging A USA Hockey National Championship Event Can Be A Huge Shot In The Arm For A Host And The Local Economy BY HARRY THOMPSON After a week of eating doughnuts, pizza and anything else he could consume on the run, Schell is ready for some real food, served on a real plate and eaten with real utensils. t's mid-morning on Championship Sunday and Bob Schell is already daydreaming about the huge steak he plans to toss on his grill in a couple of hours. Ashburn, Va.; Wayne, N.J.; Frisco, Texas; Lansing, Mich.; and Green Bay, Wis. But Amherst is hosting 48 Tier I teams, which brings with it not only some of the most talented youth hockey players from around the country, but also a small army of Junior, college and professional scouts in town to check out the stars of tomor- row under one roof. His food fantasy is quickly interrupted by the squawking of the radio that has been attached to his hip for the better part of the week. "Bob, we need …" is followed by one form of urgent request or another, and the reality of hosting a USA Hockey National Championship into focus. tournament snaps back Over the course of five days, the Northtown Center, a four-sheet munic- ipally-owned facility in Amherst, N.Y., has been the center of the youth hock- ey universe. Or more accurately, it was one of seven centers of the youth hock- ey universe as USA Hockey National Championships were simultaneously taking place in Marlborough, Mass.; BUFFALO BILL$ tion in between games. And all of that sets local cash registers ringing throughout the week. Youth sports are certainly big business, and chambers of commerce from coast to coast are constantly battling to lure events, large and small, to their home- towns. The four mini-tournaments – each fea- turing 12 teams – begin early in the week as teams trickle in from as far away as Alaska, California, Texas and Florida to get acclimated to their surroundings before the puck drops on Wednesday morning. "Kids remember Nationals for various reasons away from what happens on the ice," Schell says. "There's only one team at the end of the day that wins. We wanted to make sure they all win and leave with fond memories of being here." As any Tier I parent knows, these memories don't come cheap. There are airfares, rental cars, hotel rooms, three square meals a day, assorted energy drinks and vitamin bars, not to mention other activities to help occupy the players' atten- JUNE/JULY.2012 USAHOCKEYMAGAZINE.COM Harvey, director of sports development for the Buffalo Niagara Sports Commission. "There are a lot of events that we'll bid on where we have better facilities, better air- lift and whatever, but another community can buy the event. You don't see that with USA Hockey. The process they use sets everybody on an even scale." That ordeal takes place more than 18 months before the first puck drops as interested hosts go through a detailed application process Hockey's Youth Council looks at a variety of variables, including quality of the host facility, the volunteer base and support from the local community. And the Buffalo area, which has been hit hard by the recent recession, is one of the leaders at hosting events. USA PHOTOS BY Steve DeMeo Wild Ride "It is a competitive market," says Pete in which USA

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