There is not

a lot of ice in Fayette County. Thus, there is not a lot of ice hockey.

However, there

are a lot of northern transplants in the south, people with a connection

to the ice and the sports associated with it. Therefore, ice hockey is

growing in popularity. There are several ice rinks in the metro Atlanta

area and that is where two boys from Peachtree City met for the first

time.

Alec Maniatis,

10, is a Kedron Elementary School student and a Southlake Shark. David

Puterbaugh, 11, is a student at Booth Middle School and is a Kennesaw

Warhawk. Both boys have recently been selected to the Ice Forum Hockey

Association All Star team and have formed a friendship. More importantly,

their parents have formed a carpool.

Maniatis lived

in Michigan and Illinois before moving down south, while Puterbaugh's

family is originally from Ohio. Both boys started playing hockey at a

very young age and did not want to give up the sport.

Their dedication

and their parent's dedication is incredible. Some of their games and practices

take place at 6 a.m. in Kennesaw, which means getting up at 4:30 in the

morning to make practice on time. Other days the practice or game is after

school, so the boys will hop in the car after school and head north of

Atlanta. They have become experts at doing their homework in the car and

are both honor roll students.

The commitment

to hockey not only consists of giving up a lot of time, but it is also

a very expensive sport. Fees and equipment may cost up to $1,000 and though

the boys like to play several other sports, such as baseball and basketball,

but when there is a conflict between the two sports, they have made more

of a commitment to playing hockey.

Both Maniatis

and Puterbaugh skate approximately four days a week. They practice at

least twice a week and usually play two games a week. Now that they are

all stars that number has increased. The boys are excited about playing

teams from all over the southeast but are really looking forward to moving

up to the Pee Wee league next year because checking will be allowed.

Maniatis's

favorite player is Sergei Federov, while puterbaugh prefers the tough

play of Brian Leech.

That must please

their coach and director of the All Star program, Jann Kaminsky, who played

with Leech and the New York Rangers. Kaminsky has been instrumental in

developing ice rinks and a solid hockey program in the south.

Maniatis and

Puterbaugh are enjoying the fact that they have met someone else in Peachtree

City that enjoys hockey as much as they do.

They are also

looking forward to an exciting season where they will play not as opponents

but as teammates.

Next year,

they are looking forward to checking each other during the regular season.

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