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PowerHockey™
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U.S. Electric Wheelchair Hockey Association (U.S.EWHA):
Minnesota PowerHockey™ Online News
May 2004
In this issue:
- PowerHockey Cup 2004 update
-Official tournament dates set
-Final Team Registration deadline approaches
-Couple of teams seeking "FREE AGENTS"
-Television deal secured
- Minnesota PowerHockey League (MPHL) news
-Rochester, MN Invitational Tournament
-Regular season to begin Saturday May 29th
- North American PowerHockey Association (NAPHA)
A. PowerHockey Cup 2004
Plans are well on their way for an exciting PowerHockey Cup tournament this summer in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The official tournament dates are Monday August 2nd to Thursday August 5th, 2004. Some of the best PowerHockey players in North America will compete for the championship. Toronto (Canada) will try defending their 2001 championship against teams from Minnesota, Michigan, Baltimore and North Carolina.
Final team registration is currently taking place. The deadline for any potential new teams to register for this event is May 31st, 2004. If you have an interested team please contact us SOON.
Attention ALL interested PowerHockey players (even if you have never technically played on a team before). A couple of teams coming to Minnesota this summer for the PowerHockey Cup event is seeking potential "FREE AGENTS". Due to various reasons, money being one of those, a couple of teams currently have just the bare minimum of players on their roster. These teams are willing to possibly take on one or more players to their team. This is a unique opportunity possibly allowing someone the opportunity to be part of a great PowerHockey event, even if they do not have their own team. Of course anyone interested would have to pay his or her own expenses (Travel, food and housing) and of course be eligible (a daily power chair user) to play in the event.
We know there are a lot of potential PowerHockey players on our email list. If you're interested in this opportunity contact craigm@powerhockey.com immediately.
The U.S. EWHA has once again secured a television deal for the PowerHockey Cup 2004 FINALS. The Third place and Championship games will be televised with play by play for a tape delay broadcast on Cable 12 TV in Minnesota. The broadcast will then be distributed to teams and used for promotional efforts.
B. Minnesota PowerHockey League (MPHL) news
The 1st annual RADAR/Gladiators PowerHockey tournament was held Saturday May 1st in Rochester, MN. The Minnesota Stars and Saints (club teams) traveled to Rochester (SE Minnesota) for a day of PowerHockey. The event helped promote and develop PowerHockey in the area. All players and fans had a fun day at a great facility. The Minnesota Stars finished FIRST defeating both the Saints and Gladiators.
The MPHL Regular season will begin Saturday May 29th. All games will once again be held at the Courage Center in Golden Valley, MN. ALL new players should plan on arriving at Courage Center GYM by 1pm on May 29th so you can register and be placed on a team. Returning players will generally be on the previous years team. A few changes will be made to keep things fresh and equal out the teams. These changes will be announced before May 29th.
Keep an eye out for the MPHL sign-ups, which will be mailed out soon. Let us know if you do not receive it in the next week or so.
C. North American PowerHockey Association (NAPHA)
NAPHA has officially been started. NAPHA is a joint program of the U.S. EWHA and Canadian Electric Wheelchair Hockey Association (CEWHA). The various sanctioned leagues/divisions of both organizations have ONE rep. each on NAPHA. As a group NAPHA reps, help set the future for PowerHockey tournaments; specifically PowerHockey Cup events. Together NAPHA reps set policy, rules etc., for these events. The overall goal is to basically get PowerHockey events and leagues/teams unified using the same or similar rules, specifically at tournaments. Each local league will always have differences. NAPHA looks to bring everyone together in terms of rules and vision for the future of PowerHockey tournaments in North America and eventually beyond.
The PowerHockey World Cup in 2001 was a one of a kind event. It was a large International event with teams from around the World. This was the first PowerHockey event that had an open invitation to any electric/power wheelchair hockey team in the World to participate at. As the 2001 tournament had teams from many Countries it was clear, even then, this type of event would not happen every other or every four years as the expense to host the tournament and expense for overseas teams to travel was VERY EXPENSIVE and logistically hard.
NAPHA will be instrumental in leading PowerHockey tournaments and events into the future. First we will look to have PowerHockey Cup tournaments every other year, then as more and more teams develop in North America we hope these tournaments will happen more often. Perhaps in the future involving smaller regional tournaments (involving less travel/expenses for teams) with the TOP teams advancing to the ELITE PowerHockey CUP.
Contact us if you would like more information on starting a PowerHockey team/league in your city!
U.S. EWHA
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