U.S. Stampede Hockey Team Giving Texas a Name in China

When you think of Texas you probably don’t think of Hockey! However, there has been a junior hockey team made up of seven players from the Texas Juniors Stars program and seven players from a Tulsa Oklahoma team that will head to China to compete in the CCM World Invitational. ‘The Teams local players

According to Hill Country News, “The Teams local players include goalie Austin Schaertel (Steiner Ranch Elementary), forward Arys Perardi (River Ridge Elementary), Forward Andrew Lee (Cypress Elementary), goalie Gavin White (Giddens Elementary), and forward Garrett White (Giddens Elementary).”

The teams decided to join together after The Texas Junior Stars defeated the Tulsa, Oklahoma-based team in a Championship game at a Tournament in Dallas. The teams have joined together as The Texas Stampede and will make their introduction in China. The tournament will be held at the same location that the 2022 Beijing winter Olympics will take place.

Photo: Facebook/Austin Hockey

This tournament was started to interest future Hockey players and get them excited about the future of Hockey.

“This is something done by the Chinese Hockey Federation to grow the sport and get people excited about Hockey in 2022,” stated by Coach Ryan Raya to Hill Country News.

These junior players will get to experience Hockey on an International level and compete against teams from all over the world! An experience like this is one to remember and spread the word that yes, there is a Hockey team in Texas!

Photo: Facebook/Austin Hockey

As reported on the Austin Hockey Facebook page:

China Update: last night, Stampede USA beat Fire Dragon (China) 4:2 for their first win of the tournament. Our own Garrett White (Bonny Dittmer White) scored 1 goal in the win, and Arys Perardi (Eric Perardi and Rachel Marie Herrera) had an assist. Don’t know yet know if it was Austin Shaertel (Jennifer Hoagland Schaertel) or Gavin White (Bonny Dittmer White) who was in goal, but we know it was an Austin goalie!

In about 8 hours, the boy’s face Little High (Korea) in their second game.