Keith Nelson of Manalapan will be traveling to Colorado Springs, Colo., with the New Jersey Rocket Tier 1 Bantam Major Team, a youth hockey squad. The Rockets will compete against 11 other teams in the USA Hockey Tier 1 National Championships this week. The team qualified for the nationals by defeating the Philadelphia Junior Flyers Youth Hockey Team, 2-1 and 3-2, in the best of three games for the Tier 1 District championship. Previously, the Rockets, who play at the Bridgewater Sports Arena, had won the Atlantic Youth Hockey League regular season championship.
Nelson, a freshman at Manalapan High School, plays left wing for the Rockets. He has been playing ice hockey for seven years and the last four have been at the AAA level.