The Club Championships 2025: Who Will Rise, Who Will Fall?

PITTSBURGH, PA – Another year has come, and gone, and with the changing of the seasons begins the most exciting time of the year for ball hockey players, and fans; tournament season. One of the biggest tournaments of the year, and the third to take place this year in the Men’s circuit is the Club Championships taking place in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Club Championships are known for attracting some of the best talent across the United States, and even a team, or two from Canada. Ahead of this year’s tournament, I was able to speak with a few individuals both running, and playing in this year’s Club Championships.

The first person I spoke to regarding this year’s tournament was director of Hockey Operations at USA Ball Hockey, and Pittsburgh native Cory Herschk. I was able to talk Herschk about what makes the Club Championships so exciting to teams, and players coming into the beginning of the tournament season, and he told me “With a LIVE DJ, vendors on site, big crowds coming in to watch the games, youth hockey events, locker rooms for the teams to use, etc. On top of it, the games are fantastic! Games are expected to end close in score, and that is usually the case.” Herschk later added “The same USA based teams traditionally travel to Clubs like they do the other events on the calendar. Clubs always seem to attract a new comer or two. The Rose City Royals, Chicago Southsiders and a group of U18 National Team prospects will all compete in an event for the first time this tournament season. We will also see the best Canadian team and their 13-time National Champion, Brampton Midnight Express come down to take on teams from the states for the first time in a few years. When the event started in 2019, the goal was to create an atmosphere that gives players a taste of what it’s like to attend an ISBHF World Championship and all of these teams help to make it exciting for fans to watch. The legendary Montreal Redlite were the first Canadian team to travel across the border to put on a show when they did so our inaugural year.”

Being a Pittsburgh native, Herschk gets to see firsthand the impact that having one of the bigger tournaments of the year taking place in Pittsburgh teams such as the Gods, and how it helps them prepare for the rest of the summer. “It’s difficult to travel. Our Pittsburgh teams head to Jersey, Iowa, Eastern PA and Massachusetts throughout the year too. It always feels like you need a last minute pickup or addition made to your roster due to someone coming up ineligible to travel. It’s much easier and a relief when Clubs comes around for the local Pittsburgh teams to avoid those issues.”

Lastly, I was able to ask Herschk about who feels fans, and spectators should be watching throughout this weekend, and this year’s tournament season. When asked, Herschk told me “I encourage people to appreciate some of the incredible team matchups we have this weekend such Gods vs Midnight on Friday evening. All three games on Friday should be entertaining. Friday begins at 8 pm with Militia and Purple Power in a 2024 B Division Championship rematch. The last game at 10 pm features the Wargin brothers and Eddie Urban’s Chicago Southsiders taking on Rose City. Saturday we will see US Men’s National Team players compete all day long including the first event of the season for Nic Levesque and the Quad City Dekheads from Iowa who are worth the watch. Jonny Ruiz makes his debut back to ball hockey for the Garden State Warriors. Without the Leominster Americans able to attend, a lot of their talent is spread out on various teams such as the nations leading goalie, Andrew Carter, playing with the Penn Hills Arsenal, and everyone’s favorite ball hockey player, Brandon Garneau joining the defending champion and host, the Team Pittsburgh Gods. The Gods hope to put on a show even with their difficult schedule.”

The other person I spoke to ahead of this year’s clubs was Vinnie Tumminello of the Penn Hills Arsenal, the 2023 Club Championships winner; A team looking to reclaim their title at this year’s tournament. I was able to ask Tumminello about his previous Clubs win, and how this affects Arsenal’s approach to this year’s tournament. When asked, he said “I wouldn’t say that our mentality has changed, but being able to tie your belief in your team to an accomplishment you’ve earned is powerful. As a club, we have been in a ton of tough games throughout the years and expect to be in a bunch more this weekend, but we know we can win those types of games, just as we did in 2023.”

Tumminello has not only played in tournaments for the Arsenal, but has represented Team USA numerous times on the US Men’s National team, and anyone who’s played any sort of competitive sport on the international stage understands just how important preparation is when gearing up to play team’s from across the globe. I was able to ask Tumminello how hometown tournaments such as the Club Championships help prepare him for international tournaments, and he told me “The A circuit tournaments and leagues back home are crucial for gearing up to play internationally on several levels. Physically, these tournaments demand so much of players in terms of conditioning and mindset. I believe that the World Championships are as much of a mental grind as a physical one. Of course, the physical aspect is daunting and conditioning is imperative but you also need the right mindset and need to have a short memory, playing a huge game almost daily. Similar to the weekend tournament, you have to be able to push past adversity and stay the course.”

Also being a Pittsburgh native, Tumminello spoke about the Club Championships being his backyard tournament, and what makes this tournament different from some of the other ones on the tournament calendar. “Being biased as a Pittsburgh guy, Clubs is my favorite weekend of the year. The amount that this tournament has grown is a true testament to the hard work and dedication of the staff that runs the event. I think what makes this event so special is that the love of the sport is so noticeable in every aspect. From the youth events and live music, it is almost as much of a celebration of ball hockey and its community as it is a high-level tournament.”

Of course the goal for any team going into a tournament is to win it it all, but in order to do that each team, and individual players need to be able to accomplish smaller goals that help lead to the team’s success. When asked about what the team’s hoping to accomplish this weekend Tumminello told me “Personally, my goal is always to lead the team as best as I can and contribute in any capacity they need me to. As for the team, we are determined to get back to the level we were at not so long ago. We’ve gone through a bit of a rough patch, but we are as hungry as ever to get back to the top, and we have a great opportunity to do so this weekend.”

Lastly, I was able to ask Tumminello about who he’s excited to watch play this weekend, and he said “Oh man, this question is almost impossible to answer. The growth that this game has gone through since I started playing A league is incredible. There are multiple guys on every team that fans and aspiring should be watching closely. If I can talk about Clubs specifically, there are a few teams like Dekheads and Midnight that are not able to make the other A circuit events, so when they come to Clubs, it is also a blast to watch them and some of the players I am not as familiar with.”

The Club Championships start Friday, May 16th. All the stats, scores, highlights, and streams can be found at usaballhockey.com/club-championships, as well as on the @clubchampionships and @usaballhockey social media platforms. Home Team Live will be producing games with multiple camera angles, instant replays and more. We are testing out Sports Ninja as an online stat tracking platform as well this year. Both are new to the event.”