Bronze League Newsletter

Sherwood Ice Arena offers adult hockey leagues for players at all skill levels, to insure everyone has a fun, competitive experience. There are four separate leagues: Gold, Silver A, Silver B and Bronze. While different levels of play are a standard feature at most ice arenas, Sherwood sets itself apart through the time and attention it takes to match individual players with the appropriate level of play. General Manager Bob Knoerl and Hockey Director Biz Zorich, along with other members of the arena staff, keep careful track of each player's progress. When a skater's skills advance to the point that he or she is able to dominate other players at his or her current level, he or she will be asked to move up into the next league. "Ringers" are not allowed, so everyone has an opportunity to learn and contribute. There are approximately 28 teams active in the four leagues at Sherwood: eight apiece in the Gold, Silver A and Silver B leagues, and four in the Bronze league. Seasons range in length from 10 to 15 weeks, with a single-elimination playoff tournament following the end of the regular season. The Gold league is reserved for the most advanced players - among their ranks are former Junior B and Junior A players, who have skated with teams like the Portland Pioneers and the Portland Winter Hawks, and even former players from the NHL. The games are fast and full of action, enough to challenge even the most seasoned and experienced hockey players. The Silver A and Silver B leagues are dedicated to players with intermediate skills, such as older players who grew up playing hockey and are re-discovering the game of their you, or veteran skaters who have developed their ability through years of play. Regardless of their background, players at this level are guaranteed tough, competitive games. Unique to Sherwood is the Bronze league, a developmental division devoted to novice, adult hockey players. No prior experience in ice skating or hockey is required - just a willingness to learn and a dedication to the sport. Skaters now playing in the Bronze league began literally clinging to the boards, dragging themselves around the arena while learning to find their balance. To help new skaters orient themselves to the sport, Sherwood recruits experienced players to serve as coaches for each of the Bronze league teams. By sharing their insights, these coaches help fledgling players develop their individual skills, along with an understanding of strategy and positional play. In addition to actually playing hockey, Sherwood offers a range of opportunities for new players to develop their skills. Adult skating lessons are available to teach and sharpen the fundamentals of moving, turning and stopping. There is also an adult Initiation Program (I.P.), a weekly session led by expert instructors, which teaches skills such as stickhandling, passing and shooting. Private lessons, stick time and public skating all provide additional opportunities for building skills. Whether you are lacing up a pair of hockey skates for the first time, or you have played the game professionally, Sherwood Ice Arena will put you in the middle of the action. All leagues are co-ed and play year round. Newcomers are always welcome. No matter what your level of experience, you can play hockey this week, at Sherwood Ice Arena. During their 2002-2003 season, the Portland Winter Hawks invited players from the Bronze League at Sherwood Ice Arena to put on a series of exhibition matches between periods at Memorial Coliseum. Participants were selected at random from among the four Bronze League teams. The players reported to the venue early and stowed their gear, before taking their seats for the first period. Anticipation rising, they cheered on the Hawks through the first ten minutes of the game. Then, it was time to descend into the curving corridors beneath the stands, past the waiting Zamboni and the dressing rooms reserved for the on-ice officials and Tom-A-Hawk, the team's toothy mascot. In a small, blue-painted room, once the dressing room for visiting NBA teams, the players shed their street clothes. Sitting on the same wooden benches that once supported Magic Johnson and Larry Bird, they laced up their skates. The goalies knelt to buckle their leg pads, carefully tucking in the ends of the leather straps to keep them out from under their skates. Excited, the players from four different teams joked and laughed together, sharing the special camaraderie that has developed in the Bronze League. With just minutes to go until the end of the first period and their brief moment in the big show, the players streamed out of the dressing room. A brief while earlier, they had looked like any other group of fans in the stands, but they emerged as hockey players - eyes alert behind their face masks, bare steel flashing at their feet, shoulders broad and square, and every inch of their bodies padded. Sticks in hand, they watched the closing moments of the period standing at ice level. They marveled at the speed and power of the young players, then looked on silently as the Winter Hawks exited the ice, a few of them pausing to exchange a quick touch of their gloved hands with the youngsters in the stands, who strained out through the barricade that separates spectators from players. All at once, the rink was vacant. For the first time in the history of the Winter Hawks, adult co-ed teams skated onto the ice for an exhibition match. In the dressing room, the players had been told that a strict schedule prevailed during the breaks between periods, so they hustled into position for a center ice face off. Beneath their skates, the ice felt like gravel. Twenty minutes of determined, professional hockey left the surface of the ice scored with deep cuts, irregular and jagged as a broken pane of glass. Overhead, Dean "Scooter" Vrooman voice boomed through the public address system, introducing the players and offering occasional comments on the action. Beyond the hockey barriers, the fans who had not left their seats in search of beer or hot dogs looked on, most showing only mild interest. On the ice, under the lights blazing down from the metal latticework high above the rink, the Bronze League players had departed ordinary reality. Fired by adrenaline, they lived a life for three minutes that most people know only in their fantasies. They scrambled, stumbled and fell. They scored a goal. That brief moment - one fifth the allotment of fame awarded each person by Andy Warhol - slipped past like 30 seconds in any other time or place. Triumphant, they left the ice to the Zamboni, laughing, joking and exchanging hearty congratulations. For the majority of people in the stands, the exhibition match provided a moment's distraction, and little else, but sitting among them were a few who saw much more: an opportunity, a chance to participate in the game they have only enjoyed from the other side of the boards. Seeing the Bronze League skaters, still refining their awkward, tentative skills, stirred their imagination. They arrived slowly at Sherwood - one or two at a time. With each passing week, they picked up a new piece of gear: elbow pads, hockey pants or a helmet. They showed up at stick time. They attended I.P. When the judged themselves ready, they signed up to join the fellowship they had seen on the ice that evening: the curious, the brave and the determined.