Vail Mite Bobcats 1996-1997

The Vail Mites from 1996-1997 only had 9 players and one goalie, yet we played all the best teams in Denver and did just fine. Small teams are great - everyone plays a great deal. The more you skate the better you get!

Joint Team - Arvada and Vail

At the end of the season in 1995 I wanted to take the kids to Phoenix for a fun end-of-year event, with swimming pools, amusement parks, etc. We only had 6 kids who could go from Vail. So I called up one of our "rival" teams (Arvada, which is in Denver) and asked their coach if they were interested. So we filled in with some of their players. A great experience for everybody. These kids played against each other for the next 10 years - but remained friends.

We never had a practice but won the tournament. Very cool trophy that Whitney Pappas is holding - top row far left.

Front Row: Austin Chow, Michael Garman, Tyler Russager

Second Row: Barry Biegler, Ben Hernreich, Jack Green Matt Heelan, Greg Garman, Coulter Somes

Back Row: Whitney Pappas, Alex Biegler, Mike Green, Coach Glenn Heelan