COMMUNITY JOURNALISM: Squirts shine at own tournament

Editor's note: Heather Rast is Principal of Insights & Ingenuity, a brand-building digital marketing company (www.insightsandingenuity.com) helping brands become more relevant through thoughtful brand positioning, useful web content, and responsive online communities. A resident of Vinton, her family of five cheers on three competitive hockey players.

By Heather Rast, community contributor

CEDAR RAPIDS - The Cedar Rapids Hockey Association's annual Squirt-level tournament was a successful one for the host teams.

About 200 skaters representing three skill levels played in games Jan 20-22. The CRHA's Squirt 1 team took first, the Squirt 2 third.

“The Squirt 2's fought hard all weekend to claim the third place trophy in the six-team bracket,” Squirt 2 assistant coach and CRHA Growth and Retention Coordinator Jeff Winders said. “Starting with a 6-0 win over St. Peters, Mo., they had tough losses to Kansas City (2-3) and Des Moines Chops (1-5), but skated hard in a tough, (come-) from-behind win over Chesterfield, Mo., in the third/fourth place game.

“The team was successful in backchecking, passing and demonstrated personal best efforts each shift. I believe these areas are progressing well for this team as a result of their weekly hard work on developing these skills and attitudes.”

Coaching Coordinator and Squirt 1 team Co-Coach Sean Dunkle enjoyed showing fans at home what the kids can accomplish.

“We knew the Des Moines Junior Bucs would be our toughest competition at the tournament,” he said. “Their hockey program has been around longer and they are known to play a physical game. Our Junior RoughRider Squirt 1 team used their creativity to move the puck really well.

“The kids played hard every shift and didn't give anything up for free.”

Dunkle believes hockey to be a sport requiring speed, skill, creativity and team play.

“Our boys put it all together and came out with a win. We look forward to the challenges ahead of us in Faribault, Chicago and Omaha this season and hope to make sure the folks in Wisconsin and Minnesota remember a little team from Cedar Rapids.”

Dunkle said he and co-coach Mike Renwick and assistants Tyler Sturtz and Scott Rast are willing to spend three nights a week at the rink October through March.

“It's a privilege to coach these kids,” he said. “They show up physically and mentally ready for practice. Their determination to become better hockey players will undoubtedly carry over into other aspects of their lives, making them successful students, leaders, and well-rounded individuals.”

The Squirt 1 team takes the ice against teams from Farmington and Faribault, MN next weekend in Faribault.

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