Waltham Youth Hockey Team Returns From Championship Victorious

WALTHAM, MA — Every Thanksgiving there's the high school football and the family time, but there's also a lesser known tradition. The Falmouth Thanksgiving Tournament has captivated the families of Waltham Youth Hockey teams since 1972. This year the Mites (7 and 8 year olds) travel team came home with a championship win.

This year 75 players across 6 teams took part with representation from all levels of the organization including Bantam 1, Peewee 1, Squirt 1, and Mites 1, 2 and 3.

"All teams played exceptionally well, including some tough losses in the championship round," said the team manager Shannon Juliano. "Mite 3 proved that with determination, great passing and coming together working as a team made a Championship Win was possible!"

More than 100 goals were scored during the 4 game Mite 3 level, she said.

Juliano (who has twins on the team) attributes the win to the team bonding that she saw.

"Coming together as a team for an entire weekend on and off the ice is important. Our team had lots of bonding time and really worked well together this weekend," she said.

"Waltham Youth Hockey is one great big team. It's really nice to see all the teams coming together to support one another during the games," she said.

The team is coached by Alex Geminez along with assistant coaches Reggie King, Tim Wigle and George Juliano. And the season isn't over yet: It goes from late August through early April.

The team stats from the tournament wins, losses and ties:

Bantam: 2-1-0
Peewee: 1-2-1
Squirt: 1-2-0
Mite 1: 3-1-0
Mite 2: 1-1-1
Mite 3: 4-0-0

To learn more about the Waltham Youth Hockey League go here.

Photos courtesy Shannon Juliano