The North American 3 Hockey League (NA3HL) has announced that it has approved the transfer of membership and purchase of the Euless Jr. Stars by Brass Roots Hockey, LLC and owner Brad Allen from the KWM Kids, Inc. ownership group, consisting of Michelle and Kevin Bryant.

The team will continue as the Mid-Cities Jr. Stars and will be entering their fifth season of playing in the NA3HL in 2017-18. Euless has named former NAHL player and NAPHL coach Tom Train as their new head coach. In addition, the team has named former NAHL player Ben Osborne as the team’s assistant coach and former NAHL coach Tony Curtale as the team’s consultant and advisor.

The Jr. Stars compete in the NA3HL’s South Division and were the 2014 NA3HL South Division playoff champions. In four years, the team has moved dozens of players onto NCAA and ACHA college opportunities. The Jr. Stars play out of the Dr Pepper StarCenter in Euless, Texas, a suburb of Dallas/Ft. Worth.

Brad Allen is a contractor from New Orleans, Louisiana, who works in the hospitality industry renovating hotels. He has been in the construction industry for 43 years, owning and operating a construction company for 28 years. Brad and his wife Tara have three children, the oldest Tristan being the reason the family became involved in the sport of hockey. His daughter Ava, is senior in high school where she is on the sailing team and also is an avid equestrian rider who enjoys her two horses Evangeline and Wolfgang. His youngest son Ari, is a freshmen in high school who plays football and also enjoys playing hockey every chance he gets.

Allen has been involved in hockey for 17 years as a hockey dad/coach and has served on the Board of Directors of Southern Louisiana SLIHC. He had a partial ownership in St. Tammany Skate Rink and organized New Orleans High School Hockey playing throughout the State of Louisiana.

“The reason we wanted to get involved in the NA3HL is for my family’s love of hockey. It’s my goal to have a quality program that produces both young men and players that are morally upstanding, mentally adapt and physically able. I want to nourish and develop these young players in order to enable them to move on to the next level of hockey as well as life,” said Allen.

Tom Train is a familiar face in the NAHL family of leagues. He most recently was a head coach in the NAPHL for the HC Dallas 18U team this past season. Prior to that, he was an associate head coach for both the HC Dallas 18U and 16U teams during the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons. Train began his coaching career in 2011-12 with the 16U Texas Tornado, where he led the team to the NAPHL Championship game that season. The team would go on to win the Texas State Championship and an appearance at the 16U USA Hockey National Championship Tournament.

“We are looking to develop a culture of winning and development in Euless. A place where players can confidently come from the DFW area, and the entire country to develop as individual players and learn how to win. Our goal is to bring in young players for one or two years and move them on to the NAHL and other top junior leagues in the country. I experienced that as a player winning three National Championships and moving onto NCAA Division I hockey. I will never forget my experience with the Texas Tornado in the NAHL, and hope to be able to create that experience for many players in the years to come,” said Train.

Train, a native of Troy, Michigan, played his junior hockey in the NAHL for the Texas Tornado for four seasons from 2002-06, where he helped the team to three-straight National Championships, two of which as team captain. Train had 142 career points as a Tornado player, but his best statistical year came in 2004-05 when he had 69 points in just 55 games. Train then went on to play NCAA Division I hockey for the University of Alabama-Huntsville. During his four-year career, he helped the Chargers to two College Hockey America Conference titles and two NCAA tournament appearances. He was named assistant captain for his Junior and Senior seasons.

Osborne, who is also an NAHL graduate, played with Train during their time in the NAHL with the Texas Tornado, which included winning a National Championship in 2003-04. He later went onto play in the USHL and was an assistant coach with the Jr. Stars this past season.