Columbus Youth Hockey players, from left, Avery Orgass, Carter Harris, Maddox Coy and Max Gomez, along with Brooks Larsh (not pictured), played in the ChiTown Shuffle Triple-A tournament in Chicago.
Ted Schultz | The Republic
Columbus Youth Hockey has been a growing organization over the past few years, especially in its girls program.
Last month, five players from Columbus traveled to Chicago to compete on various teams in the Chi-Town Shuffle. That included the first girl from Columbus Youth Hockey, Avery Orgass, to compete in the event.
“The competition is extremely tough in this tournament,” CYH coaching director Isaac Coy said. “This is the first time that we’ve had so many players from Columbus, including a female player like Avery Orgass, participating in a Triple-A tournament like this.”
Coy said to be selected for the Chi-Town Shuffle, tournament officials look at a player’s hockey background and hockey videos that they send in that highlight their skills and talent. Officals then make a decision on how they pick their teams based on the player information that they receive.
Orgass, a fourth-grader at Parkside Elementary, played up to the 12U level on the CCM Selects team. She had two assists to help the squad make it to championship game of the tournament.
“It was definitely fun,” Orgass said. “I was definitely kind of nervous, but it was fun playing with older girls.”
Orgass is one of several girls from Columbus Youth Hockey who are competing at the Triple-A level.
Meanwhile, Max Perez, a sixth-grader at CSA-Fodrea, played for the CCM Selects 12U boys team.
“The games go faster than you think,” Perez said. “You have to pass faster and shoot faster.”
Maddox Coy and Carter Harris were part of the Indianapolis Racers 10U Triple-A postseason team that competed. Coy, a fourth-grader at Southside, scored one goal in the event.
“It was very exciting, kind of nerve-racking, though,” Maddox Coy said. “I gained a lot of confidence.”
Harris, a fourth-grader at Rockcreek Elementary, was competing in the Chi-Town Shuffle for the second year in a row.
“There’s a lot more other good teams,” Harris said. “I wasn’t as nervous as I was last year.”
A fifth player from Columbus, Brooks Larsh, played on the Spacemen team out of Fort Wayne.
All of the players from Columbus Youth Hockey that played in the Chi-Town Shuffle are at the Triple-A level.
“Triple-A hockey is just an entirely different level of speed and skill and finesse, and all of our athletes did amazing,” Isaac Coy said. “We do have others that are at that level of play that didn’t participate in this. They definitely deserve to be at that level.”
