July 2021

ROCKY RIVER, Ohio - The Rocky River Recreation Department has announced the hiring of Daniel Conway as the Recreation Program Coordinator.

In this role, Conway will assist in overseeing all aspects of the skating program, youth hockey and summer day camp. Specifically, he will be responsible for managing the youth hockey’s ice schedule and reservations.  His primary focus will be coordinating and implementing strategies and initiatives to continue building comprehensive programs for the Recreation Department and City of Rocky River.

Conway comes to Rocky River after spending six years programming the Intramural and Club Sports Programs at Case Western Reserve University. As a certified USA Hockey Level 4 Official, the Dayton, OH native has represented the MidAm District in numerous tournaments including the 2019 14U Tier II National Tournament, where he was selected to skate the 2A Championship, and the 2020 16U & 18U Tier I National Tournament (which was cancelled).

"Being able to combine my recreation background with my passion for hockey makes me beyond excited to serve this community. I know this program has a long-standing history of excellence, and I am excited to see it into the future," Conway said.

Conway received his bachelor's degree in Geography and Planning from the University of Toledo in 2013 and his master's degree in Recreation Administration in 2015.

July 2021  

ROCKY RIVER, Ohio - The Rocky River Recreation Department has announced the hiring of Greg Soltes as the department’s new Hockey Director.

In his role, Greg will manage the program’s process for player placement, enhance player development, and enrich the coaching curriculum. While being involved in the long term planning and development of the program, Soltes will serve as liaison to the Cleveland Suburban Hockey League and USA Hockey.

“We are thrilled to bring Greg in as our Hockey Director,” said new Recreation Program Coordinator Daniel Conway. “He has an extensive, and well-rounded hockey background. With a lot of new ideas for players, coaches and parents, we are excited to see things grow for the future.”

A native and alum of the youth hockey program, the certified USA Hockey Level 4 coach brings his experience back to Rocky River. He also has current involvement with the Cleveland Barons, Cleveland Athletic Academy and the Ohio Hockey Project. Soltes had previous involvement as a scout for the Brookings Blizzard (NAHL), Rocky River 8U Head Coach, and instructor with the Turcotte Stickhandling Camp.

"I am excited to give back to the program that gave me my start as both a player and as a coach. The Rocky River youth program has a great foundation for success and one of the best learn to play programs in the Cleveland area,” said Soltes. “My goal is to help build better young people and hockey players by enhancing long term player development while ensuring that all of the kids have a fun and positive experience in our program. The Cleveland Suburban Hockey League is an important piece to the hockey landscape in Cleveland and we hope that by strengthening the product at Rocky River we will be making a positive impact on Cleveland hockey overall."

As a player, Soltes progressed through the Rocky River Youth Hockey Organization to the Cleveland Barons. He spent his junior career on the east coast, playing for the Palm Beach Hawks (EJHL), Boston Junior Rangers (AJHL), and Laconia Leafs (AJHL) before playing NCAA DIII at Johnson & Wales University (ECAC).

Soltes received his bachelor's degree in Accounting from Johnson & Wales University (Providence, RI) in 2016.

The City of Rocky River has supported youth hockey from its inception and will continue to do so.  The Recreation Department has provided an opportunity for all young hockey players to participate and develop in the game of hockey. 

The Youth Hockey Program, sponsored by the Rocky River Recreation Department, shall give children the opportunity to participate in a competitive youth hockey program. 

The program shall emphasize the teaching of fundamental hockey skills, discipline, sportsmanship and a commitment to develop each player to his or her maximum level of ability. 

Rocky River Youth Hockey is a member of Cleveland Suburban Hockey League (CSHL) which governs all Cleveland youth hockey programs. 

The Rocky River Youth Hockey program prides itself and strives to place all registered players who participated the previous season on a team to play competitively in the Cleveland Suburban Hockey League (CSHL). 

In a survey to the programs in the CSHL, more than 80% of the participating programs are private clubs or independent organizations.  Most of these programs host an open registration and tryout format, forming teams of the strongest, most skilled players that tryout to participate in the CSHL.  Those players not placed on teams after tryouts are often left looking for a team to play on in September. 

In order for the Rocky River Youth Hockey program to remain competitive with the teams described above it must also choose from its registered players the most skilled to play together.  Often times a group of players will remain together on the same team for several seasons because of the nature of the sport (similar to travel soccer teams) only adding and deleting players because of age, number of players on a team or the change in a players ability.