Last season's performance: 86% of teams (6 teams) went to playoffs, average per team winning percentage: 54.6%, average goals fielded per game per team: 3.59, average goals allowed per game per team: 2.89, 14 players went to CAHA Selects, and 3 teams ranked in the top 80 nationally.

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Golden State Elite (aka GSE) is rolling out a new program aimed at 10U and 9U "A" players that have aspirations for playing tier. The program is a series of free clinics called "GSE Prospects." In these clinics, GSE coaches will work on basic skills and give players a feel for a tier practice.

For parents at the clinics, GSE management will make a presentation on tier, juniors, college hockey, and beyond.  Also, this will be an opportunity for parents to ask GSE management questions.

For more information and to sign-up, go here: http://gseprospects.com

GSE is a joint venture between the Cupertino Cougars, San Francisco Sabercats, Tri-Valley Blue Devils, and the Vacaville Jets. The purpose of GSE is to manage and run tier teams for its member clubs. The GSE Prospect program, however, is open to all NORCAL players.

The second CAHA weekend is in the books. We went a collective 13-6-7. Here is the breakdown by team:

GSE alumni, Brian Adams, just committed to the prestigious Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs where he will be playing D1 hockey. Congrats, Brian!

Our 16U AA North team made GSE history winning the prestigious CCM World Invite Tournament in Chicago.  Winning the title was a tough battle against highly ranked teams and an intense game schedule (3 games on Sunday). This is a significant milestone for the GSE organization and a great accomplishment for the team.  Congrats!

Our 12U AA South team won the Can/Am Tournament in Las Vegas.  The team was undefeated in round-robin play with a record of 2-0-1.

Our 12U AA North team is the champion of the Idaho October Classic.  The final game went into OT, then a shoot out.  The team went 6-0-0 and had 2 shutouts.

More initial national rankings:

The first CAHA weekend is in the books. We went a collective: 14-10-4. Here are the records by team:

The initial MyHockeyRankings (national rankings for youth hockey teams) are out:

Our 16 North team is ranked #2.

Our 12 South team is ranked #20.

Our 12U AA South team also went to the CCM World Invite in Denver last weekend and the finished in SECOND place! Here is the breakdown of each game:
vs Nashville Jr Predators, 6-4 win
vs Northwest Chargers (IL), 3-2 win
vs Arizona Bobcats, 4-1 win
vs Texas Tigers, 2-1 win
vs Arizona Hockey Union Silvar, 6-1 win
vs Northwest Chargers (IL) in the championship game, 1-5 loss

We are on the cover of the September issue of Cal Rubber magazine and they ran an article on us.

Link to the article

CAHA announced the teams for their AA flighting structure and all GSE teams made Flight 1.  After watching the Labor Day weekend flighting jamboree, it looks like CAHA has some very competitive divisions.  It should be a good season with entertaining and challenging games.

GSE Alumni, Dalton Garcia, committed to the Melville Millionaires, a Junior A team in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL).  Congrats, Dalton!

GSE  Alumni, Kellen Ireland helps the Texas Brahmas win the NA3HL National Championship. Next stop? Northern Arizona U! Good luck, Kellen!

Congratulations to GSE alumni, Victor Ouellet-Massicotte for being drafted to the NAHL.  The lucky team that picked Victor is the Springfield Jr. Blues in Illinois.  Victor's fellow teammate, Ben Biester, was also drafted to the NAHL.  Victor and Ben played together at GSE and then with the Jr Ducks.  Now, they will be playing against each other.

If you are interested in submitting your name to our coaches in order for them to review your potential, please fill this form out.

If you do not think you possess the skills just yet, our coaches can still advise you about the steps you need to take in order to prepare for an eventual tryout.  So, email us and indicate your intentions.

GSE alumni, Karley Garica, has committed to Penn State to play D1 college hockey.  Congrats and good luck, Karley!

GSE Alumni, Jake Maley, signed with the EHL's New Hampshire Avalanche.  Congrats, Jake!

GSE Alumni, Brian Adams (1999), is tearing it up with the Wenatchee Wild in the BCHL. Here is a recent post on Wenatchee's Twitter feed:

https://twitter.com/Lido_WWBCHL/status/1076730070130032640?s=09

Our 18U AA head coach, Mike Holmes, was just awarded the USA Hockey Pacific District Coach of the Year award at the NORCAL board meeting.  Congrats, Mike!  Well-deserved.

Mike played juniors and NCAA, Division 1 hockey at Northeastern University.  Mike is in Northeastern’s Sports Hall of Fame and his picture is still displayed in the men’s locker room as the school all-time leading scorer for a defenseman.  After graduating, he played two full seasons in the Bruins organization, earning Best Defenseman honors both seasons.

After settling in California, Mike became a USA Hockey Level 4 coach at Tri-Valley Blue Devils in Dublin, CA and, later, became Tri-Valley’s director of coaches, a position he still holds today.  He coached Squirts to Midgets, settling on the 18U age bracket. Between Tri-Valley and Golden State Elite (Tri-Valley’s tier partnership with 3 other clubs), Mike has been coaching for nearly 20 years.  

Mike has worked his coaching magic by consistently turning lackluster teams into State champions.  In the past 10 years alone, Mike has won 5 State titles and made 7 trips to Nationals. Over the past 5 years, Mike’s 18U teams have gone: 160-39-18 or a winning percentage of 73.7%.  The average national ranking of his teams is: 33.

Mike is highly regarded by other coaches and referees throughout California and areas of the US and Canada.  Mike is a repeat evaluator at NORCAL’s Development Camp.

Mike has always been a player advocate and every year he has talked players into returning to hockey after being burned out on other teams, has helped fundraise for players and teams that need funds, and has worked to get players into Junior tryout camps.  Mike is a scout for the BCHL’s Spruce Kings where he annually places a handful of not just his players, but players from his opponent’s teams.

Our dear friend, coach, and alumni, Alex Motley passed away 7 years ago today (June 25th).  He is still missed by those who knew him.  Alex grew up playing at Tri-Valley and went on to pursue high levels of hockey.  His hockey career can be found here:
http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=41236
It includes the CHL, ECHL, MAHL, and AAHA.

If you ever watched him skate, he is typically the fastest guy on the ice.  His form was so perfect and elegant that one can't help compare him to a gazelle.  The famous skating coach, Robby Glantz, used Alex in his instructional videos:
https://www.facebook.com/AlexMotleyMemorial/videos/602954619797742/

Alex came back to the Bay Area and got heavily involved with his church and started to coach Tri-Valley and GSE teams and players.  He was an excellent skills coach.  Players skated dramatically different and better after working with Alex.  It was that noticeable.

Alex had an undetected heart defect that turned fatal that fateful day 7 years ago.  

Alex's memorial Facebook site can be found here:
https://www.facebook.com/AlexMotleyMemorial/

Alex's jersey hangs in the lobby of Dublin Iceland.

Miss you, our friend.

Nishay Chitale (GSE, SF, and Oakland alumni) is the winner of the 2019 NORCAL Jordan Kocian Award for what he does on and off the ice as an all-around individual and community contributor. Nishay is headed to UC Santa Barbara in the Fall. Good luck, Nishy!

Pictured: NORACL President Matt Adams, Coach George (SF/GSE), Nishy, Coach Mike (SF/GSE), and Coach Chi (Oakland).

GSE Alumni, Ben Biester, was drafted to the NAHL's Minnesota Wilderness!  Ben and his family in Danville are quite relieved after many years of hard work, training, and sacrifice.  Congrats to Ben and good luck!

GSE alumni, Ben Biester signed with the Victoria Grizzlies of the BCHL.  Congrats and good luck, Ben!