The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Four home games this weekend
By Than Acuff
For the second season in a row, limited numbers locally have the West Elk Hockey Association (WEHA) u19 girls team joining forces with players from Grand Junction and playing under the Grand Junction River Hawks name and they started their season back in November.
While one of the two head coaches hails from Grand Junction, Bradley Santelli has taken on the head coaching role here in the Gunnison Valley and has Lisa Lucas as an assistant.
Santelli is a home-grown hockey talent, her dad GJ used to coach the local girls’ team, and she even found hockey in United Kingdom while studying in Scotland both playing at a high level and coaching as well.
Back in the Gunnison Valley she flirted with coaching here again but was unsure of her ability to commit to a season that starts in late October and can last until February. After going back and forth, and after much enthusiasm from local parents and players, she decided a week before the season started to jump in.
“I wasn’t planning on taking on a full head coach role,” says Santelli. “But they really rope you in and I’m glad they did.”
It is a unique situation with a team that is comprised of six players from the Gunnison Valley, a goalie from Telluride and the rest from Grand Junction. As a result, the only time they do get together is for games but, in both the Grand Junction and Gunnison Valley, players do get three practices a week on their home ice, and the coaches remain on the same page as far as developing the team.
“We are constantly communicating with the Grand Junction coaches on what the girls should be doing,” says Santelli.
Seniors Tessa Wirsing and Faith Pederson with Haley Roberts, Gabby Silva, Tatiana Collins and Carissa Coleman all represent WEHA on the River Hawks roster and Santelli admits, coaching the team is quite different from her efforts in Scotland where she had as many as 40 skaters on the ice.
“It’s been a different coaching experience for sure,” says Santelli.
In addition, the full team roster has a variety of levels from some players also competing on travel select teams, some just sticking with the River Hawks team, one player new to hockey and a couple of young guns.
“We definitely have some stand out players and some that are good with technique in practice but not quite there in games,” says Santelli. “We have two eighth graders and I really love their grit and one never-ever and she’s just so eager and willing to learn.”
Wins have been elusive this year with just one under their belt thus far, but Santelli remains impressed with their commitment no matter what the result. Yet, she still holds their feet to the fire in an effort to help shift their mindset.
“What I’ve seen so far and what I’ve heard about them last year, there’s been a lot of improvement,” says Santelli. “They have this belief that they just lose and I’m really trying to get that thought out of their head.”
One shining example of that is their win over Durango/Telluride this season. After falling behind 1-0, it seemed like another loss was in the cards. Instead, they went on to rattle off the next three goals for their first win of the season. And, despite their losses and long travel intensive season, Santelli sees no one wavering in their efforts and a true camaraderie among the players from three different towns.
“They’re all still so happy and excited and it’s really cool how much fun they all have together,” says Santelli.
Here at home, Santelli, Lucas and under 10 (u10) coach Joe Erickson are trying to build that camaraderie as well among the age groups at WEHA as the older girls and u10 often share the ice during practices.
“They all get together at the end of practice, and they started that,” says Santelli. “It shows that they are taking ownership. The energy and numbers at u10 are good and we want to keep building that excitement.”
After spending nearly every weekend on the road, they finally get to play four games in Gunnison this weekend on Saturday and Sunday, January 17-18. Saturday’s games are at 10:45 a.m. and then the Senior Night game at 7 p.m., during which WEHA will honor seniors Wirsing and Pederson. They return to the ice on Sunday to play at 7 a.m. and 2:45 p.m.
“I want them to have one of those games where they’re playing the entire game, where everyone is trying and trying for the seniors,” says Santelli. “They should be some fun games.”
