The Creation of Team San Diego AAA Hockey Club

The Creation of Team San Diego Hockey Club

The idea of creating one birth year team consisting of all of the best players in San Diego has been discussed and attempted for as long as I have been involved in youth hockey in San Diego.

I began coaching in 1991 for Joel Henderson at SDIA and over the years, we have always talked about combining the best players in San Diego and when we have done so, the teams have been competitive and in many cases very successful, including three Tier 1 State Championships. The hockey contingency in San Diego all knew and agreed that we have a lot of talent in our area but finding a way to consistently bring everyone together has always been a challenge under the current system.

In January 2024, Tom Hancock, the President of CAHA, reached out to me to discuss the upcoming changes to Tier 1 hockey and informed me that beginning the 2025-26 season, Tier 1 would consist of only three teams – the Jr Sharks, the Jr. Kings and the Jr. Ducks. With that being said, Tom also mentioned that CAHA would be willing to add a fourth Tier 1 program in San Diego if we could find a viable way to do so. I then learned that CAHA would be creating boundaries, which meant that all players at all levels could only play for a Club within their boundary. This was the point where, in my opinion, a San Diego AAA program became viable because when all our top players play together San Diego teams have always been successful.

Even with the boundaries, there was still an issue as to what Clubs would offer Tier 1, a contentious issue for the last 2 decades. After much discussion with all involved parties the consensus was that a new Consolidated Club would be created to independently run Tier 1 in San Diego. I reached out to all the Clubs operating in San Diego and the leadership of the San Diego Oilers, the San Diego Jr. Gulls and the Jr. Reign of Carlsbad all embraced the idea and entered into an agreement to create a Consolidated Tier 1 Club that will offer youth AAA teams in San Diego. The Club – Team San Diego Hockey Club - was created and approved by CAHA and USA Hockey and will start its inaugural season running a 12U AAA team that will consist exclusively of players residing within the San Diego boundary as defined by CAHA.

Team San Diego Hockey Club – Our Plan & Philosophy

Team San Diego Hockey Club will run exclusively AAA and will start with one team in the 2025-26 season (12U) with a plan to add one additional team each year for the next 5 seasons. The main reasons we are phasing in our teams is to permit those older players who have been members of the Jr. Ducks, Jr Sharks and Jr. Kings Tier 1 teams to remain with their current team. The CAHA boundary rules permits players to apply for a waiver to play outside of their boundary only if the player has been a member of that specific Tier 1 program for at least the last 2 seasons and will continue to play Tier 1 for that specific Club. We fully support this rule and believe the best approach is to phase in our AAA teams starting at the younger age when no one will have yet played Tier 1.

Team San Diego Hockey Club will be owned and operated independently from our Member Teams. Our coaches will not be coaching at any other Club and will not be offering lessons to any players, either during the season or in the off-season. Team San Diego HC will not run spring or summer league teams and instead will be focused solely on operating AAA teams during the regular season and growing hockey in our area.

I feel it is very important to state that where your player plays prior to trying out for Team San Diego HC will have no impact on whether or not they make one of our Tier 1 teams. Your player will not have a better chance of making a Team San Diego HC team if they play for a specific Club or take lessons from a certain coach so please make those decisions based on what is best for your player and family.

One of the reasons I am so confident that Team San Diego AAA teams can compete is because of the wealth of extremely qualified hockey coaches and excellent programs available within our boundary. If your player wants to be the best he or she can be, playing for us is not enough. All of the best players to come out of San Diego had one common trait ... .they were on the ice almost every day and we are fortunate to have all we need within San Diego for your player to do just that.

San Diego has many incredible coaches with vast hockey experience including Brad Belland, Tomas Kapusta, Craig Carlyle, Pierre Dufour, David Vychodil and Craig Sterling, all of whom have coached and trained some of the very best players to come out of San Diego. We are also fortunate to have one of the top goalie coaches around in Reed Kinsey who is always providing innovative ways to develop and train goaltenders. Team San Diego HC will not offer lessons or off-season programs because those options already are available in our area, and we encourage your players to take advantage of their availability. Our sole focus is running a Tier 1 hockey program for San Diego based families, which is what we will do starting the 2025-26 CAHA season.

I have been involved in San Diego youth hockey for a long time and when Tom Hancock called me in January 2024, I was planning on stepping aside and letting the next generation take over. However, after taking a deeper look into this, I believe this is an opportunity to create a unique program that will give the best players the option to play and compete at the highest level while remaining in San Diego. This is something that I feel will have a lasting, positive impact on youth hockey in California.

Working with me on Team San Diego HC are Scottie Birk and Robert Overman, both of who have had extensive experience in all facets of San Diego hockey from parent to coach to manager to executive and we are all committed to do our best to make Team San Diego Hockey Club a top AAA program.

I am always available and willing to discuss any questions you may have about our program so please do not hesitate to reach out. See you at the rink.

Sincerely,

Geoff Leibl, President and Founder

Team San Diego Hockey Club