Team DC Coaching Staff Announced
We are pleased to announce the coaching staff for our 2018 edition of Team DC and are extremely excited about the group we have assembled to work with the players during tryouts and practices as well as during America's Hockey Showcase, April 18-23 in St. Louis.
Head Coach - Joe Vonakis
Joe was a highly touted and recruited hockey prospect with the Jr. Flyers AAA and junior teams before suffering injuries. A native of Abingdon, Md., he ended up attending Towson University, where he played three years at the ACHA Division I level for the Tigers and accumulated 98 points in 67 career games. Joe began his youth playing career in the CBHL before heading to Philly and was a highly decorated high school player at Calvert Hall, where he was a part of several championship teams. He still ranks second on the Cardinals' all-time scoring list despite playing both forward and defense.
After serving as an assistant at Calvert Hall as well as a youth coach for the Navy Youth Hockey Association and the Elite Advantage Hockey (EAH) program, Joe took over as the head coach for the ACHA Division 2 program at the United States Naval Academy last year. In two seasons at Navy he has led the Midshipmen to a 24-11-0 record and the program's first-ever appearance in the ACHA National Championship Tournament in Columbus, Ohio.
For his efforts, Joe was named the 2017 ACHA Division II Women's National Coach of the Year.
Assistant Coach - Ed Slusher
Ed is the head coach of the Towson University ACHA Division I program. He grew up in Bel Air, Md., and started his playing career with the Baltimore Stars. He then moved on to play junior hockey in the MJHL for both the Central Penn Panthers and the Summerset Jr. Chill, located in Pittsburgh. After playing in the MJHL he moved on to play Junior “A” in both the NAHL and OPJHL. He is currently the Hockey Director at Ice World in Abingdon, MD, and has been involved in player development at the rink for well over a decade. He is a USA Hockey Certified Hockey Director.
Assistant Coach - Ben Hammock
Ben is a longtime junior hockey scout and coach, who also has coached at the Tier 1 and ACHA levels. He began his coaching career in 2004 with the Washington Little Caps, where he was an assistant coach, before taking the head coaching position with Salisbury State University's ACHA Division III program. After coaching at Salisbury, Ben spent two years coaching the Washington Jr. Nationals junior teams. He also served for two years as an assistant coach in the semi-pro Professional Development Hockey League. Ben coached at the Tier 1 level in the Philadelphia Little Flyers organization and has scouted for several junior hockey organizations, including Chicoutimi of the QMJHL. In addition, he was head coach for the Capital District Hockey Night in Boston team, coached for the AAA Washington All-Stars program and was a coach and counselor at the Czech International Hockey Camp in Prague.
The three coaches will conduct the tryout and practice sessions and be part of the selection committee that will evaluate the players and choose the final roster. In addition to the coaches, the selection committee will be comprised of the Team DC general managers, coaches and scouts from various junior, NCAA and ACHA hockey programs.
Head Coach Joe Vonakis and one of the other two assistants will make the trip to St. Louis for the showcase.
Team DC is an all-star team of high school hockey players from the Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia that will compete in the America's Hockey Showcase, a USA Hockey national high school showcase, in St. Louis April 18-23, 2017.
Tryouts for Team DC start tomorrow, Wednesday, March 7, at 7:45 p.m. at Bowie Ice Arena.
For more information on tryouts and other information for players interested in participating, please CLICK HERE.
To register for tryouts, please Click HERE.
If you have questions please send them to DMVProsects@gmail.com.
