July 9th UAHA held the Annual Awards Dinner for 2012. The intent of the meeting is to reflect on the accomplishments of hockey in Utah for the past year and recognize some of the volunteers that work so hard to improve youth hockey in Utah. Festivities took place in the Centennial Room in the Maverick Center. It was a pleasant evening with representatives from many of the various hockey organizations in attendance.

Notably, Geoff Fisher recently resigned as President of UAHA after 5 years of service. He was commended for a having a fair and even handed style of leadership as well as successfully improving Utah’s clout and perception amongst the National USA Hockey leadership. Under Geoff’s leadership, USA hockey membership in Utah has grown every year. UAHA Vice President Fred Wilner was elected to be Geoff ‘s successor. Fred is optimistic about the direction of youth hockey in Utah and challenged his fellow board members to be ready to “work hard” going forward.

Here is the list of awards:

• ·      Unsung Hero – Geoff Fisher
• ·      Art Teece Builder Award – Dave Soutter
• ·      Thayne Acord New Leader Award - Shannon Schmidt
• ·      Andy Deiss Coach of the Year Award – Todd Brown (Judge HS)
• ·      Don Korth Volunteer of the Year Award – Jeff Graham

Recognition and a mention was given to the State Champion Teams as well as the Utah's Thunder Women's C National Champions.