Steamboat Pilot & Today

Steamboat Springs — Three Steamboat Springs hockey players have been selected to compete in the Rocky Mountain District camp at the end of the month.

Brady Bender, Matt Dawes and Monica Patten were all chosen from a Colorado Evaluation Camp that included the top players of all ages from across the state.

Bender, who played for the local Bantam A team, and Patten, who played for the girls U-14 team, have solidified spots at the camp, while Dawes, a sophomore who split time in goal with his brother Jeff during the high school season, will serve as an alternate.

"These are all the elite kids from Colorado," Dave Strang, former director of player development for the Steamboat Springs Youth Hockey League, said of the camp. "To be selected is a great honor."

As part of the district camp in Salt Lake City, the three athletes will play and compete with other players from Texas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Idaho, New Mexico, Wyoming, Nevada and Montana. Players will be evaluated, get instruction, play games on the ice and have an exit interview.

The best players at the Rocky Mountain District Camp will then advance to a national camp.

Strang said while the camp is a great experience, it also helps players get recognized on not only a regional scale but a national one, as well.

Some former Steamboat hockey players to take part in the camp include Tim Higbee, Daniel Collocia, Brad Bonner and Nick Pruett, among others.

"It's an honor for our hockey program to have those kids selected," Strang said. "It's a great camp to get recognition and get put on the radar of juniors and colleges and those things."

The camp begins April 30 and runs through May 5.

- To reach Luke Graham, call 871-4229

or e-mail lgraham@steamboatpilot.com