MOORE: When adults let them down, Downingtown East hockey players stood up for what’s right
Goaltenders are stoic by nature.
In nearly 15 years covering hockey of all shapes and sizes, I’ve learned goalies are hard to rattle.
Whether that’s what draws them to the loneliest position in sports, or what they learn with years of being scored on, it’s an icy chicken and egg debate.
So the fact that a simple text message — during the lazy days of summer — could shake Downingtown East goalie Matt Shandler, should make you sit up take notice.
“It was a text from [head] coach [Dave] Hendricks,” Shandler said Friday. “He put me and [captain Mike] Bolger in a group text and said he had been relieved of his duties, and wasn’t going to be coaching our team anymore.”
***
“Kids these days.”
If you’re a teenager or millennial, you’ve probably heard that and rolled your eyes. When baby boomers and Gen Xers reach for that jab, it is treated like a harmless joke.
But it carries a much darker connotation.
It implies “kids these days” are self-centered, isolated, and out of touch with reality — searching for the next Instagram-worthy shot, avoiding meaningful conversation, and ignoring society as a whole.
As someone now closer in age to the parents of the kids I cover than to the athletes themselves, I thought for sure I would fall into the same “kids these days” trap.
But everywhere I turn, I find impressive teenagers with better social skills than most of my contemporaries, and with a more honed worldview than anyone gives them credit for.
Never was that more true than over the last nine months, as I’ve been a small part of a wild season for the Downingtown East ice hockey program. A season that started with that text, and ends Saturday in Pittsburgh with the state championship game against Pine-Richland (1:30 p.m.).
***
A day or two after Shandler was floored by a text from his coach, I got a text of my own, from a concerned parent at Downingtown East.
As her story went, the board at Downingtown East (remember, hockey is more club sport than high school sport) would not renew Hendricks’ contract. Tryouts were a few weeks away, and coaching decisions for the upcoming season were mostly completed all around area rinks.
Hendricks, who I had always regarded as one of the good guys I covered, was coming off back-to-back Flyers Cups and state championships, but had lost half a dozen top players to graduation.
My gut reaction was to defend Hendricks, but I did my due diligence to make sure nothing untoward was going on. I asked about hazing. About possible abuse of players. About shady recruiting practices.
The answer, from everyone I spoke to, was always a firm “NO.”
Through it all, Hendricks stayed above the fray, even hesitant to respond to my inquiries.
Long story short: Some parents thought their JV players should get more playing time. Those parents influenced, and even took seats on, the Downingtown East board. They decided the best way to get that playing time was to install a friendly coach and get rid of the one who brought home four trophies in two seasons.
The new board had played its hand, and was expecting the returning players to show up and perform for a new coach.
***
The night of that text message, Shandler spent a lot of time on his phone. But he was doing more than posting on SnapChat.
“I talked to some of my teammates and my parents to see if we could do anything,” Shandler said. “And we just started talking to everyone and found out why it happened, and it made it even worse.”
Immediately, a handful of players decided they would not play without Hendricks.
Remember, these kids play on club teams, but giving up a chance to play for their school was not an easy decision.
“In the end we all decided what was best for us, and coach Hendricks had always been there for us,” said sophomore Andrew Ceglia. “And we didn’t want to be on the team if he wasn’t leading us.”
The next time Downingtown East was scheduled to gather at Ice Line, for the first tryout of the year, not a single returning player showed up.
“Some kids immediately were like, ‘I’m done,’” said junior Ryan Prestayko. “Then everyone else decided the same. And then it turned out that together we knew we could make this change.”
***
After that first tryout, it was clear the program might not even field a team this season. As one parent who saw the practice told me at the time, “It would have been dangerous to put those kids on the ice against good high school players.”
The next day, I wrote a story about the failed tryout, noting 20 players who had signed up and paid their dues did not show.
When asked for comment, Hendricks, of course, took the high road.
“I have always supported the players and continue to do so,” Hendricks said in a statement. “Therefore I cannot in good conscience tell these young men not to fight for what they believe in.”
Shandler, Prestayko, Ceglia and the rest of the Cougars who stayed home that night wondered if they would ever wear blue and yellow again.
After all, the grownups always win in these battles, right?
Wrong.
***
The very next day, the club’s board reinstated Hendricks as coach, scrapped the new coach, and vacated their seats on the board.
Registration was re-opened for any interested players, and the club essentially started from scratch.
“Dave is easily the best coach I’ve ever had,” said Prestayko, who scored four goals in last weekend’s Flyers Cup championship game win over rival Downingtown West. “He took me under his wing freshman year and helped me until now, and I’ve gotten so much better as a player. The whole thing was awful. And now it’s awesome to just come back and show them why he’s such a great coach.”
***
With a late start due to the summer chaos, Downingtown East got right to work. The Cougars actually started a bit slowly, losing twice in the first four league games. But from there, it was like nothing had ever happened. East went 10-2 in the Ches-Mont and 13-4-1 overall, rolling into the Flyers Cup as the top seed in Class AA. The Cougars cruised into the semifinal, fought off a tough challenge from Pennridge once there, and then rolled over archrival Downingtown West in the championship, to earn a return trip to the state final.
If the Cougars are victorious against Pine-Richland, team leaders like Bolger, Prestayko and Shandler will get to lift the trophy.
So will Dave Hendricks, largely because of his impeccable record and overflowing trophy case.
But he’ll also get that chance because of a group of teenagers who showed more maturity, organization, and resolve than the grownups who are supposed to look out for them.
“Kids these days?”
You’re damn right.
Steven Moore is the sports editor of the Daily Local News. You can reach him at smoore@21st-centurymedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @smoore1117.
