Michigan Flyers Hockey

One week until our season begins! 🥅🏒

Go Christina!!

Hockey Friends and Families,

Summer is coming to an end but that means hockey season begins! Michigan Flyers first skate will be on Saturday, September 7th in the Gardens Arena at the St. Clair Shores Ice Arena from 3:00-4:30. Schedule for the year has not yet been completed. Will email and put up on website as soon as I receive it.

No one will be allowed on the ice unless the following items are presented:

Player Application Form with payment of either $200 or $400
Code of Conduct
Liability Waiver
Volunteer Application (when needed)

You must also register with ASHA and turn that form in along with the others.

All forms can be found on our website and can be turned in to Steve Reinheimer on September 7th.

We can’t wait for this season to begin

Congrats to our own Christina who will be heading to world games in Italy!!

4 of our athletes competed in a golf competition today!

Congrats to Emily and Dylan who took home gold and Michael and Anthony who took home silver!🥇🥈

Excited for the start to our 2025 hockey season. We still have a few weeks left , so keep watching for updates.

If you know anyone who might be interested in joining our team, please send us a message.

Happy Father’s Day to all our hockey dads, but most importantly the man who started it all! Coach Frank Taylor

A lesson of fatherhood: My son can't play hockey? Yeah right. Watch him. Frank Taylor has three sons, two who were playing hockey and one not allowed because of Down syndrome. That was until Frank did something about it.

A few of our athletes at the Special Olympics Summer Games.

On the left we have Michael and Trevor who competed in Bocce!

On the right we have Emily and Mike who competed in bowling!

Congrats to all of our athletes who competed in various sports 😊

Did you compete or know someone who competed this weekend? Drop your photos in the comments 👍🏽

From all of us Happy Memorial Day

In 2 weeks some of our hockey players will be competing in various sports at the 50th Special Olympics Summer Games. We can’t wait to see how you all do

IT'S ALMOST HERE 📣 We're just two weeks away from the Special Olympics Michigan 2024 State Summer Games presented by SpartanNash! This year, we are so excited to welcome all of our athletes, coaches, and volunteers for the 50th year of in-person competition on the campus of Central Michigan University! 🎉🏅 Who's FIRED UP to see some great competitions and CELEBRATE?

We're still looking for some additional volunteers, especially for Saturday, June 1. We would love to have YOU be part of this amazing event! 🌟

SIGN UP HERE: https://somich.vsysweb.com/pages/tool/live.webapp:RNQ6WUB6JUWIJO68

Happy Mother’s Day too all the hockey moms out there ♥️🥅🏒

Don’t forget the BIG day this Saturday May 11th. If you’re signed up, check in starts at 8:00 am, but don’t wait for the last minute to check in.
Clinic starts at 9:00 am sharp!!!!!

Looking forward to seeing you there and another great clinic for our team! 🥅🏒

As we approach the end of Autism Awareness month, we hope every day of the year is the time to learn about people’s different abilities. Acceptance and inclusion are needed in our world. If you know anyone with any form of special needs, we are sure you’ve learned some great life lessons.
Please read this great article from one of our hockey moms Debbie describing her son Jon.
Thanks Debbie and Jon.

Autism Awareness Month: Jonathan’s Story A Michigan mom shares the story of her family’s journey with autism and how she wants more understanding for people like her son.

Some of our athletes participated in Woodside Bible Church’s Shine On! Prom. They always have a good time getting dressed up and dancing the day away.

So proud of Frank for all he’s done and even more proud to call the Flyers our “ hockey family!” ❤️🥅🏒

Here is a little story about how our team started and the man behind it all, Coach Frank. He is the originator and head coach, and our team is beyond grateful for him.

My passion for hockey developed at an early age growing up in Detroit. Once the weather permitted, I would take my skates, hockey stick and equipment to the local outdoor rink at the Hawthorn Recreational Center. There I would meet up with our players and we would play hockey most of the daylight hours. When my first son, Troy was born it was only natural that I would past this passion for hockey on to him. When Troy was 5 years old we put him on a mite hockey team that skated out of the Fraser Hockeyland Rink. I had a hard time just sitting in the stands and watching the team play. I wanted to be out on the ice helping with coaching the team. So I volunteered my services to help and thus started my hockey coaching career. Troy is now 48 years old, so I have been involved in coaching hockey 43 years. My second son ,Tom, started skating when he was 3 years old. I had run the Learn To Skate Program at Fraser for a few years and that is where he learned to skate. Tom then began playing organized hockey at 4 years old. Both Troy and Tom went on to play College Hockey and Troy even play a few years in Minor Pro Hockey in the Federal Hockey League. So it is fair to say we are a hockey family.

I have since coached at various levels starting at, House Hockey,Travel Hockey at the A, AA and AAA levels and now Special Hockey. However, I have to say that my most rewarding coaching experience has been with Special Hockey. My involvement in Special Hockey all started a few years after my third son Trevor was born. Trevor was born with Down Syndrome. When Trevor was very young he would always be at the hockey rinks with his brothers watching them play. My wife, Cheryl and I thought it would be great if Trevor could share in this experience so we started Trevor in a learn to skate program at the age of 5 years old. At the time, we had a Physical Therapist tell us that due to Trevor’s “low muscle tone” he would never be able to skate. Needless to say the Therapist was wrong. I also learned to Never Put Limits on anyone with a disability. They may learn slower than some but they will learn.

The Learn To Skate Program that Trevor enrolled in was for children with disabilities. Many of the participants in that program watched others at the rink play hockey, so Cheryl and I thought why shouldn’t Trevor and his friends with disabilities be able to participate in the great game of hockey. So when Trevor was 8 years old, the Michigan Flyers Special Hockey program was born. That was 28 year ago. I have been coaching the team since its birth and as I said before it has been my most rewarding experience in hockey. Watching the progress that these players have made is amazing, even though it might come slow in some cases. The pride they have for their team and their accomplishments in their game shows on their faces. When other people see what they can do on the ice they are amazed and the term “Disability” is erased in their minds.

In summary, in all my years involved with coaching hockey, the 28 years coaching Special Hockey is by far the most rewarding in my mind.

Coach Frank

Here is a little story about how our team started and the man behind it all, Coach Frank. He is the originator and head coach, and our team is beyond grateful for him.

My passion for hockey developed at an early age growing up in Detroit. Once the weather permitted, I would take my skates, hockey stick and equipment to the local outdoor rink at the Hawthorn Recreational Center. There I would meet up with our players and we would play hockey most of the daylight hours. When my first son, Troy was born it was only natural that I would past this passion for hockey on to him. When Troy was 5 years old we put him on a mite hockey team that skated out of the Fraser Hockeyland Rink. I had a hard time just sitting in the stands and watching the team play. I wanted to be out on the ice helping with coaching the team. So I volunteered my services to help and thus started my hockey coaching career. Troy is now 48 years old, so I have been involved in coaching hockey 43 years. My second son ,Tom, started skating when he was 3 years old. I had run the Learn To Skate Program at Fraser for a few years and that is where he learned to skate. Tom then began playing organized hockey at 4 years old. Both Troy and Tom went on to play College Hockey and Troy even play a few years in Minor Pro Hockey in the Federal Hockey League. So it is fair to say we are a hockey family.

I have since coached at various levels starting at, House Hockey,Travel Hockey at the A, AA and AAA levels and now Special Hockey. However, I have to say that my most rewarding coaching experience has been with Special Hockey. My involvement in Special Hockey all started a few years after my third son Trevor was born. Trevor was born with Down Syndrome. When Trevor was very young he would always be at the hockey rinks with his brothers watching them play. My wife, Cheryl and I thought it would be great if Trevor could share in this experience so we started Trevor in a learn to skate program at the age of 5 years old. At the time, we had a Physical Therapist tell us that due to Trevor’s “low muscle tone” he would never be able to skate. Needless to say the Therapist was wrong. I also learned to Never Put Limits on anyone with a disability. They may learn slower than some but they will learn.

The Learn To Skate Program that Trevor enrolled in was for children with disabilities. Many of the participants in that program watched others at the rink play hockey, so Cheryl and I thought why shouldn’t Trevor and his friends with disabilities be able to participate in the great game of hockey. So when Trevor was 8 years old, the Michigan Flyers Special Hockey program was born. That was 28 year ago. I have been coaching the team since its birth and as I said before it has been my most rewarding experience in hockey. Watching the progress that these players have made is amazing, even though it might come slow in some cases. The pride they have for their team and their accomplishments in their game shows on their faces. When other people see what they can do on the ice they are amazed and the term “Disability” is erased in their minds.

In summary, in all my years involved with coaching hockey, the 28 years coaching Special Hockey is by far the most rewarding in my mind.

Coach Frank

The SOMI crew (Alexandra, Jeremiah, Christina, & Max) attending Special Olympics USA Team Trials had a great first day of training in Salt Lake City. They're back at it again today!

Our girl Christina!!!

One of our very own, Christina(purple jacket), is off to Utah to prepare for the World Games in skiing. This is a rare opportunity for Special Olympics athletes. World Games are in Italy in 2025!

Good luck with your training Christina ♥️

Next up for our Michigan Flyers team is the Michigan Special Hockey Clinic offered to us from Blue Line Hockey Development. All our athletes are looking forward to this great event.

A lot of our hockey players also participate in Special Olympics. Can’t wait to hear how they do at summer games 😊

April is Autism Awareness month. Click below to increase some of your awareness but remember there is always more to learn.

We have members of our team on the spectrum. If you know of anyone on the spectrum wanting to play hockey , please let us know.

We accept all ages and experience levels. If you’re a brand new skater we can set you up with a program to build your skating skills as well!

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) | Autism Speaks What is autism? Learn about autism spectrum disorder (ASD), the autism definition, a brief overview of co-occurring conditions and access helpful resources.

Thanks Stahls for giving us a great game and bringing special surprises too! Dave Coulier Stahls'- All Things Heat Printing.

STAHLS' vs FLYERS GAME 2024 STAHLS' Hockey Team played the special needs FLYERS hockey team to raise awareness about the cause.

Michigan Flyers Hockey thanks everyone for their support! The winning numbers in our raffle were:

First prize - 274,
Second prize - 420
Third prize - 767

Your donations are greatly appreciated and will be used to offset travel costs for our national tournament in St. Louis. Thanks again!