The North American Prospects Hockey League (NAPHL) has announced its 2020-2021 NAPHL Honor Roll, recognizing academic excellence by its student-athletes.

To qualify for the NAPHL Honor Roll, student-athletes must have achieved certain academic standards during the 2020-21 school year ... including a minimum 3.5 GPA.

The following Esmark Stars AAA Hockey players were recognized for their work in the classroom by the NAPHL:

U15 - Iannico Amaranto, Joshua Coffee, Marsal Gataulin, Andrew Krakora, Rory Shegan Siniawski, Aiden Tarasovich, Alex Thomas, Reid West, Zakary Wilcox and Luke Yost

U16 - Blaise Becker, Zachary Hixon, Tristan Lloyd, Jacob Meier, Austin Peterson, Derek Pietrzyk, Logan Scanlon, Owen Tutich, Sebastian Vogt and Chase Williams

U18 - Dominic Dezort, Nathan Dickey, Hunter Fairmain, Cole Mitchell, Brayden Morgan, Edward Pazo, Keith Smilowitz and Liam Varmecky

"I am incredibly proud of these young men," said Esmark General Manager Dave Kosick. "This award celebrates these student-athletes for their ability to attain academic excellence, while meeting the extraordinary demands placed upon them as elite athletes."

Celebrating its 12th anniversary season in 2020-21, the NAPHL has established itself as one of the premier grounds for development and exposure for elite amateur hockey players. The success of teams on the National stage, as well as, the success of NAPHL players at the next levels of hockey, is further proof that the NAPHL is redefining exposure and has elevated itself to one of the premier training grounds for development and opportunity.

"We salute the NAPHL for celebrating and honoring their players academic accomplishments," Kosick added.

The NAPHL continues to enjoy record-breaking success in terms of advancement in recent seasons, highlighted by the large amount of advancement of players to the North American Hockey League (NAHL). For the upcoming 2020-21 season, 35 players from the NAPHL have been tendered by NAHL Clubs to date (http://naphl.com/player-advancement/tenders/tenders.cfm?tenderedleague=nahl&currentleague=naphl&season=2020). 

A remarkable total, given that no other USA Hockey Midget Tier I league has had more players play in the NAHL over the course of the past three seasons than the NAPHL.

The NAPHL is operated by the NAHL's experienced staff and provides an organized and competitive experience guaranteed to benefit all of the participating student-athletes.

Sanctioned by USA Hockey, the NAPHL is designed to maximize the exposure of its Midget and Bantam participants through the NAHL's high-profile recruiting events which attract hundreds of college, junior and professional scouts each season.