North Broward Prep Building Successful High School Program Ex-NHLer Worrell Challenges Eagles to Keep Improving


By Chris Errington P


eter Worrell has come home again, although this time, he’s quickly becoming known for a whole lot more than just his punishing hits. Worrell, considered one of the NHL’s most feared


enforcers during a seven-year career with the Florida Panthers and Colorado Avalanche, has been the head coach of the North Broward Prep hockey team the past four seasons. During his tenure, the team has transformed into one of Florida’s best and a program that can compete nationally. “It all starts with the players,” Worrell said. “You can put in any rules, drills, any program you want, but if you don’t have the players, you can’t be suc- cessful. We’ve been very fortunate with having great players that allow us to challenge ourselves every year.”


North Broward Prep, founded in 1957 in Coconut


Creek, approximately 13 miles north of Fort Lauder- dale, has become the state’s flagship hockey pro- gram. The Eagles have won four Florida Scholastic Hockey League titles in the past five seasons and last season captured their second Amateur Hockey of Florida Tournament championship in Tampa. The victory sent North Broward Prep into the USA Hockey High School Student Varsity Division National Tournament, where it finished seventh a year after St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Fort Lauderdale reached the national final. Now Worrell is looking for more, but that doesn’t


necessarily only mean winning a national title. “To win a national championship would be great


North Broward Prep coach Peter Worrell sets up a play during a game last season. Worrell is entering his fifth season behind the Eagles’ bench. Photo/Patricia Cash


and what we strive for, but it’s not necessarily the finish line,” Worrell said. “There are bench marks we need to reach before we get there. We want to im- prove upon what we did last year and that’s why we challenge ourselves not only in Florida, but across the country so the kids have a full emersion. “To look (at winning back-to-back state titles) is a


little presumptuous, because there are a lot of very talented teams that want the same goal.” What Worrell and his players are building at North


Jr. Knights Have Solid Foundation in Orlando New AAA Aspect Will Help Advance Players


By Matt Mackinder T


he philosophy of the Orlando Youth Hockey Association (OYHA) is a simple one – have fun,


work hard and let everyone enjoy the greatest game on Earth.


All of the coaches in the OYHA, also known as the Orlando Jr. Knights, embrace that philosophy and bring with it an honest teaching aspect that play- ers and parents buy into and do so with a positive demeanor. “Each player must realistically understand their own individual ability and responsibility for the greater good of the team,” said Bantam AA coach Dave Castine. “Not every player can be the lead- ing scorer, have the best save percentage, have the hardest shot or have the best plus-minus rating. Each player must be willing to know their weaknesses, know their strengths and have the internal desire and motivation to work on their weaknesses, improve their strengths, and have the mental toughness to prepare themselves to work hard at whatever it is that they do in life. Having the right attitude makes all the difference.” Castine further explained that hockey, being a team game, needs all players involved and ready to accept their place on their respective team as as- signed by their Jr. Knights’ coaches. “Every player must support their teammates at


all times and be willing to sacrifice for the benefit of the team,” Castine said. “Each player should know their role as a player just like a puzzle piece and how


their role fits into the entire team to make it whole. All puzzle pieces are different shapes and sizes and have a different purpose. What good is a puzzle with missing pieces?” Recently, the OYHA announced the start-up of a AAA aspect of the organization. OYHA president Louis DiPaolo said the purpose of the addition is to find the most advanced players and give them a


while having an opportunity to compete against AAA teams numerous times during the season.” OYHA partnered with the Jacksonville Ice Dogs to


form the North Central Florida Alliance (NCFA) whose teams will be a combination of the best players from each club. The newly formed Alliance teams compet- ed in several different tournaments during the spring and summer months and will also continue during the fall season.


One obvious benefit is the exposure the players


will receive and the greater chances to be scouted by a higher-level team with the potential to move on from the Jr. Knights to play for prep schools, junior teams and even college squads. “The main goal of this program is to expose


Logo courtesy of JrKnights.org


chance to move up a couple rungs of the hockey lad- der.


“Our mission is to provide every player a chance to maximize their potential and to test their skills against some of the best competition across the country in various tournaments,” explained DiPaolo. “The program is designed to allow players from both clubs to play locally with their hometown AA team


our players to faster play and an environment with talented players beyond what they may see during regular season,” added DiPaolo. “This will be used as a skill development tool allowing players to interact with new coaches, teammates, and locations while in a competitive environment.” To be part of the Jr. Knights’ association is some- thing to be proud of, for sure, but Castine said that with kids comes a basic responsibility for parents. “It is extremely important that all parents also understand and know their child’s weaknesses and strengths,” said Castine. “Not every player will be on the power play or penalty kill, have the last shift of the game, or be selected to take a penalty shot in an overtime situation. “Parent love and support is extremely important in their development.”


RUBBERHOCKEY.com 7


Broward Prep is more than just a program that con- sistently remains the team to beat in Florida. He and the Eagles have become ambassadors to the rest of the country. North Broward’s boarding school status allows them to play a national schedule, including showcase tournaments in Michigan, Minnesota, New York and Boston. “For our program, we want to build our brand, because we already get kids that specifically come here to play hockey and our next goal is to bring in players from all over the country,” said Worrell. “A lot of teams (outside of Florida) take us for granted, but a lot of those teams leave tournaments with a good impression of our program. They quickly learn that, even though this isn’t a traditional hockey state, there are a lot of excellent players here in Florida.” The transition from Florida not recognizing hockey at the high school level prior to 1998 to now possess- ing one of the nation’s most competitive teams shows just how far the sport has come in the state in such a short period. Worrell believes that the next logical transition will be for Division I universities to start detouring their recruiting roads a bit further south from traditional hockey-rich states such as Minnesota, Michigan and Massachusetts. “As we build our program, it’s going to get better


and better in terms of playing at the college level,” Worrell said. “We haven’t had that player that’s left here and gone straight to a big-time college program, but it’s going to come. The more these kids are suc- cessful, the more recognition we’re going to get and the more success they are going to have in terms of opportunities at the next level.”


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