The History of The Sabercats


Sabercats Timeline

1998 - Yerba Buena Ice Skating Center opened for business
Marek Page first hockey instructor
Tim Grice first "director"
Paul Switenki arrived and became instructor/coach 

1999-2000 Influx of Bantam/Midget age roller hockey players from nearby Bladium (now SF Giants parking lot).  Had 2x week practices.  Organized first youth game against team from Redwood City.  

2000-2001
First official Norcal Teams.  Steven Kravitz livens up the In-House program.
Bantam B coached by Marek Page, finished in 2nd place but disqualified due to incomplete paperwork...
Midget B coached by Paul Switenki.

2001-2002 
Marek Page left.  
Midgets lost 6 returning players to other A and AA teams.  One player who left ended up making USA Hockey Pacific District Select Midget camp that year (Geoff Olson).  Another turned down scholarship at Air Force Academy to pursue other education (Yan Brunstyn).  First Peewee (B) travel team formed.  
Peewee B Coached by Ryan Jeong and Dan Oglebay.  Jennifer Clark (now Norcal treasurer) team manager.
Bantam B coached by Phil Follmer and Jim Gallerani
Midget B coached by Paul Switenki and Sandy Ward 

2002-2003 
Steven Kravitz moves away.  In-House run by Christian Thompson. 
Michelle Chee played first time as Sabercat Midget B (boys)  Recently graduated from Trinity College (CT) as all-time points leader.
Bantam B team coached by Michael Wehner & Aaron White
Midget B team coached by Paul Switenki 

2003-2004
Not enough players to form Midget B team
Peewee B team coached by Paul Switenki
Bantam B team coached by Aaron White, Eli Groban & Michael Wehner

2004-2005
Peewee B team coached by Paul Switenki & George Caliendo
Bantam B team coached by Eli Groban
Midget B team coached by Aaron White 

2005-2006
Hockey Tots and Pond Hockey formed as new programsIn-House program coached by Peter Korcsinszky and Sara Elliott
Peewee B team coached by Paul Switenki & George Caliendo
Bantam B team coached by Eli Groban
Midget B team coached by Aaron White

2006-2007
Squirt B team - first younger division team, coached by Sara Elliott and Mary Owen
Peewee B team coached by Paul Switenki & George Caliendo
Bantam B team coached by Eli Groban & Brian Gray
Midget B team coached by Aaron White 

2008-2009
Saturday/Sunday In-House program grows to 50 players.
First Squirt "A" and high school teams formed.  High school team participates in Redwood City's summer league.  Not enough players to field a Peewee team.
Pond Hockey Coached by Sara Elliott
In house coached by Paul Switenki and Peter Korcsinszky
Mite travel team coached by Sara Elliott and Dimitry Shikhvarg
Squirt A coached by Peter Korcsinszky and Jason Kapuscinski
Bantam B coached by Chris Weier, George Caliendo and Andrew Meyerson
Midget 16A coached by Brian Gray, Andy Borowsky and Chris Dralla

2009-2010
First time with teams at 5 age groups.  First active program website.
Mite program switched to exhibition team so as to more closely match ideals of USA Hockey's American Development Program.  Coached by Paul Switenki, Dimitry Shikhvarg and Sean Wills (former Union College Division 1 player).
Squirt B coached by Peter Korcsinszky, Harley Crandall and Vince Castoro
Peewee B coached by Peter Korcsinszky, Jason Kapuscinski and Vince Castoro
Bantam B coached by George Caliendo, Andrew Meyerson, and Luke Callinan 
Midget 18A coached by Brian Gray, Andy Borowsky and Chris Dralla