Mission Arizona


McCosh embodies Mission’s philosophy M


By Shane Dale


ission Arizona Pee Wee Red coach Shawn


McCosh was a no-brainer addition to coach-in-chief Jeremy Goltz’s staff this


season. “We have kind of a tight-knit


core of coaches that have been here awhile, and he’s come on and done a good job for us; we’re excited to have him,” Goltz said. “To get a guy who’s played in the NHL and has so much re- spect for the game, that’s what I’m really looking for.”


McCosh was drafted by the Detroit Red


Wings and spent some time with the Interna- tional Hockey League’s Phoenix Roadrunners. When his playing career ended, he settled in the Phoenix area to coach youth house hockey, then moved on to coach travel three years ago. “I like seeing the kids grow,” said McCosh,


who played in the NHL with the Los Angeles Kings and New York Rangers. “I like seeing them learn things that maybe people think they can’t, and if you’re patient with them and give them repetition and stuff like that, as time goes on you find out you gave the kids a good, solid base they can work from. “It’s really neat to see them learn the game. If


you teach them right, then it all comes down to them. They’ve been taught the proper way; now, are they going to have the heart and will to take it to another level?” The attraction to the Mission


organization was an instant one for McCosh. “I like what Jeremy’s program’s


about,” he said. “There’s a real family feeling. Everything they do is about being a family. He does the morally and ethically right things. He tries to keep politics out of it, and it’s just about the kids. He just concentrates on the hockey. It’s all about getting the kids better, and that’s why I joined them.” McCosh is pumped up for the


challenge of getting his players ready to face some great teams at the Pee Wee AA level this year. “It’s so hard to predict with Pee


competitive games every night. It’s a good chal- lenge for our kids.”


This season, McCosh is less interested in bringing home hardware than he is equipping his players with the skills they’ll need to compete with the best Pee Wee squads week in and week out.


“I think we’ll do OK, but we’ll just concentrate on getting our- selves better,” he said.


Wee-aged kids, but I can tell you there’s a lot of good hockey teams at our level,” he said. “I’m excited that we’re going to have great competition all year. “We can win or lose every night, which is kind of neat because we have a chance to play really


Shawn McCosh, who enjoyed a lengthy professional playing career, is excited to mentor Mission Arizona’s Pee Wee Red squad this season.


It’s that kind of attitude, along with his coaching pedigree, that convinced Goltz to give McCosh a shot with his organization. “It’s funny: You see some guys these days that just don’t have the experience and they can’t under- stand how meaningful this game can be and is to these kids, but he gets it,” Goltz said. “He under- stands that very few of these kids are going to reach a higher level, but it’s their time to become young men, and (coaches need to) use the game as a vehicle to teach that. “He’s very down to Earth with his approach. He’s got no ego; he’s in it for the kids. It’s great to have a guy with his playing experience bring such a normalcy to coaching.”


MissionArizonaIce.org


Runners, Storm partner for State Wars gold D


By Alex Dodt


uring the 2011 Inline Hockey Association of Arizona (IHAAZ) season, the Prescott Storm and Arizona Runners battled each other all year as the top teams in the 10U division. The schedule culminated in a final meeting between the two rivals in the state champion- ship game, which the Runners won. But, after competing against each other for a local title, the two teams put their on-the-floor differences aside and joined forced this sum- mer to represent Arizona at the seventh annual State Wars championships in Cincinnati. And not only did the five players from the Storm and four from the Runners team up in the 2000 birth-year division, they brought home the only gold medal for Arizona. “The kids had a great time,” said Ken De-


coster, whose son, Kyle, was the team’s leading scorer at State Wars. “They had a blast and my son already wants to do it again next year.” Andy Shuter, who coached the team at State Wars and was behind the bench for the Storm during its IHAAZ season, says the kids liked the change of pace and, despite being op- ponents all year, the team’s chemistry was key in Cincinnati.


“I think the kids enjoy playing with each other,” said Shuter, whose son, Jared, was a top defensive player for Team Arizona. “There’s camaraderie and rivalry at the same time.” That dynamic played itself out with every player on the team scoring at least once and contributing to the effort. At an age when it’s not


unusual to see one or two players carry a team, the Runners and Storm came together to form a well-balanced attack on their way to gold. Look no further than the squad’s final round- robin game in which Arizona trailed early to a Pennsylvania team it was expected to beat, only


This year marked the first Decoster and the Runners’ ice hockey program competed in the IHAAZ. The kids carried their joy for roller into the summer, which culminated at State Wars. “We also went to the AAU Jr. Olympics (in California) and NARCh (in Florida) as well,” said Decoster. “The kids had a blast.”


After playing all of the sport’s top national tournaments on top of an entertaining season competing in the IHAAZ, Decoster is convinced of the benefits of playing both inline and ice hockey as it relates to development.


“The kids who play roller know how to get open when they don’t have the puck,” said De- coster. “They try to find open space and create offense and it helps with stickhandling.” Incorporating both sports in their emerging program, the Runners, who also have highly-re- garded inline coach Dan Maxwell to thank, are poised to become more involved in roller hockey this coming season in the IHAAZ. “We’ll try to field more teams in all the age brackets this year,” said Decoster. “Playing roller helps in a number of ways, but also part of the reason we tried to get the organization into it is because the kids have a blast.”


Rivals during this year’s IHAAZ season, members of the Prescott Storm’s and Arizona Runners’ 10U teams joined forces to win a State Wars gold medal in Cincinnati over the summer.


to regroup and pin down a gutty victory. “I think we got too confident, but we got it together and came back with a true team effort,” said Shuter. “While we played most games with the lead, that game showed we could play with resilience.”


The 2012 IHAAZ season won’t have quite the same feel, though, for the Runners and Storm. Not all of the players who competed together for Team Arizona at State Wars will remain in the same age groups for the upcoming campaign. “Some of the kids will stay in 10U and some will move up to 12U,” said Shuter. “But the kids who do move up will still be looking to keep the rivalry going and try to win it this year.”


RubberHockey.com 17


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