Colorado Rubber

Colorado’s and Utah’s Authoritative Voice of Hockey

Junior hockey with USPHL’s Battalion bolstering Parker native Woolverton’s game between pipes

 

Born in Denver, Kael Woolverton grew up in Parker and worked to solidify his game as a goaltender.

After his 15U season, a few setbacks left him without a team, so Woolverton sought an opportunity in Florida.

This season, he has stayed in Florida to play junior hockey with the USPHL’s Bold City Battalion, a team based in Jacksonville.

“The opportunity to play with Bold City happened when I met the current coach at a tryout in Tampa for another junior team,” said Woolverton. “I personally reached out to him for any feedback from the tryout and stayed in touch with him. When I finished my youth career, I was looking for a team and reached out about any open goalie spots for the upcoming year. He invited me to a couple of skates and afterwards during an interview with him, he mentioned how I had improved since the first time he saw me and wanted me to sign with the team.

“Since I have been on the team, I have loved the competitiveness of the players, on and off the ice. The team atmosphere and camaraderie are great to show up to every day at the rink. The coaches are great and have really helped my game progress.”

Last season with the South Florida Golden Wolves program, Woolverton found success in many areas.

“My last season was really good,” Woolverton said. “My team went 46-9-2 and won our state tournament and went to nationals. It was a great year for development on the ice and as a person. I looked forward to every day I was on the ice and being around my teammates. During the season, I learned a lot about myself and how to grow as a person. I learned how to be a better teammate, family member, and person in society.”

Truth be told, hockey wasn’t always Woolverton’s No. 1 sport.

“I started wrestling when I was about four, following in my dad’s footsteps, and after the first season, I had to have a surgical procedure to repair a hernia and decided wrestling was not my passion,” he said. “I had also tried soccer, but it was one day when I was at the rec center in Parker and saw some kids playing roller hockey and thought it looked fun, so my parents signed me up for a learn-to-skate program when I was six and the following year, I was playing 8U intermediate hockey for the Littleton Hawks.”

It was with the Hawks that Woolverton found his true calling between the pipes.

“During my 8U intermediate year with the Littleton Hawks, we rotated between the player and goalie position,” explained Woolverton. “From the first time I put on goalie gear, I was hooked. I didn’t want to give the loaner gear back. During my 8U advanced year, I shared the goalie spot, playing as a skater for half the games and as a goalie for the other half. My first year of Squirt hockey, I did not make a travel team and played at the rec level. The following year, I made the Squirt B team as there was no AA team at the time. I continued to play travel hockey with Littleton until moving to the Colorado Rampage my 14U year. When I went to tryouts for them, I didn’t end up making their AAA team that year and was placed on their 16U team instead. However, one of the AAA goalies had gone down with an injury and they needed a second goalie. That’s where I got my chance.

“For the rest of that year, I would play for Rampage’s 14U AAA team and play some games with their 16U A team. While at the Rampage, I had some coaches who really helped me push my limits. Their goalie coach, and now University of Denver assistant coach, Ryan Massa, really helped me develop my game and helped me discover the competitive side of my game. That spring, I tried out again for the 15O AAA team at the Rampage and unfortunately didn’t end up making it. I had one other option and that was to go back to Littleton. The rest of the summer before tryouts for Littleton, I was on the ice every day, trying to get better to make the 15U AA team and prove that I deserve a spot on the team. When tryouts came around, I played incredible and had no doubt that I would make the team. At the end of the tryout, I found out that I had made the team, and my goal became to prove I shouldn’t have been cut by the Rampage.”

It was after that season that things went south, both literally and figuratively.

“After my 15U year, I tried out for Colorado Thunderbirds and ended up getting cut,” said Woolverton. “I went back and tried out for Littleton AA. I played great, but ended up just short of making the team and had nowhere to go. My mom had been looking for a job in Florida and I ended up moving with her to see what opportunities I could find to play at some level in Florida. Before we left Colorado, my mom had contacted a coach with the Florida Alliance and they needed a goalie. We arrived in Florida and immediately drove to the rink so I could skate with the team.  Afterwards, I interviewed with the coach, and he offered me the open goalie position for the Florida Alliance 16U AAA team.”

When he looks back on his days in Colorado, Woolverton can’t help but smile.

“While I was playing in Colorado, I made a lot of great friendships and memories,” said Woolverton. “One of my favorite memories was when I played my first AAA game during a showcase in Arizona. I was nervous, but I knew I had what it took to play great and win. At the end of the game, we lost, but I was still happy with how I played and how the team did. I also remember the first time ever playing at Magness Arena and playing on the same ice as my favorite college team.”

With the 2024-25 USPHL season in full swing, Woolverton has attainable goals in mind going forward.

“My goal for this season is to help my team make it to nationals and, hopefully, win a national title,” Woolverton said.  “As part of that goal, I want to be one of the top goalies for the USPHL Elite level.  My current longer-term goal is to play college hockey and acquire skills that will help me both on and off the ice throughout my life. After college, I want to continue to have hockey as a large part of my life, whether that is part of my career or just for fun.”

Photos/Chris Grafton

— Matt Mackinder

(October 21, 2024)

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