Fort Myers youth hockey team’s uphill battle to win state championship

Writer: Sylvie Sparks
Published: Updated:

It’s our own Fort Myers Miracle on Ice.

The Florida Warriors 12U Boys Hockey Team nearly didn’t have a team this year and now they are state champions.

“We only had three kids show up to our tryout, so it was a continuous battle trying to fill the roster throughout the entire summer,” Florida Warriors 12U Boys Head Coach Chris Polino said. “And right before the season started, we just finished the quota for the amount of kids we needed.”

The Warriors searched social media sites, finding kids who had been cut from other programs and even some who had never played travel hockey.

“60% of our roster comprised first-year travel hockey players,” Polino said.

And it all paid off.

“It was hectic because I put my word on it,” Polino said. “I said, ‘Guys, there will be a 12U hockey team this year.’ It was a lot of hard work, a lot of stress. Without that happening, we wouldn’t have gotten this great group of kids together.”

A group of kids that came together and won the state championship two to nothing.

“I was really scared, but then at the end I was really happy because it was my first shutout of the entire year,” Florida Warriors 12U Boys Goalie Devlin Simon said.

“It was very fun because I’ve won second place before, and it’s sad, but first place is very fun, and you get to be really excited,” Florida Warriors 12U Boys Center Zackary Sammet said.

Despite the rocky start, Head Coach Chris Polino knew these boys had it in them.

“I wanted it so bad for these kids,” Polino said. “Most of them never won a championship before anything in their life, so it was just an incredible moment.”

And the kids wanted it just as much for their coach.

“I think this team was really good because we had two amazing goalies and our players were good especially our very good coach,” Sammet said.

The unsuspecting group that made a team is now written in history books as champions.

The Warriors beat the Junior Everblades, the defending state champions, to win the SAHOF state title.

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