Tampa Bay Juniors

The Tampa Bay Juniors are a Tier III junior ice hockey team playing in the United States Premier Hockey League's Premier Division. The Juniors play their home games at the Ellenton Ice and Sports Complex in Ellenton, Florida.

History

In 2008, the Tampa Bay Bolts were founded as a junior team playing out of the Southeast Junior Hockey League. That same year, the Jacksonville Ice Dogs were also founded as members of the Metropolitan Junior Hockey League. In 2010, the Ice Dogs relocated to the Tampa Bay area and merged with the Bolts. A year later, the club rebranded as the Tampa Bay Juniors with the now-unified club following the rest of the SEJHL teams into the EJHL South, now a division of the Eastern Junior Hockey League.
In 2013, junior hockey in America saw a sizable amount of realignment. All of the teams from the EJHL South left to join the newly-formed United States Premier Hockey League in the Elite division. Additionally, the club also founded a second developmental team that played out of the Empire Division. In 2016, the USPHL announced plans to found a Tier II division beginning with the 2017–18 season. The decision resulted in the league dissolving the Empire Division as well as encouraging many of its lower-level teams to promote themselves. The Junior were one of several dozen clubs to take advantage of this change and become a full Tier III club for the first time, joining the Premier Division in 2017.