The Central Outlaws hockey team has a rich history marked by dedication, development, and significant achievements. From their early days to their recent state championship win, the Outlaws have consistently demonstrated a commitment to fostering young talent and promoting a love for the game.
Founding and Philosophy
Sciarabba founded the Central Outlaws with Johnson after seeing hockey participation drop within Tompkins County. “The coaches that we have and the managers we have and the ice time that we have, we have a different model on the development side of it,” Sciarabba said. “We started that five, six years ago with how we’re on the ice sometimes four, five, six times a week." One of the keys to success for the Outlaws is holding mixed practices.
“The nice thing about our program is we allow those kids access to practice with one another, even at different ages,” Sciarabba said. “If that 12U kid wants to stay for the 14U practice, they can. So, they’re playing against older kids and practicing with older kids and pushing themselves, where a lot of associations don’t do that."
Overcoming Challenges
This comes a year after the state championships were canceled due to COVID-19, ending the run of multiple Outlaws teams that were set to make the trip to the state tournament. COVID-19 continued to hang over the team during the fall; responding to that, Johnson instituted a practice schedule with extra safety protocols to keep families and skaters safe. Players went through six on-ice sessions per week, emphasizing individual and smaller team drills. Instead, the players stayed the course and continued to improve their game in preparation for the return of competition, and that paid off with a state championship.
“We kept it going,” Sciarabba said. “We just kept the whole development model going and kept the kids engaged. You have eight months of practices before we really hit games. We had no idea if we were really even going to be able to do games. But to keep the kids that interested and that motivated to keep playing without a prize at the end, every practice was 110% from these kids."
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State Championship and Recognition
On April 25, the Central Outlaws 12U youth hockey team, based out of The Rink in Lansing, won the first state championship in the program’s six-year history. “I am so proud of all the players of Central Outlaws,” Johnson said. “It took true dedication to achieve such a monumental task during a time when the world was saying ‘NO’ to everything. Considering the second-youngest team in the program won the state championship this year and finished 26-3, the future is very bright for the Outlaws.
“It’s huge,” Sciarabba said. “Anytime you win a state championship, that gives recognition to a program, especially after five years, it gets people to say, ‘Oh, what are they doing right? Why are they successful?’ Especially with the two other teams going at the same time and getting to the semifinals. That just brings attention to the program of what we’re doing."
Regional Impact and Player Development
“Our association is made up of not just kids from Tompkins County,” Sciarabba said. “I’ve got kids as far away as Thousand Islands to play for me. We’ve got Binghamton, Elmira, Cortland, Watertown, Syracuse, so we’re a regional association. Sciarabba is an Ithaca Little Red hockey alum and continued his career on SUNY Brockport’s team after high school. His son, who has been a member of the Central Outlaws since Sciarabba and 12U coach Russ Johnson founded the program, will be following his footsteps by moving on to a prep school team next year.
“That’s one of the things we want for our association,” he said. “We want these kids, when they get to that time to go play a higher-level-type hockey. People say, ‘Why do you want your kids to leave?’ Well, it looks great for associations."
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