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FIRS Junior World Championships
2003
The Journey For The Gold
by: USARS Hockey Committee
The Federation Internationale de Roller Sports (FIRS) Junior World Championships opened on August 3 in Detroit, Michigan. Teams from Brazil, Great Britain, Israel, Mexico, Canada and the United States competed in the championships in front of record crowds of hockey fans that came to see the World's best compete. As in the past two years, Team USA brought home the Gold Medal. They went undefeated, and in the finals, they beat Canada 6-2 to claim the Gold. The road to the Gold was not an easy one for these members of Team USA, as they had to compete for their coveted roster spots against the nations top inline hockey players time and time again.
Their journey started last year when each one of these players exhibited their talent at the USARS Nationals and the Junior Olympics, where they showed that they were among the best the United States had to offer.
After the USARS Nationals and the Junior Olympics, the All-Americans from these two events were narrowed down to the top 30 players, and these athletes were brought to the Olympic Training Center in Lake Placid, New York. They went through a grueling three-day try-out camp to determine who would represent the USA at the World Championships. "The talent level of the players at this camp was amazing," said Keith Noll, USARS Hockey Committee. "Each day the list of players that the selection committee thought would be on the final roster changed because we saw such great hockey from each player at the camp," stated Noll. The coaches and selection committee picked a young team, but one with international experience. The two oldest members of the team were forward Steve Schue (Sheffield Lake, OH) and defenseman Alan Jackson (Akron, OH) who both won Gold in 2001 with the first Team USA, and who were selected to represent the USA at the Pan-Am Games qualifier in Cartangena, Columbia. The inclusion of these players brought experience to the young team. "Steve and Alan are two gifted athletes that brought not only their talent, but their leadership was key to the success of the team," said Noll. The coaches then selected from the 2002 Gold Medal winning team forward Travis Fudge (Springfield, MO), defensemen Jon Mosenson (Woodbury, NY) and Mike Hewkin (St. Peters, MO). The roster was then filled out with newcomers to Team USA including forwards Ryan Bond (Northville, MI), Fred Brewer (Sewell, NJ), Craig Frey (Solon, OH), Matt Prashaw (White Lake, MI), Sean Sullivan (Vorhees, NJ), Jacob Truhlar (Lusby, MD), on defense Kevin Devergillo (Sterling Hts, MI), Josh Greco (Lafayette, LA), Mike Keating (Glassboro, NJ), Rob Mannino (Smithtown, NY), and between the pipes Ryan Glover (Macomb, MI) and Nick DiPaolo (Wenonah, NJ).
Bringing this many talented players together was just the first step. To mold these athletes into a team, they reported to training camp in late July in New Orleans under the direction of Head Coach Lenny Alsfeld (New Orleans, LA). At the training camp the team was treated like celebrities with constant requests for interviews with TV and newspapers. The team traveled to Biloxi, Mississippi, and Lafayette, Louisiana, for exhibitions, and at each stop, the requests from the media continued and the fans came out to watch. The team was put through the paces at the training camp, but it built a bond that made them into a team.
After five days in the Louisiana heat, the team headed to the FIRS World Championships in Detroit to begin their trek to the Gold. The first game of the World Championships opened with two medallists from the 2002 World Championships, as Canada came out strong and defeated Brazil. The next game saw Great Britain open with a win over last years Bronze Medal winner Mexico. As the last game of the morning session was about to start, the crowds packed the arena to see the United States open with a win over Israel. In the night session, Canada beat Mexico, Brazil defeated Israel and the USA took care of Great Britain. After the first day of competition, the USA and Canada stood on the top of the leader board with 2-0 records. Day two saw the USA defeat Mexico. Brazil and Canada also remained undefeated, as they beat Israel and Great Britain. That set up a showdown on day three, with the last game in pool play, and it lived up to the billing. In front of a jam packed crowd of over 1000 hockey fans, USA jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead as Steve Schue scored 49 seconds into the game, but Canada came right back two minutes later to tie it. The game went back and forth, as both teams traded goals. With 6:00 minutes left in the game Canada held a 4-3 lead. Schue responded by scoring three more goals in the final 5:00 minutes, and the USA took the game 7-4. The semi-finals had Canada advancing with a win over Great Britain, and the USA took care of Brazil, setting up the anticipated re-match and Gold Medal Game. Fans of both teams arrived over an hour before the start of the game to try to get a seat. With an estimated crowd of 1500, finding a good spot was hard to find. When the puck dropped the crowd was on their feet as they saw Canada take the lead early scoring 3:25 into the game. But it was not long before USA fans had plenty to cheer about. USA came back with six unanswered goals by Sean Sullivan, Kevin Devergillo (2), Schue (2) and Ryan Bond to bring the championship to the USA.
"Our players performed with a singular goal in mind, to win the World Championships, said Team USA Assistant Coach Peter Dale. "Their focus, determination and dedication never wavered. We were mentally prepared for the battle."
The players left Detroit with Gold Medals around their necks. They went home with great memories and new friendships, not only with their new teammates, but also with the new friends they made with the players from the international teams. It's something that they'll never forget.