State of Hockey representing at Amerigol Latam Cup in Florida
Non-traditional hockey playing countries compete.
The Amerigol Latam Cup is a hockey tournament whose goal is to provide hockey players in Latin America, the Caribbean and other non-traditional hockey markets the opportunity to showcase their talents and raise awareness of hockey in their countries. The tournament featured 44 teams in 6 different divisions and over 750 hockey players. Teams from Argentina, Mexico, Chile, Egypt, Greece, Brazil, Columbia, Israel and Venezula showcased their love for the sport of hockey in Men’s Divisions, Womens Divisions, and Co-Ed Youth at U16, U14 and U12 age levels. The Tournament founded by Juan Carlos Ortero is in its 6 year and has support from the NHL, Florida Panthers and many other corporate sponsors. All games were played at the Florida Panthers practice facility outside of Fort Lauderdale.
The State of Hockey was fully represented at the Amerigol Latam Cup in Florida this past August. 9 members of Mosaic Hockey Collective, a local non-profit that is helping build a better state of hockey by providing development opportunities, resources and positive experiences for players of color to grow and give back to the game. Mosaic Hockey Collective played under the Hockey Players of Color (HPOC) team which is another non-profit based out of the Carolinas and founded by Jazmine Miley. Players from all over the United States participated and played on these HPOC teams. Participants from Mosaic Hockey Collective include:
U12
- Elisa Janzig DeLaluz – Bloomington Girls hockey
U14
- Brielle Clardy – Eastview
- Warren Gamble – Minnesota Made
U16
- Adelyn Janzig DeLaluz – Holy Angels Freshman
- Aubrey Lang – Breck Hockey Freshman
- Bella Hafertepe – Lakeville South Freshman
- Bella Hendel-Solis – Chaska Freshman
- Kacy Nguyen – Roseville Sophomore
- Kayla Nguyen – Roseville Freshman
The U12 team finished pool play with losses to the Caribbean, Venezuela and Brazil. Elisa finished the tournament with 1 assist in the 4 game tournament.
The U14 team had a great tournament going 2-1 in pool play with wins over Venzuela and Mexico. In the Semifinals they had a close game and pulled out a 5-4 win over Mexico with a goal from Brielle Clardy. In the Championship game they fell to a tough Brazil team 4-2. Clardy netted one of the teams 2 goals and Warren Gamble assisted both goals in the game. Brielle was named tournament MVP finishing the tournament with 3 goals and 1 assist and Warren Gamble had 2 goals and 2 assists on the tournament.
The U16 team had a great tournament as well going 0-1-2 in pool play with ties against Egypt (6-6) and Argentina (4-4) and a 9-8 loss to Chile. In Bracket play the team had a great game against eventual tournament champion Argentina. Down 6-3 with 6 minutes left the HPOC team came back to tie the score with 3 goals in the final minutes to send the game to overtime. In the first OT, HPOC had a powerplay and had many opportunities to end the game, but just couldn’t find the back of the net. The game went into a second overtime skating 3 on 3 and Argentina was able to get an odd man rush and sneak a puck behind the goalie to end the game and send them to the Championship. In the 3rd place game HPOC played Egypt and was able to skate away with a 5-3 win to take home 3rd place.
The players representing HPOC at this tournament got an experience of a lifetime. The passion these countries have for hockey and the environment they were able to play in front of the flags of their home countries, to vuvuzelas being played throughout the rink, and the chants of Brazil, Argentina and HP-OC will be a lasting memory for these players. Hockey is growing in underrepresented markets throughout the country and the world, Team Caribbean even had a player Chase Rutty from the u19 Shattuck St. Mary’s team who is going on to play in college and other players who played Tier 1 or Tier 2 Nationals this past summer. Events like this help grow the game and make it more accessible for these players to showcase their talents and inspire the next generation of hockey players.
More information on the tournament can be found atHome - Amerigol International Hockey Assoc. (amerigolhockey.com)
For more information on Mosaic Hockey Collective can be found https://linktr.ee/mosaichockeycollective
