Oakland Junior Grizzlies win Pee Wee AA title

By Brian Kalisher –

If at first you don’t succeed, lace up the skates and try again.

The Oakland Junior Grizzlies won the Pee Wee AA state title on March 4, defeating Marquette 6-4.

A group of five Grizzlies players were teammates last season for another club who lost in the state finals to Grand Rapids, but made up for it this season.

“I think that learning experience that they had, the experience of going through how difficult it was, was a real motivational factor,” coach Dwayne Norris said.  “Not only for those five kids to come back again this year, but I think it truly bred the environment and the atmosphere for kids to be prepared.  Those experiences are not easy to come by and deal with at this age.”

Fortunately for this year’s team, they didn’t have to deal with the disappointment of losing in the championship game.

“It was great, we’ve been a team all year that has been one of the better Yzerman [division] teams,” Norris said.  “Michigan has some very tough Pee Wee AA Yzerman teams.

“We’ve been prepping for a long time to anticipate some of the competition…we knew we were in for a tough haul and the kids really played unbelievable.  The timing was right, we had played very well going into districts and it was very inspirational the way the boys had played all the way through districts and also last weekend playing the competition that we played.”

The quality preparation for districts is one of the reasons why the Grizzlies found success once they reached states.

“The thing that I really liked was that, I felt that these boys had been kind of preparing themselves for districts, and hopefully getting through districts to states and really believing in themselves” Norris said.  “They believed in what we’re teaching, the type of mentality and commitment it was going to take.  It’s just nice to see that 17 kids, they got it at the right time.  The motivational part for them was really quite remarkable because I think people knew we had a good team, but that we weren’t the front-runners, that’s for sure.

“It was a credit to the kids really just buying in and giving that extra to win a championship, and that’s really what it was all about.”

The theme of this year’s state championship tournament seems to be teamwork and efforts that lead to entire teams becoming MVP.  That was also the case for the Grizzlies, as one specific player didn’t run the show, but the entire team took part in the win.

“We had a lot of performances, really just solid across the board,” Norris said.  “There was a number of kids that just stepped up to the plate and found a way to contribute.  To me it was about the whole team’s success.”

Next up for the Grizzlies is the final game for the Little Caesars championship and then it’s off to nationals.

“We have an opportunity to really do well and to run the table,” Norris said. That’s not with arrogance, that’s just that these kids are that focused and I really believe that we have an opportunity to win nationals too.”