FSHL: A League of Opportunity Growth, Parity Evident in Nearly 40 Teams


By Chris Errington


with a need and the determination of one individual. For the Florida Scholastic Hockey League, that individual was Peter Pearlman, the mastermind behind the evolution of the FSHL. “Some of the things Peter’s done the past few


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years to show people how proud their schools should be and how hard these kids work, this should be a feather in his cap,” said former NHL defenseman and current head coach of defending Florida state cham- pion North Broward Prep Peter Worrell said. “It’s been great for this state.” To gain a true understanding of just how far Florida high school hockey has come in such a short time, both statewide and nationally, one must under- stand its beginning back in 1998. Like many fathers of high school-age children,


Pearlman was intimately involved in his son Sam’s athletic career where he was a member of many of Pine Crest High School’s teams. Still, there was always that feeling of missing something despite suc- cess.


That something was hockey. “I’ve always been a hockey fan and you could see the passion he and his friends had for hockey really superseded their passion for any other sport,” Pearl- man said. “The recognition the kids got for other sports left a hollow feeling because it was hockey they wanted to play. “We just decided that there should be ice hockey in Florida.” To just assume that from there, high school hock- ey in Florida magically appeared is both naïve and incorrect. Pearlman believed that once started, ice hockey could flourish in such a non-traditional hockey state. Getting started was the difficult part. Almost immediately, Pearlman developed a ques-


t began like so many other outstanding ideas that blossom quickly and continue to flourish -


tionnaire to gauge interest in developing a high school hockey team and circulated it at Pine Crest. He said the response was positive enough to pro- vide ample players for a school team. Pearlman then repeated the process at other schools until “we had two or three teams.” From there, word of mouth did the rest.


The FSHL began play that year with four teams


from Broward and Palm Beach counties, which join Miami-Dade to comprise the South Florida metro- politan area. Today, thanks in large part to the help and promotion from the Sun Sentinel newspaper and the Florida Panthers, the league has grown to nearly 40 teams divided into two conferences – the Panthers Conference and Lightning Conference. The sport spans the entire state and concludes with the annual Statewide Amateur Hockey of Florida tourna- ment, producing Division I and Division II champi- ons – divided more by talent levels than school size, Pearlman said. The sport has grown so quickly and been so


successful that St. Thomas Aquinas, the 2009-10 Division I champion, reached the finals of the USA Hockey High School Student Varsity Division National Tournament. North Broward Prep, which also won a state title following the 2008-09 season, finished seventh last year at the national tournament. “Things took off much quicker than I could have


ever hoped for,” Pearlman said. “We were a mom and pop organization that just exploded. We had a time where we had to try to just catch up with things, but now that we’re settled, we have a board of people who don’t have any kids who play, but just really de- vote their time to the high school hockey in Florida. “They’re the ones that deserve the credit for help- ing this league continue as strongly as it has.” Beginning next year, the two conferences will join


to form one state-wide league. The name of the new league hasn’t been determined yet, but Pearlman said it was a necessary first step in solidifying Florida high school hockey and helping the sport’s continued growth.


The second step is to have the Florida High School


Athletic Association, located at the University of Flori- da in Gainesville, recognize hockey as a varsity sport. Pearlman believes that one step could be the biggest difference in helping hockey earn a permanent place among high school athletics. “We want to get more recognition for the kids and get the sport recognized, so we can get more kids involved, get more competition for the teams and players and get younger kids knowing they can get a varsity letter and play all four years,” Pearlman said. “(The league) gives kids who haven’t had the op-


portunity to play an opportunity to be members of the sport they want to be involved in,” added Worrell. “It allows for more competition and rivalry that you can’t just get from travel hockey. “If they continue the work they have for improving


the level of play, we can start to look to be more of a Minnesota-model league where we’re producing kids that consistently play at the next level.” Enthusiasm for high school hockey is evident every


Monday night during the season. For four hours at the Saveology.com Iceplex, practice site of the Florida Panthers in Coral Springs, Panthers Conference teams play a trio of games on the facility’s three rinks. Ath- letic directors, school principals and classmates are routinely seen cheering together for their schools. The league also provides a quartet of scholarships to be applied to college - one each to a hockey-play- ing freshman, sophomore, junior and senior - totaling $2,500. In keeping with the league’s high standards, the awarded players must pass stringent academic and conduct regulations to be eligible. In all, the excitement surrounding high school


hockey proves what Pearlman and Worrell already know – the sport has rightfully earned its place in Florida.


“This really was just an opportunity for kids in Florida to have a chance to play the sport they love,” Pearlman said. “Now it’s more than that. It’s provid- ing opportunities for them to further their athletic ca- reers at the next level. Right now, the most important thing is to bring more student athletes to the game, get the costs down by getting corporate sponsors and allowing them to be big drivers for us in the future. “After that, the sky’s the limit.”


The Florida Scholastic Hockey League is represented across the state with more than 40 teams. 6


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