The Stanley Cone

When we started Rose City 3 on 3 way back when..............we wanted to be different from other recreational leagues. We wanted to focus on kids having fun ! We reinforced skill development but our main focus was FUN. Players practiced all year long and played games with the goal of playing for a trophy or a championship.

During our first year players and parents would ask me where the standing were, who was in first place. You will notice that we do not put numbers on jersey's because we don't record who scored the goals or assisted on the goals because we don't care who scores.

During the first year a young player was enjoying some French fries after a hard played game, I sat down beside him and asked if he had fun. He responded "yes and I scored 3 goals", then he proceeded to ask "what do we get if we win the championship" ? I had not thought that far ahead.......I told him that I wasn't sure but I would get back to him.

During the week between week 1 and week 2 I racked my brain trying to come up with something original. There were leagues that had cups and trophy's or banners for winners but I was looking for something special. As I drove down the street one day I saw it, there  it was beside the curb outside of South Windsor arena in all her glory .

THE STANLEY CONE ! a bright orange traffic cone fit for a Champion !

Now the fun part , since we didn't keep track of standings or who scored the goals how would we determine who played for the Stanley Cone ? Over dinner one night I was discussing this with Kim and we were talking about how to determine who would play for the Holy Grail of Spring Hockey. That's when our kids Kylie & Justin  spoke up and said "why can't everyone have a chance to play for the Stanley Cone"? What a great idea !  Every team would play for a chance to win the Cone on the last week of play. That weekend would be known as Stanley Cone Weekend .

That is what we continue to do 20 years later.

Over the years we have changed the way it looks it is now a traffic cone covered with layers upon layers of bright shiny duct tape.

And that is how the Stanley Cone was born !