Alex Groth '24 Recruiting Profile

[Currently a freshman at Sacramento State University majoring in chemistry and nuclear science.   Im the official goalie coach of the Capital Thunder 14U A and B teams.  Im so honored and blessed to have played hockey for the Thunder for many years.  I love donating my time as a goalie coach and giving back to the organization.  - Alex]

____________________

Hello,

My name is Alex Groth.  I'm a senior at Placer High School in Auburn, CA.  

I'm the starting goalie for the 23-24 Capital Thunder High School/18U team; NorCal division - San Jose Jr Sharks Varsity league.  These teams are made up of A, AA, and AAA players from northern California.  My style of play is similar to Jusse Saros of the Nashville Predators; aggressive, high hockey IQ and skilled at depth control.

I was selected as the starting goalie for the All-Star game (March 2023).  This was a great honor and experience.  I was one of four goalies chosen out of over 35 in the league.  

I am a volunteer coach for the 14U travel team and the "in-house" 18U teams.  I assist with the goalie and defense drills during practices.  I do this 3 hours per week.  I also volunteer as an umpire at my local Little League (where I played until I was 12), umpiring spring and fall ball.  This is a great honor to give back to the league and field that I grew up playing on.

This is what you get with me:  I'm very coachable, driven, smart, likeable, athletic and technical.  I spend a lot of time on the ice honing my skills; and off the ice studying goalie techniques.  I'm one of the top goalies in NorCal.  I expect to improve even more in the the 23-24 season and am looking to play for an 18U AAA team or Juniors team next year.

A little about me:

Prior to playing hockey, I played baseball, soccer and basketball.  In the summer of 2020 (during Covid) I told my parents that I wanted to play hockey goalie.  My dad said that was "ok" but that I needed to learn to skate!  I had some skating lessons when I was 5 or 6 years old but hadn't skated for the past 10 years.  So I enrolled in learn-to-play-hockey classes and quickly advanced through them.  In December 2020 my parents bought me goalie equipment and I joined the "In House" high school hockey team.  After 6 months, I tried out for the Capital Thunder 16UA travel team and made it as the number 2 goalie.  I played on both teams for the 21-22 season.

I played on the 16UA Capital Thunder 2022 spring season team.  This was designed to be a conditioning  program (March through the end of May) which kept the momentum of the season going.  It allowed me to work on new skills and improve existing ones.

In the summer of 2022, I attended 2 goalie clinics.  One was 5 days (about 40 hrs) and the 4 days (about 30 hrs).  You can find more details on those under my "Events" tab.  I learned an incredible amount of physical and mental techniques that I carried forward to the next season.

I just finished playing in the 18U AA 2023 spring season.  We played in a 18U AA tournament in Salt Lake City in May 2023, and took 2nd place.

My short-term goal is to have a winning season this year and improve upon my skills every practice and every game.  And my long-term goals are to play in college, get a degree and eventually play in the NHL.

I would be honored if you reached out to me. 

Thank you,

Alex