The Racers are pleased to announce that Oliver Wenck will join us as the U14 AA head coach for the 2018-2019 season. Coach Wenck grew up playing travel hockey in Indianapolis. After two seasons of high school hockey and a state championship with North Central High School, he moved on to play for the Indiana Jr. Ice U18 AAA. He continued his hockey career for two more seasons, playing for the DC Capitals U18 AAA and the Queen City Steam of the CSHL.

Wenck graduated from IUPUI, where he played for the Jaguars lacrosse team.

Coach Wenck has spent the past three seasons as a coach with Westfield High School.

He serves in the Indiana Army National Guard, working at the Army Wellness Center on Camp Atterbury.

IYHA Director Derek Edwardson on Coach Wenck: “We are very excited to have Oliver join our staff. I have watched him run practices for the past three years with Westfield and have always been impressed. He has a tremendous presence and attention to detail that will earn our players’ and parents’ respect from day one. His values align perfectly with the IYHA with regard to player development, how we run practices and how we approach competition.”  

Our U12 AA team will be led by another new face to the IYHA, Tyler Beasley. Tyler grew up in Indy playing youth hockey for the Jr Ice through U18 AAA. After U18, he moved away to play two years of junior hockey in Minnesota and Texas. After leading two different leagues in points in each of those seasons, Tyler chose to play NCAA college hockey for Nichols College in Massachusetts. After a 4 year career highlighted by a stellar senior season that included an All-America selection, ECAC Player of the Year and All-Academic Team honors, Tyler played professionally in the SPHL.

Coach Beasley moved back to Noblesville after wrapping up his playing career and has been doing hockey camps, clinics and lessons in the Indianapolis area for years.

Derek Edwardson will be joining Coach Beasley as assistant coach on the ice for all practices and as many games as his U16 schedule allows.

The Racers U10 AA and A coaches will be determined upon the conclusion of tryouts but will be led by one of the following coaches- Pat Murray, CJ Glander, Pavel Nejezchleb

Pat Murray coached our Racers U10 A team to a Buckeye Playoff championship in 2017-2018. Coach Murray has also led the Racers (formerly Strong) 2005 birthyear team among several other youth teams over the past decade. As a player, Pat was a 2nd round NHL draft pick of the Philadelphia Flyers. After a stellar college career at Michigan State, he played In the NHL, AHL and Europe.

CJ Glander is another homegrown coach who grew up and played youth hockey in Indianapolis. CJ  played junior hockey in the NAHL and went on to play NCAA hockey at SUNY Fredonia. Coach Glander coached IYHA mite majors last season and has coached travel baseball for several years. He is currently a principal at Carmel High School.  

Pavel Nejezchleb came to the United States from the Czech Republic as a 16 year old to play junior hockey for the Danville Wings of the NAHL. After two stellar seasons in the league, he accepted a scholarship to NCAA Division 1 Miami (Ohio) University. Coach Pavel’s playing career was cut short after four years of college due to injury.

The IYHA and Racers continue their commitment to provide the best coaching available to Indy area kids. This year’s coaching staff boasts two NHL draft picks, six with professional playing experience, eight former NCAA division 1 players, three former NCAA division III players, two former division 1 college coaches, and one Olympic skating coach. This level of experience is unrivaled in the state of Indiana.

Racers travel tryouts begin on Friday, May 18th. 

Click the link below to see the tryout schedule, full coaching lineup and online registration. All players must register and pay online to participate.

2018-2019 Racers Travel Tryouts