Hopewell Hockey
The Future Is Bright in Hopewell Athletics: 7th Grader Brelyn Smith
Week after week, Hopewell Sports Nation is doing our best to let everyone in our community aware of the great things being accomplished by our young athletes.
This morning, we have yet another example and her name is Brelyn Smith.
Brelyn is a 7th grader and attends the Hopewell Junior High School. Aside from being an excellent student, she is also an accomplished goaltender for the Penguins Elite Team, which is competing in a national tournament in Florida. We’ll have more on that but first, we wanted to let you know more about Brelyn.
She started playing hockey when she was 5 years old. To get things started, she participated in Dek hockey (ball hockey) for a few seasons and then transitioned to learning how to play ice hockey at age 8. After skating lessons, Brelyn played a year of in-house ice hockey at RMU. At age 10, Brelyn rostered on the Arctic Foxes team as goalie and was awarded team MVP that season.
Brelyn also played two seasons at South Hills Amateur Hockey Association (SHAHA) in 2021 & 2022. During 2022, Brelyn set a goal for herself and set her sights on making the Tier 1 AAA 12u girls’ team at Pens Elite.
MISSION ACCOMPLISHED as Smith earned her spot on the 12u Pens Elite girls’ team after tryouts Spring of 2022.
Hopewell Sports Nation
For those not familiar with it, competitive youth hockey is divided into 2 tiers and ranked AAA to A. Tier 1 AAA teams are the highest level of competition.
Pittsburgh Penguins Elite has boys and girls team starting at age 8 through 19. All teams are Tier 1 AAA and tryouts are every spring. Players from across various states attempt to make the team. Brelyn currently plays with other girls from Ohio, Kentucky and Pennsylvania. The seasons start in August and run into early April. In order to have a full season, the rostered teams must travel out of state for competition. Multiple times throughout each month, the girls and their families travel to Canada, Boston, Detroit, New York, and Philadelphia to name a few destinations.
Brelyn has just completed her second year at Pens Elite finishing her season with the 14u girls’ team.
As you can read, this is a very competitive sport, and your skill level must be elite to be a part of these teams.
In order to make these teams and to remain on them, players must be committed to working to get better and must be willing to work. Brelyn puts in countless hours practicing with her team during on ice and off ice gym sessions and puts in extra work as she has also participated in the after-school Excel Academy at Pens Elite. She has two goalie coaches she works with year-round: two-time Olympic silver medalist, Brianne McLaughlin Bittle and former NHL and Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender J.S. Aubin.
To be really good in any sport, the work and training has to continue outside the season. This offseason, Brelyn will attend a Premier Ice Prospects goalie camp in Rochester, NY and the Ohio Hockey Project NCAA goalie camp.
If they’re involved in athletics, most 7th grade girls are playing either soccer, basketball or volleyball.
So, where did Brelyn’s interest in hockey come from?
Well, Brelyn grew up playing hockey in the basement with her dad. He helped her become familiar with the game, and also helped her transition from Dek hockey to ice hockey. Her mother, Kalyn tells HSN, “We are not sure what drew her to the goalie position, one day she said ‘I want to play goalie. Mom, tell dad to let me play goalie’ and here we are!”
Previously, I mentioned that Brelyn and her Pens Elite team are competing in a national tournament in Florida.
The top 16 teams from across the nation qualify for USA Hockey’s National Tournament. The girls’ tournament is divided into 14u, 16u and 19u.
The first step in qualifying is to win your district. This year, Pens Elite 14u girls’ team had USA Hockey District Finals in Columbus, Ohio and defeated the Cleveland Lady Barons and Columbus Blue Jackets. This placed the team on the path to the National Tournament.
The USA Hockey National Tournament is hosted in Wesley Chapel, Florida. and the 14u Pens Elite girls’ team was ranked 8th coming into the tournament. After pool play, Brelyn and her team qualified for the quarterfinals and lost in the first round to a Minnesota team, which was ranked 2nd in the country.
Aside from hockey, Brelyn was recently inducted into the National Junior Honor Society and holds a GPA of 3.8. She also has a passion for history and living history events. She volunteers at the Hopewell Community Park and hopes to organize and facilitate a living history event in the near future.
Congratulations Brelyn on all your early success and accomplishments. She’s another example of having a dream and working hard to accomplish it!
