Alan Keeso Named CEO as TPH Looks to Next 20 Years
(Nashville, TN – December 15, 2021) – TPH is excited to announce Alan Keeso as its new Chief Executive Officer, effective January 1, 2022. Having served as Strategic Advisor to TPH over the past 5 years, Keeso brings in-depth knowledge of TPH and its Center of Excellence (CoE) academy model, its team members, and culture.
“We’re so excited to have Al lead our team going into our next 20 years at TPH,” said TPH founder Nathan Bowen, who will move out of the CEO role and into the Chairman role, remaining heavily active in TPH. “Having celebrated TPH turning 20 years old this year, we are absolutely pumped about what’s to come as we strive to lead the world in positively impacting the lives of student-athletes. Al is the leader to help us scale that impact.”
In addition to consulting for TPH in recent years, Keeso has helped dozens of small and medium-sized businesses grow for over a decade as a management consultant, independently, as well as through Grant Thornton and BDC. When asked early in 2021 by Bowen and his Investing Partner Taso Sofikitis to work more closely with TPH, Keeso decided to make the move with his family to Nashville.
“TPH to its core is a purpose-driven organization, with an outstanding team of committed professionals,” said Keeso. “It’s an honor to have this kind of confidence from Nathan and Taso to take TPH to new heights, and the responsibility that comes with the CEO role to the TPH team and our student-athletes is something I take very seriously. We’re a team that’s poised for growth through our Center of Excellence Study/Train/Play academy model, association management, camps and clinics, The Prospect Exchange, prospects teams, and events, now featuring Champions League Hockey in partnership with World Hockey Group. All of these efforts and their growth will enable us to positively impact the lives of a greater number of student-athletes, not only at our current locations, but also at many new locations to come. The future is bright at TPH.”
Keeso’s own journey as a student-athlete, and ensuing career, lend perspective to what Bowen believes will continue to differentiate TPH to prospective partners as well as families weighing the incredibly important decision on where to have their children develop as students, athletes, and people.
“Al has not only been an aspiring elite student-athlete, who reached levels in hockey that many TPH student-athletes are working towards daily, but he also exemplifies to our families what the bigger picture can be when lessons learned from sports are applied beyond the game,” said Bowen. “That’s what TPH is all about, and that’s what we feel differentiates us; we prepare our student-athletes not only for the next level in their sport, but also mentor them on habits that will help them experience wild success on the ultimate journey – life. With Al’s leadership, that differentiator will only get stronger. He has lived the ups and downs the game can throw at you and is an incredible role model for young aspiring student-athletes, because he never quit and he has used those tough times as motivation and lessons learned to prepare for the next challenge in life and hit it head on in pursuit of the next success.”
In addition to a successful business career, Keeso has earned two master’s degrees – an MBA and an MSc in Biodiversity, Conservation and Management – from the University of Oxford. At Oxford, he also published a working paper, took to the TEDx stage, and was goaltender for the university’s historic ice hockey team, becoming the only men’s player in the club’s history to have earned an Extraordinary Full Blue, the highest honor in sports at Oxford. Keeso also served as an infantry officer in the armed forces reserves and ran in a federal election.
A native of Listowel, Ontario, Keeso played hockey in his hometown before joining the Huron-Perth Lakers AAA organization and continuing on to Jr hockey with the Listowel Cyclones, Strathroy Rockets, and Sarnia Blast of the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League (GOHL). He then went to Boston to study at Wentworth Institute of Technology, where he was a goaltender for the varsity NCAA Division III hockey team and graduated with a BSc in Technology Management with honors.
“Having grown up in the game of hockey, I understand the opportunities for growth that youth sports provide for young people, on and off the ice, field, and court,” said Keeso. “Team members at TPH are deeply committed to the holistic development of student-athletes, knowing that the skills and habits learned extend well beyond the game to many other arenas of life. As a result of Nathan’s leadership and an all-star team of people, we have a great foundation in place as we head into ‘The Next 20’ at TPH.”
If you are interested in learning more about our #StudyTrainPlay model at the TPH Center of Excellence, Alan and other key members of our team will be participating in a Nationwide Virtual Open House on January 10th at 8:00 PM EST. Register for free here!
TPH Adidas Apparel Store Open Through November 1st
Chris Lipsett
In addition to four years of college hockey and 16 professional hockey seasons, Lipsett has been coaching the sport for over 20 years at every level from youth to professional. Lipsett heads up the Central division where he also serves as director and coach within the Tri-State Spartans organization. Lipsetts resides in Lexington, KY with his wife and children.
One Team… We still got this!
Dear TPH Student-Athletes, Coaches, Volunteers and Parents,
All of us are itching to get back on the ice, in the performance training rooms and back to the game we all love. At TPH we have been spending a lot of time planning for this; what it will look like depending on what state, city and county we are in and how we best ensure it’s as safe as possible for you and our team members. We have been so fortunate to have strong relationships with all of the facilities we work with. We are consistently in touch with them and understanding what their protocol is or will be when they open up. We will adhere to all policy and protocol in each facility. We are so thankful for all the work that they are putting into this preparation, training staff and implementing a new normal for all of us to come back to the rink safely.
We are grateful to the Nashville Predators organization and the entire coaching staff led by John Hynes, Dan Lambert, Dan Muse, Ben Vanderklok, Lawrence Feloney and David Good who spent time with our coaches, sharing insight and providing some continuing education over the course of a few weeks to the group. Our coaches have been using this time to learn, improve and get ready for the upcoming training opportunities, along with how we can maximize training and development this summer and in our TPH Center of Excellence to support the student-athletes if we have a delay in full training and games.
TPH Colorado Director of Hockey Operations Jordan Pietrus created “Shield Our Communities” along with TPH team members and student-athletes raised over $10,000, thanks to a generous match from our partner Maynard’s Industries, to provide face masks for local healthcare providers in Atlanta, Denver, Detroit, Grand Rapids, Huntsville, Indianapolis and Nashville. Mentoring and messaging to our student-athletes that when times get tough, we get tougher and we help those who need help and take care of others. This is deep in the fabric and culture of our game, and is part of what makes hockey so special.
Special thank you to our COO Francis Anzalone and Frank Anzalone, along with the rest of our TPH Team members who quickly built out the TPH Virtual Hockey Development platform so players at our CoEs and across the country could continue to train and put the necessary work in at home. We are now prepared for any future potential closures or pauses that may come up when school starts back this fall, to ensure our student-athletes can continue their development and be mentored at home.
We have seen an increase in parent participation at home and support on academics and virtual training which is great. Thank you for your patience, many of you have sent in emails of encouragement and support for coaches, academic leaders and we really appreciate your positive notes.
We have experienced some unique support from many friends in the NHL. Several positive role models have taken time via Zoom calls with our CoE student-athletes including Quinn and Jack Hughes, Brady Tkachuk, Josh Norris, Aaron Volpatti, Scott Laughton, Brandon Naurato, Angelo Ricci, Eric Lacroix, Colton Parayko and Torey Krug. We are so grateful for their time and what an amazing opportunity for our aspiring elite student-athletes to learn from each of them.
Finally, a HUGE thank you to our Academic Directors and additional education team members who never missed a beat supporting and holding the student-athletes accountable over the past 2 months. Just over 70% of TPH Student-Athletes will have all A’s and B’s, as the Edmentum platform allowed them to quickly transition from the classroom to home without interruption. Although our physical CoE locations have been closed, our academic progress, mentorship and off ice training never missed a beat. Our 5th grade class in Nashville finished up two weeks early and graduated into middle school and we have seen a number of students finish their studies for the semester 2-6 weeks early. We are so grateful for the incredible support from EdOptions Academy, Michigan International Prep School, Brighton Area Schools, GlobalEd, Mount Vernon, Athens Renaissance School, McNairy County Schools and especially our academic partner Edmentum who have provided the platform and support team to keep our student-athletes on track and able to successfully complete the semester and school year during this crisis with no interruption. Lastly, we want to congratulate the TPH CoE senior class of 2020 as we celebrate the graduation of 41 student-athletes across all 7 CoEs as they take their next step in their academic and hockey marathon!
We still have a long road ahead of us, but it is key we focus on the positives, celebrate the wins, even when they are not back up on the scoreboard yet. It’s been awesome to see so many people, programs, teams and players from all across the country step up in their own way to contribute to staying positive, the hockey community is ONE team and we still got this!
Enjoy your memorial day weekend, please take a moment to remember all our service men and women who gave their lives while serving and please thank those that have served and are currently protecting our freedom.
Take care,
Nathan Bowen
Chief Executive Officer
Total Package Hockey, LLC
Tri-State Spartans Join the NAPHL for the 2020-2021 Season
Shield Our Communities goes into Overtime
We are excited to say that we are over a quarter of the way to our Shield Our Communities goal. With the support of our many donations as well as the match from Maynards we have a current total of $2,643.
Our lofty goal of $10,000 dollars would supply 1,500 face shields, provided by Sparx, to front line workers in our local communities and we are not there yet. There is still time to donate. We recognize the importance of distributing these shield in a timely manner and we will be closing donations on Friday May 15th at 11:59 p.m. EST.
Help us send shields, distributed evenly, to the following local organizations:
- Atlanta | Emory University Department of Public Safety
- Colorado | Elizabeth Fire Station 271
- Detroit | Dearborn Heights Police Department
- Grand Rapids | Emergency Care Specialists and Life EMS
- Huntsville | Huntsville Hospital System
- Indianapolis | Eskenzie Health of Indianapolis
- Nashville | Metro Nashville Office of Emergency Management
TPH Training App Now Available
Total Package Hockey is proud to announce the release of the TPH Training app powered by MaxOne. The TPH Training app will offer free access to our Virtual Hockey Development content through May 31st. This app will support all your training needs on-demand. We are excited to provide a better training experience for our student-athletes, families, and hockey players.
The TPH Training app will house all of our growing Virtual Hockey Development content on-demand which consists libraries that house all our Skill Development, Strength & Conditioning, and Education Materials. Assigned workouts will be available for student-athletes log their workout. The app includes a leader board which allows Student-athletes to compete with others across the nation!
The TPH Training app is now available for download in the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.
After downloading, create a profile using the code “tphathlete” to start. Parents of registered athletes will receive an email which will provide access to connect to their student-athlete’s account. Parents will be able to download the app and connect to their student-athlete’s account to see the workouts and progress. No more logging into Facebook!
TPH wants to help our student-athletes develop and grow on the ice, in the classroom, and the ultimate game… the game of life! The TPH Training app is now free through the end of May, with plans on launching a more in depth and exclusive paid experience. Stay tuned for those details, it’s not something you’re going to want to miss out on.
By The Numbers: 2020 USHL Draft
Every draft we always look back over the selections and break down the data. The goal is to understand who the teams and their scouts believe are ready for the next level. The data helps understand how to best prepare our TPH student-athletes. Below is some of the details from our staff’s analysis.
Birth Year Distribution
As you can see from the distribution, 141 (61.1%) of those selected were 2001 and 2002 birth years.
Association Level Distribution
Junior League Distribution
Youth League Distribution
This year, 76.5% of the draft pick were selected from a team associated in a league rather than an independent.