MIDDLE TOWNSHIP – Two 10-year-old township boys who play for the same ice hockey team helped their squad win a trip to Ontario through its victory in a regional tournament, and then faced off against other winning teams from the United States and Canada.
Colton Duckenfield plays left wing and Teddy Strickland plays center for the Atlantic City Sharks, a 10-and-under hockey team. Earlier in the year, the Sharks competed in the International Silver Stick regional tournament in Aston, Pennsylvania, for a chance to go to the International Silver Stick finals in Ontario.
The Sharks won the regional tournament, the first time the team ever made it to the finals. The International Silver Stick is an organization that runs hockey tournaments all over the U.S. and Canada.
The team won one game but lost three in the finals, placing fifth in a 10-team field earlier this month. Colton scored three goals and had three assists in the games. Teddy scored a goal and had a couple of assists.
“The kids did a good job,” Assistant Coach Teddy Strickland Jr. said about the team afterward. “They played against winners of regional competitions, plus the Canadian teams, so there was some tough competition.
“They got to play in three different rinks, and they got to play in Canada. The kids thought it was pretty cool.”
“We played the best we could,” Colton said after the tournament. “There was some really great talent out there.”
During the season, which runs from September to June, the Sharks play teams from New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, in a league with players 8 to 10 years old. Colton started practicing ice hockey about a year ago, and then tried out for the competitive team.
“He picked it up really fast,” said his dad, Bobby Duckenfield, who played street hockey when he was younger. He and Strickland coached their sons’ street hockey team and decided to pursue ice hockey with them.
Young Strickland started playing when he was 5 because his dad played as a youngster and throughout college and law school, and coached the team for Lower Cape May Regional High School for 11 seasons.
“I like ice hockey because it’s so fast-paced,” Teddy said, “and you are always moving. Sometimes it’s hard to keep up with the other players because it’s such a fast game.”
Colton said he likes playing hockey because it’s a “fast game” as well, but also enjoys playing left wing because he can get “a lot of breakaways and score. You are always moving, and sometimes it’s hard to keep up with the other players.”
The team practices twice a week and plays games on the weekends. It’s a real commitment for each family because of the travel and time commitment, and the cost, according to both fathers.
“A lot of the family responsibilities fall on my wife,” Bobby Duckenfield said, “and even juggling the time for practice and games falls on her because I own my own business.”
Strickland, whose mother skated competitively and taught lessons at Cape May’s Convention Hall, agreed. “I also have my own business, so I do my best to manage the office and get to practice,” he said.
Duckenfield said, “I think competing in Canada was a good experience overall for the boys and there were a lot of people from New Jersey in the stands. I hope we made New Jersey proud.”
Contact the author, Karen Knight, at kknight@cmcherald.com.
