The Santa Clarita Lady Flyers weren’t just welcomed home to The Cube Wednesday evening, they were embraced.

As players arrived at the ice rink, families, teammates, coaches and community members were already waiting, filling the rink with cheers, hugs and plenty of tears. 

 

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Many people wore Flyers gear. Some held signs. All were there for one reason: to welcome home the team that had been through more than any youth hockey team ever should.

When it was time to take the ice, another powerful moment unfolded.

Members of the older girls’ SC Flyers hockey team lined up shoulder to shoulder with sticks raised high, creating a tunnel as the Lady Flyers skated underneath, greeted by thunderous cheers from the packed bleachers. Some players looked up in awe. Others fought back tears. All of them felt the love from the SCV community.

The homecoming came after a heartbreaking week in Colorado.

SC Lady Flyers homecoming (Sophia Lesseos KHTS)

On Jan. 29 the 12U AA SC Lady Flyers team was involved in a fatal multi-vehicle crash on Interstate 70 near the Herman Gulch exit in Clear Creek County. Authorities said a Sprinter van carrying 10 people collided with a Colorado Department of Transportation snowplow and two additional vehicles under snowy road conditions.

The driver of the Sprinter van, Manuel “Manny” Alejandro Lorenzana Villegas, was pronounced dead at the scene. Eight other occupants, five minors and three adults, were transported to area hospitals. One minor sustained critical injuries and was airlifted to a trauma center, while the remaining injured individuals were taken by ground ambulance. 

Lorenzana Villegas was a devoted hockey dad whose favorite place was at the rink watching his daughter play.

SC Lady Flyers homecoming (Sophia Lesseos KHTS)

Yet, in the midst of grief, something remarkable happened.

“It took the Lady Flyers about two hours to decide that they were going to continue and play their league final games,” Steffanie Stelnick – the wife of one of the coaches, Todd Stelnick – told the crowd. “This program is a year and a half old. These players are families. They are sisters.”

Short-handed, emotionally exhausted and hurting, the 12U team battled through the Western Girls Hockey League playoffs and ultimately won the championship in overtime.

At the same time, their “big sisters,” the 14U AA Lady Flyers, were competing at states, where they fought their way to a second-place finish and earned a berth to regionals. Both teams were honored Wednesday night.

“You are champions, not just because of what you achieved on the ice, but because of who you are, in the face of adversity,” said local Senator Suzette Martinez Valladares speaking to the hockey team. “I want you to hear this very clearly. It’s okay to feel proud and to feel heartbroken at the same time. It’s okay to celebrate and grieve. Both can exist together.”

Even from across the country, the support reached the girls.

SC Lady Flyers homecoming (Sophia Lesseos KHTS)

Congressman George Whitesides called the girls from Washington, D.C., to speak directly to the team in the locker room via speakerphone. 

“What stayed with me is how you responded,” Whitesides said. “You came together. You talked honestly with each other. You leaned on your teammates. Even while short on players, you chose to keep going and show up for each other.”

The evening included the Pledge of Allegiance led by team captains, followed by a moment of silence honoring Lorenzana Villegas and three Canadian youth hockey players who were recently killed in an unrelated crash.

Santa Clarita Mayor Laurene Weste told the girls they had shown strength beyond their years.

SC Lady Flyers homecoming (Sophia Lesseos KHTS)

“These young SC Lady Flyers have faced tragedy with perseverance and grit,” Weste said. “Your victory is not just the winning of a championship, but standing by each other, playing for one another through unimaginable hardship.”

Santa Clarita Flyers President Prescott Littlefield said support poured in from hockey families across the country and from right here in Santa Clarita.

“I have never been so proud to be part of the hockey community and part of this SC Flyers family,” Littlefield said.

12U head coach Todd Stelnick said the championship was always a goal, but the real story was the team’s bond.

“Winning the championship was just a bonus,” he said. “These girls love hockey. They love their teammates. They love being together.”

As the ceremony wrapped up, players received pins, certificates, hugs and endless high-fives. Parents embraced one another. Teammates laughed, cried and leaned into each other.

Stelnick also remembered Manny as a father who showed up.

“No matter where life took him, his favorite place was always watching his daughter on the ice,” he said.

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