Bishop England-Porter-Gaud-Hanahan United High School Hockey wins state championship

As a parent of two Hanahan student-athletes, Scott Brown knows all about the intense athletic rivalry between Hanahan and Bishop England. He, and anyone else who follows local high school sports in the Lowcountry, also knows just how intense the Bishop England-Porter-Gaud rivalry can be.

But funny things can happen when you unite the three schools in an athletic endeavor. That’s the case in ice hockey. The Bishop England-Porter-Gaud-Hanahan United High School Hockey team recently won the South Carolina Scholastic Hockey Association’s state championship to cap a 17-0 season.

But there’s more. The team is headed to Reston, Va. to compete in the national tournament, which commences March 16.

“Everyone gets along,” Brown said. “There is no rivalry when it comes to hockey. It’s been a good experience. My kids can wear their BE hockey sweatshirts to school and they don’t get any grief.”

The coach of the team is Tom Reid, a former South Carolina Stingrays player who didn’t call it a career until he turned 32.

“I played on three championship teams and it’s something you never forget,” Reid said. “This is a once-in-a-lifetime experience and there are no guarantees that you’ll ever get back to the finals again,” he said. Ice

Hockey is not sanctioned by the High School League because not enough schools have programs. The SCSHA has eight teams under its umbrella, down two teams from recent years.

There are five teams from the Lowcountry that compete in the organization. Fort Dorchester, Wando and Stratford all have pure teams, meaning that all the players attend their respective schools.

Summerville and Ashley Ridge combine for a team as do Bishop England, Porter-Gaud and Hanahan.

The troika includes five players from BE, six from Hanahan, two from Porter-Gaud and one from James Island Charter.

The team practices and plays together, and the sport is not cheap. There’s equipment, uniforms and ice time. The team pays $295 an hour for ice time and the total cost to be on the ice can top $10,000 a season.

Throw in travel, meals and hotel rooms for the tournament and that completes the cost analysis.

Brown, the parent of the Hanahan players James and Parker Brown, plans to be in Reston.

“It’s going to be interesting,” he said. “The competition will be intense. I just hope we go out there, have fun and do well.”

Reid’s assistants are Chris Stewart and Mark Shew.

“We’re excited,” Reid said. “We get to be the underdogs. No one expects much from a team from this area. That takes the pressure off us. If we do what we’re capable of, we can shock a few teams.”

Members of the team Brendan Green, James Brown, Jack Gardner, Parker Brown, Tyler Morin, Zach Weeks, Caleb Mangan, Andrew Jones, Jacques Horsman, Nicholas Schoepfel, Beaumont Dixon, Fulton Williams, Ian Young and Noah Gregory.