Boxers eye chance to fight on Battleship Massachusetts in August
Aaron Bernardo talks about the road to the Battleship Massachusetts along with additional boxing bouts this coming July in Fall River
As kids, Drake Manning Almeida and Evan Barbosa grew to love the sport of hockey.
In the summer months without ice, they honed their skills by playing street hockey. Little did the pair know they were about to make history.
Almeida and Barboza recently returned home after leading the U18 United States national ball hockey team to a silver medal during the 2024 ISBHF Ball Hockey World Junior Championships in Zilina, Slovakia. The team was one of three teams ever in the USA organization to make it that far.
“One of our goals was to win gold,” Almeida said. “Last year, we did not even get a medal because we came in fourth. But this year we won silver. I’m happy with it.”
With wins against Switzerland, Slovakia, Czech Republic, England and Canada, the United States 18U team had a perfect record of 5-0, heading into the finals against Canada. But Canada avenged the loss with a 5-1 victory in the championship game.
“We came up short and it was less than what we expected,” Barbosa said. “But it was a great feeling to even make it that far.”
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Head coach Eddie Costa created the Southcoast Ball Hockey Association six years ago. It was orginially a travel team called the Spindle City Warriors. Costa saved up money and bought a surface with a rink to play in Swansea. He said the journey to the finals began a season ago.
“There has been a lot of hard work over the year,” the 37-year old Fall River native said. “We worked out together for a year and had camps different parts of the country including Philadelphia, Pittsburg and Tiverton. (Silver) is better than nothing, I guess. We had big aspiration.”
The team makeup is from different parts of the Northeast. Most of the 20-man roster stems from New Jersey, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Chicago and Buffalo. Costa even scouted players from Texas, North Carolina and Florida.
“The best players in the country comes from the Northeast,” said Costa, who coaches with assistant coach Tony Carreiro, also from Fall River. “The experience was a great time.”
Local stars shine bright
Almeida, a Somerset native, led the United States team in scoring with nine points in six games. He was named the tournament’s best forward. Barbosa, who is a Swansea native, plays strickly defense for…
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