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Parents and players!

This year has been quite the season for us in GGHA. Managing a pandemic and starting the season late due to Pavilion renovations; initially felt like a task equal to climbing Mt Everest. But I am proud to say that we were one of the few programs that were able to complete a full season, both in house and travel. This is due largely to our amazing volunteers, coaches, and dedicated parents. Even our players had to step up and follow rules that probably felt absurd to them.   But in the end, it was worth it. We saw huge skill gains on the ice, new parents take on leadership roles within the association, multiple CHL and tournament banners won, state championships won and a trip to nationals. Most importantly to me, we saw friendships grow, loyalty to one another reach new levels and the desire to become better players for the team and not the individual, soar. 

GGHA follows USA Hockey’s developmental model. It’s a proven model of player development that has led more players to achieve a higher level of play, including the NHL, then any other and has made GGHA competitive with the associations that we play throughout South/North Carolina, Georgia, Virginia and many more.  Coach Mike Holzman, our Hockey Director, strongly believes in this as a foundation for GGHA and feels the results he is seeing are beyond impressive. USA Hockey also wants associations to build hockey from the ground up. GGHA has always been committed to growing the sport of hockey in the Upstate for over 20 years and has taken on new initiatives with the Swamp Rabbits and the Pavilion to increase exposure to more potential players. Overall, our numbers have grown through the pandemic and we are so proud that we have been able to achieve that. Keeping the cost of intro level hockey down, providing loaner gear and providing scholarships make hockey assessable to more players which is a goal for GGHA. 

GGHA’s goal is not only to grow the sport of hockey from the ground up, but it’s also to grow better community members through leadership opportunities. Our players are volunteering throughout the organization as junior coaches and working as referees. We are supported by an amazing group of adult volunteers/role models, many of which do not have players in the program. We also have many parents that serve on other boards including Carolina Amateur Hockey Association (our USAH affiliate), South Carolina Scholastic Hockey Association (High school) and the Carolinas Hockey League. Having volunteers on numerous boards help us as a small market network and grow relationships. This leads to new opportunities for our players and provides diverse mentors to help bring in new ideas to GGHA. 

I’m excited to see where the 2021-2022 season takes us! It seems that each year in, GGHA is better than the last! If you feel called to volunteer, please reach out! There are many things to do within GGHA; big and small. 

Good luck to all of the players at tryouts and all the camps this summer! See you all on the ice!

Ginnette Romkey 

GGHA President