It was a year ago that parents and coaches in the Greeley area decided it was time. They were tired of commuting and they wanted hockey to be taught their way. It was time to develop a youth hockey association in their city.

Last April it was an idea that started to float around. It was something that everyone wanted but no one knew exactly how to go about it. Even Jeff Tripician, the current president of GYHA, had his doubts.
“It’s not like there’s a book out there on how to start a hockey association,” says Tripician. “We had to get out there, make some calls, and we did it all without a paid employee.”

Four months later tryouts were held and the GYHA came to be.

It’d be hard to tell that the association has been around for only one year. The core parts of the organization are in place, the association already has a reputation for teaching hockey the right way and winning came a lot faster than most had expected.

Typically, there are two types of youth hockey organizations: those that teach winning and those that teach the game.
The GYHA wanted hockey to be taught their way, and that’s why they chose the later. Not to say that they don’t teach winning but the game is more important. And this plan was set in place from the get-go.

Tryouts were held in August with 106 kids showing up. Not surprisingly, 106 made a roster. From recreational play (which is provided by the Greeley Ice Haus) to Pee Wees to Midgets they’re taught that everyone plays, they play with respect and they play to learn the game.

And it shows.

“A couple of times after games I’ve had the opposing coach come up to me and comment about the character of my team,” says Tripician, who also coaches a Bantam team, and requires all his players shake the opposing coaches hand after the game. “They’ll tell me, ‘I wish my team acted like yours does’ and that’s after we lost.”  

But the winning has been apparent as well. Tripician figures the organization as a whole has won 47 percent of their games last season. Three of their six teams even finished first in their respective leagues (Denver North Hockey League and the Continental Divide Youth Hockey League) and it’s clear they exceeded expectations.

“I may be a little negative but I thought (as an association) we would have lost more games,” admits Tripician. “It’s hard to expect more. With what we started with and under the circumstances, we accomplished a lot.”

The wins will keep coming, especially because of the structure and principles this organization is built upon.

Tripician and the others wanted an organization that would keep kids in the Greeley association throughout their youth career. Not only that but they wanted an organization that stressed community.

From there the GYHA started to work with the Northern Colorado Bears and head coach Al Brown, who also happens to be the hockey director for the GYHA. They’ve teamed up to form a very good relationship. A chili cook-off run by both helped raise $8,000 so that the Bears could attend nationals (they compete in the Division III of the American Collegiate Hockey Association).  

All UNC players are required to adopt a GYHA team. A minimum of once a month they have to attend practice and work with the team on skills.

“It’s been great,” says Tripician. “The kids get to learn from guys they look up to and guys that know what they’re doing. They have experience at the college level and most of these kids want to be playing there someday.”

All this creates an impressive environment and now hockey kids in Greeley will have the unique opportunity to compete from Pee Wees to the collegiate level, all the while learning hockey the right way.

Just where will the GYHA be a year from now?