Hamburg senior Derek Roberts, 17, and his ice hockey team the Lehigh Valley Phantoms 18A team won the Regional Championship at the International Silver Sticks Tournament in Columbia, Md., over Thanksgiving break.
The win qualified the team to compete in the International Championships where they will represent the United States in Ontario, Canada in mid January.
Roberts, a resident of the Hamburg area, is the only Berks County player on the team.
“The team started their play on Friday against the Howard Huskies and got their first win of the weekend with a score of 4-1. Friday evening they met up with the Nova Ice Dogs and blew them away with a score of 8-1. Day two of the tournament had them facing the York Ice Devils, and again they won 2-0,” said his mother Brooke Schell.
“Saturday evening, the team was paired up against The Ice Dogs, a team that had previously beat the Phantoms in early October. The boys were determined to keep their winning streak going and won the game 4-2.”
Sunday, the Phantoms faced The Ice Dogs again in the semi-final game.
“It was a tough game, but they came out with another win sending them to the final game against Southern Maryland Sabres. The championship game was a close one with no score until the end of the 2nd period,” said Schell. “The Phantoms played hard and were awarded the Regional Championship Banner with a score of 3-0.”
The Phantoms had a 6-0 tournament record. The win sends the team to the International Championships where they will represent the United States in Ontario, Canada in mid January.
“All of his hard work, late nights of practice and dedication to the sport have paid off,” said his mother. “Derek started his hockey career at the age of 9, by playing roller hockey with his older brother, Trevor, at Ozzy’s Family Fun Center in Leesport.”
Roberts participated in the roller hockey program for two years before playing ice hockey in sixth grade. He played scholastic hockey for Hamburg for the past seven years and is currently rostered on the varsity team, she said.
“At the start of his junior year, Derek wanted to become a better hockey player and joined the Pottstown Penguins 16U Travel Team,” said Schell. “There, he was able to quickly develop his hockey skills by getting plenty of ice time due to a limited amount of players.”
This past spring, Roberts wanted to advance into more competitive hockey. He signed up for a spring hockey league at Bethlehem’s Steel Ice Center, giving up a season of baseball to improve upon his skills. He then tried out and became a member of the Lehigh Valley Phantoms 18A team. His practices began in June with sessions of dryland workouts twice a week and one night of ice time which eventually switched to two nights of ice and one night of dryland. He competed in two tournaments in July and August to get the winter season started. The Phantoms play in both the DVHL and the EJPHL league. The team travels through Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York to compete, explained his mother.
After graduation, Derek plans to either go on to college to major in business or continue his hockey career with a junior hockey program.
