The 12 and under boys Hudson team that placed 2nd
                     in that age bracket in the silver division.

Chris Bloomer of Hudson was a tired man but a very satisfied one on Monday of this week. He had just pulled off another one of his youth floor hockey tournaments that are always well attended by teams, players and fans. "We had a great tournament and everything went very well for the most part," said Bloomer, who has been involved with youth floor hockey here in Hudson for over two decades. "We had a super sweet tournament and things went about as smooth as could be expected. We had a few minor problems but nothing out of the ordinary and it was just a great event."  

Details of the Big Event

Bloomer had 46 teams in town for the seventh annual event that was held on Saturday and Sunday of this past weekend. As Bloomer likes to say it's always the weekend before Valentine's Day. "We are already booked with the school for February 9-10 of 2008," said Bloomer. Thirty-three of the teams were from the Battle Creek area as that is a hot bed for youth floor hockey in this area of the state. Five teams were from Lansing and five teams even came from Ontario, Canada. "We were able to get some teams back from Canada this year and that was really neat," said Bloomer, who noted the teams that usually come from Buchanan in the southwest part of the state were not able to compete this winter. Hudson had three teams in the tournament with a team of 10 and under boys and girls coached by Dave Schultz. The 12 and under girls team was coached by Paul Merillat and the 12 and under boys team was coached by Bob Friedley. The co-ed 10 and under team went 0-3 but the 12 and under girls team made it to the semifinals where they lost. The boys 12 and under team did the best as they made it to the final before falling in overtime to Pro-Tec from Battle Creek. "The boys almost won their division and gave it a great effort," said Bloomer.

The tournament began on Saturday morning shortly after 9:00 and the action was non-stop going for the next 13 hours. Then the teams were back at it on Sunday morning just after 9:00 and the final game wrapped up about 3:00. There were a total of 89 games played with the semifinals and finals played only on Sunday. On Saturday there were two gyms and three floors going all the time with games being held at Hudson High School and the Hudson Middle School. On Sunday just the high school gym was used with two floors there. The tournament featured 10 different divisions with a six and eight year-old co-ed groups. Then the girls had divisions of 14, 12 and 10 and under. The boys had divisions of 14 and under along with upper and lower divisions in the 12 and 10 and under age groups. With all these teams and all these players and fans there has to be a place to hold the event and Bloomer feels fortunate to have the help of the Hudson School system. "We get great cooperation each year from the school system and we couldn't have this tournament without their help," said Bloomer. "This tournament is good for our community and it brings a lot of people into Hudson and the use of the school is a big key in having this tournament."

Bloomer estimated that the crowds numbered between 300-500 constantly in the school buildings during both days almost the entire day. The ultra successful Hudson competitive cheerleaders even took the day off from competition to run the snack bar for the event. Bloomer runs one of the best organized youth floor hockey tournaments in the state each year and he always has good referees to help manage the games that at times can be excitable for the players, coaches and fans. This year Bloomer used about 15 officials and most all of them are former players who participated in Hudson's youth floor hockey league in the years past. Andy Gomez was even in town visiting from Wisconsin and he helped referee several games both days as did veteran official Joe Morse. Former legendary youth floor hockey coach Bruce Morse, who now resides in Ann Arbor, was in town for the event taking in the action. Morse for several years worked closely with Bloomer in running this tournament before he headed south for a job promotion. Now with a bigger and better job he is back in the area. "Bruce really loved floor hockey and he took our kids to a lot of out-of-town tournaments earlier this decade and he really boosted the interest in getting traveling teams going from Hudson but that interest has kind of died down nowadays," Bloomer said.

Hudson's Floor Hockey League

Bloomer has 68 kids playing in his Hudson league this year with games on Thursday and Friday nights as always. The two divisions are the minors and majors with each having four teams with about eight players per team. The overall numbers are down from the usual high 80's and Bloomer points out that five years ago he had close to 150 kids in the league. "I have talked with the elementary school about teaching and promoting the sport in physical education classes for the lower grades and they plan to do that, which I believe will increase the numbers next year," Bloomer said.

The four minor division teams are the Ducks led by Schultz along with the Penguins coached by Tim Stubbins, while Jim Brockway leads the Thrashers and Steve Gier coaches the Devils. Each team in both divisions plays the other teams three times for a nine-game regular season schedule. The four major division teams are Flyers led by Steve Rieger along with the Bruins coached by Eric Nelson, while Merillat leads the Raptors and Friedley coaches the Red Wings. The Minors are for children both boys and girls for grades 2-4 and the Majors are for the 5-6 graders and kids in seventh grade who are still 12-years old. Bloomer is very happy with the balance of the two divisions with many tied games and at one time six straight games ended in a tie.

Practices began the first week of January and the games started January 18th and are scheduled to end this week or last (Wednesday) night. However, the final competition will be the annual season-ending tournament to be held on Saturday, February 24th at the high school from 9:00 until 5:00. The tournament will be a double elimination event. Bloomer has been the biggest and strongest supporter of this popular youth sport for over two decades and floor hockey has been around Hudson since it first began in 1985. "We try to teach the kids the skills, the rules and sportsmanship and it is a fun league for all involved," said Bloomer.

Another tournament was held in grand fashion and another league season is winding down and all is well with floor hockey in Hudson and Bloomer couldn't be happier. "It's all about the kids and watching them play and have fun and floor hockey really is a great sport as it's kind of like basketball with a stick and puck but with a bit more contact."

As long as Bloomer is involved there will be floor hockey in Hudson and that is good news for the youth of this community. "I'll be back next season," said Bloomer and that is even better news for the local kids.
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