It started with uniforms and socks.
But Phil Prynn’s vision for hockey in West Seneca didn’t end there.
Last season was Prynn’s first as head coach of the West Seneca East Trojans varsity Fed team after assisting for three years. He started with the appearance of his team, went on to improve the practice structure, and finished the season with the first end-of-year banquet in program history.
“We were using the old knit socks for a while, and finally we got a company that made us some custom Reebok edge socks,” Prynn explained. “Players like stuff like that, that makes them look better on the ice. We improved our uniforms, we had a banquet, we improved our practice structure. We have a lot of after school workouts that are mandatory, and then we have the weight room on days we’re not on the ice. We do a lot more film and video sessions on days we’re not on the ice. Things like that were never done in the past, and I just said, ‘Alright, we’re gonna take the days we’re not on the ice and we’re gonna do something hockey-related every day.'”
But he wanted to go even bigger and give more players a place to play, and thus was born the Trojan Hockey Association. The nonprofit organization brings hockey players into the West Seneca East family as early as fifth grade and brings them up from there. Prynn’s goal is to give every West Seneca East hockey player, present and future, a hockey team to play for.
“There’s a lot of hockey players in West Seneca — big school district with two varsity hockey teams and tons of hockey players,” Prynn said. “So we took a look at our numbers and decided alright, let’s push forward with something big and something new, and I decided that the route I wanted to take was to create a nonprofit organization that would support as many hockey teams as we could create. However many players are in our organization, we’re gonna try and create a team for them, fifth grade all the way up.”
Fifth and sixth graders will play during the summer. The program will be clinic-based with 3-on-3 tournaments and is still in the early stages of planning. But what is certain is this: the younger players will be introduced to the Trojan hockey program, coaches, and each other at a young age. It also gives Prynn and his fellow coaches an early look at the players coming up through their system.
“Even if they go to a fifth/sixth grade clinic and then play modified together and then they play on different travel teams until Fed, at least they’ve already played together, they’ve known each other, and it kind of becomes a thing where you know who’s coming up,” Prynn said. “You’ve seen them play together a little bit and have some control over that, where in the past we didn’t really have too much control or visibility of what was going on at JV. I definitely wanted more say and control and to be a part of what was going on. I didn’t want to just hope for kids to show up to Fed tryouts in November … You gotta cultivate it, you gotta develop a routine, a program, and put kids in situations whew they’re wearing green and gold from the time they’re fifth graders, and you grow that pride, you keep it strong, and you’ll have a strong team forever. Keep a team together and teach them your systems, teach them what it means to play for West Seneca East.”
Seventh and eighth graders will play at the modified level with two full West Seneca East modified teams. Their season will start in March and carry through the spring.
And at the high school level, West Seneca East will now have a varsity club team and a varsity JV team. Prynn will oversee the entire program and coach Fed, with Ed Schmatz overseeing the club program and coaching either the varsity or JV club team.
Schmatz himself has a rich coaching history.
“For a long time, I ran the Southtown Stars,” he explained. “I’ve been bounced around, and I always wanted to get more involved in high school hockey. When the modified season started, I was coaching the modified program for the third year, and Phil and I met, and he’s got the same vision as what I expect.”
Schmatz came close to sending his son to a private school to play hockey, which is exactly what the Trojan Hockey Association is looking to prevent. When Colin Schmatz decided to stay at West Seneca East, Ed Schmatz knew he needed to be more involved. He’s seen what high school hockey can be, and he and Prynn believe that this is the beginning of enriching the atmosphere around high school hockey.
“I can remember back in my day,” Schmatz said. “Freshman year, I’m at [West Seneca] West, and we’re playing an East-West game, and there’s 400 people in the stands. Why? Because it’s the East-West rivalry, and that thrill of that game alone makes you want to go out there and be on the ice. My son plays for the Regals, and we might have 60 people in the stands. All of a sudden, you go to a varsity Fed game, and there’s 400 people in the stands. That’s huge for this area.”
“It’s a unique dynamic,” Prynn said. “You compare it to high school football down south, where that is it. The whole town is at a Friday night game in Texas, and not that we’re that, but since I played high school hockey 15, 16 years ago, we’d always get decent turnouts. The games were at Holiday or Leisure. I’ve seen it kind of grow into a bigger and bigger thing … I think the addition of HarborCenter has been fantastic too, so all these catalysts are kind of pointing to high school hockey being such an exciting event to go to. That student section aspect, the pageantry of it, is there with Fed hockey. Kids go to high school football games to be in the crowd and get loud, and hockey’s the same thing. Quality of play has gotten better every year, and it just seems like it’s such an exciting event to coach. To be behind the bench at a game where the building is packed and the students are going crazy, it gives me goosebumps. That’s what kids see, and that’s what kids want to be a part of, and if you get them involved when they’re young and they see the West Seneca Rink on a Friday night packed and think, ‘I could play for this team someday,’ that’d be awesome, and that’s what we’re hoping to put out there.”
Already the interest level is high. The program held its first clinic on Oct. 24 for players grades eight through twelve, and about 37 players showed up, including Fed players.
“What we’re trying to do here is keep it open to everybody on the east side of the town,” Prynn said. “Since we are a youth sports organization, we can offer clinics and programming just to get better at things at all ages, all levels. And we told the Fed guys too, come out to the skates, join the clinic, and come on out. Everybody is so eager. All the kids are super eager about it, and that’s awesome to hear.”
And every player that comes to play will have a team this winter, whether it’s Fed or one of the two club teams.
“Our goal is to provide a spot for every player in West Seneca East to play hockey, and in the league that we’re playing in now, eighth graders can play JV,” Prynn explained. “We wanted to make sure that we offered that possibility to certain eighth graders that are exceptional and may have gone elsewhere — may have gone to a different team or maybe considered private school. Now they have an opportunity to play a year of JV for the Trojans and see if they like it.”
Ultimately, it’s just about playing hockey. Prynn would love to see other schools develop similar programs, and he’s already had at least one coach call and pick his brain. Prynn is happy to see the word get out as he hopes for more hockey and more positive feedback.
“That’s my goal, is just to have this become really really great and really really big,” Prynn said. “None of the directors or coaches of our organization are taking any kind of salary at all. We’re not in this to make a dime. This is 100 percent for the kids and for the hockey players in West Seneca, and I just hope that everybody loves what we’re doing.”
The Trojan Hockey Association is still looking for assistant coaches. Anyone interested in getting involved can email trojanhockeyassociation@gmail.com.