Meet the Team
- Staff Bios
- Neil Ruffini
- Kristen Adamczyk
- Kirsten Triska
- Lauren Spatenka
- Kona the FluffMonster
- Ambassadors
- Alexis Poppleton
- Testimonials
Staff Bios
Warehouse Athletes
I wanted to create an organization and following that players young and old can identify with. Hockey is a very small world once you get involved and is a great way to teach youth players life lessons like hard work, trust, leadership and what it means to be part of a team. These are all characteristics of successful people in every facet of life. This is my way of reinforcing these fundamental values through sport specific training.
Neil Ruffini
Coach Neil played Tier 1 AAA hockey for Detroit Little Caesars, Detroit Compuware and Detroit HoneyBaked. As a teenager he was drafted by the Sault Saint Marie Greyhounds Major Junior Ontario Hockey League in the 2004 draft. After that attended Proctor Academy in the New England Prep Hockey Association and competed in the Finals and Semi Finals in each of those years. Upon graduating from Proctor, had the opportunity to play four years of Division I hockey at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, graduating 2011. In his junior year he tallied a team high 9 goals and helped UAH to qualify for the NCAA Division 1 Regional tournament.
Coaching Credentials
Coaching Career:
Neil Ruffini coached the squirt AA Atlanta Fire for two seasons before moving to Denver. Since moving to Denver, Ruffini was the head coach for an Arapahoe Warriors U8 beginner, Arapahoe Warriors Squirt A team, Arapahoe Warriors Peewee AA over the course of two seasons. Last season was the head coach for the Cherry Creek JV hockey team and coached them to an overall record of 25-10-4 through the fall and winter seasons. As well as coaching for Cherry Creek Neil was an assistant coach for girls organization Team Colorado U16 Tier 1 AAA Team.
For the 2020-21 Season Coach Neil will continue be on the Coaching staff of Cherry Creek JV & Team Colorado U16 Tier 1 AAA teams.
Kristen Adamczyk
Kristen Adamczyk is a figure skating coach at South Suburban Ice Arena and the Family Sports Center.
Kristen’s skating career took her around the country to train with some of the best coaches in the world. Barbara Kossowska, Zdzislaw Pienkowski, Paula Wagner and Debbie Storey. In 1996 when Kristen and her family moved to Colorado Springs to train at the Broadmoor World Arena, that her skating career took off. Under the training of Kathy Casey and Janet Champion, Kristen represented the Broadmoor Skating Club and became a Regional and Sectional Champion, National Competitor, International Medalist, and Novice and Junior Team USA Member.
Kirsten Triska
Kirsten Triska is an ISSA certified personal trainer. As a youth soccer player she played for Real Colorado’s National team in the ECNL division. She played soccer since she was 8 playing on recreational teams before going competitive at age 11. Kirsten earned a degree in Exercise Health Science. Coach Kirsten will be handling the group Off-Ice sessions along with the strength & conditioning virtual training programs offered through Warehouse Athletes.
Lauren Spatenka
A native of Owatonna, MN, Lauren Spatenka played at the high school and AAA levels in Minnesota. She graduated from Crown College in St. Bonifacius, MN (2017) and received her MA in Sport and Performance Psychology from the University of Denver in 2019, serving as the Vice President of Operations for the Center for Performance Excellence, working with athletes in hockey, gymnastics, basketball, soccer, and ballet. Upon graduating, Lauren started Aspen Mental Performance and specializes in working with teams and individual hockey and figure skating athletes to help them reach their full potential in sport and life. She is entering her third year working with the Varsity and JV teams at Cherry Creek Hockey and her first year working with Team Colorado AAA. (aspenmentalperformance@gmail.com)
Kona
Rescued the day before quarantine by Coach Neil & Coach Kirsten! I live with them until i get my own place that has a big back yard with a river running through it and plenty of birds & rabbits to chase.
I love napping in my favorite places all over the house and going on long walks. Meeting new people is my favorite thing to do because everyone pets me and tells me i'm cute.
Testimonials
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Being new to the game of hockey it is easy to get overwhelmed with all the wrong information and techniques that don’t help you get better. Since I started working with Neil not only have I got better but both of my sons and my wife have improved from his lessons. No one else gives you what you will receive when you train with Warehouse Athletes. The information that Neil provides is top notch and it works. From 6 years old to 36 all of us in our house are very happy with the results we are experiencing from Neil’s coaching. I not only am happy with what I have already learned but am excited to see what the future lessons will teach all of us. We will be long time students of Coach Neil and Warehouse Athletes.
- Jeremy
Working with Coach Neil and Warehouse Athletes has been such a positive and transformative experience for our son as a hockey player! In just a few short sessions, you could see the tangible results as his skills and confidence on the ice grew. Coach Neil has a gift for working with young players and getting the best out of them through personalized lessons unique to each player. His calm and patient style helped to build a connection that was obvious during each session. Our son looks forward to each practice with Coach Neil!
-Matt (happy hockey parent)
In the few months we've been working with Coach Neil, I've seen Finley progress more than I thought possible in such a short period of time. Neil is fun, engaging, and great with kids. He knows how to motivate Finley to work his hardest, but always makes sure he comes off the ice with a smile on his face. The confidence that Fin has gained on the ice with his coach has also translated to school and making friends. Coach Neil has made sure that skating is the best part of Finley's week, and has helped him fall more in love with hockey.
-Alaina
Coach Neil has been working with my son since February 2019 and it’s been a wonderful experience. In 9 months Everett went from a four year old who desperately wanted to go fast to five year old who loves flying around the rink. He recognized muscle weakness in Everett’s left ankle and helped strengthen it with skating exercises so that my child didn’t even realize what he was doing. He makes hard work fun. We recommend him to everyone.
-Rachel
Working with Neil greatly improved our daughter Daria’s skating. She has better edge control and is skating a lot faster since we started lessons. I would recommend Neil to anyone who is looking to improve their skating abilities!
-Dana
Shooting mechanic testimonial
-MF
Hockey games are won and lost with goals, and being the player that proceeds this numbers on the scoreboard comes from a lethal shot. This program gives you the platform to create that. Being a hockey player, everyone wants to score more goals and this program has Brough that to my game more than ever before.
Personally, I really enjoyed the shooting program as a whole. The repetition really dialed in the minor tweaks that were needed for me to take my shot to the next level. The break down of my shooting video allowed me to take into consideration when shooting was really helpful because you never know what you’re doing wrong until someone tells you. The process working into the different shots was really helpful taking everything back to the basics was necessary to move forward in the program. Moving into the shots and working on shot mechanics before situational shots easier because you knew how to shoot before you put it info effect. The flexibility of the schedule from when I ripped my hands and my back was nice because it allowed for me to produce my best shots consistently. The transition from off ice to on ice was reassuring because my shot improved so much from the last time I touched the ice. Now after playing a couple games and racking up goals from just beating goalies with a shot is super nice as I put a lot into the program I got a lot in return. Through the program I ripped my hands, ripped my net and my garage but found my finish and I’ve never been happier. All in all, I really had a good time with this program and it has done wonders and I would make the same decision over and over again.
Shooting Mechanic Academy
We are here to provide an easy to follow shooting program within our academy. We will diagnose your current shot and break it down to provide drills to help correct and bad habit as well as build good habits. Successful shooting is the foundation of good habits and building unconscious competence of the shot and being able to execute that skill under duress.