Santa Clarita Lady Flyers girls hockey team van hit by plow truck in Colorado; father of player killed
CLEAR CREEK COUNTY, Colo. (KABC) — A father was killed and several members of a Santa Clarita girls hockey team were injured Thursday morning when a snowplow struck their van and sent it down an embankment in Colorado, according to authorities.
The crash happened in Clear Creek County, west of Denver as the Santa Clarita Lady Flyers were on their way to a tournament.
Colorado State Patrol officials said a Department of Transportation snowplow lost control on the westbound Interstate 70, broke through cable rail in the median and collided with a pickup truck before hitting the team’s sprinter van in the eastbound lanes.
The driver of the van, identified only as the father of one of the players, died at the scene.
“Our 12AA Lady Flyers were on their way to Denver, Colorado, to participate in a WGHL weekend,” read a statement posted on the Santa Clarita Lady Flyers Instagram page. “We ask that you keep our hockey families in your prayers and that you give them time to sort through the details of this tragic event.”
The impact of the crash sent the van onto its side down a snow-covered embankment.
One child with critical injuries had to be airlifted. The Colorado State Patrol said seven other passengers – four children and three adults – were transported by ambulance to a hospital.
The president of the team said they are expected to be OK.
“It’s devastating. It hits home really hard for everybody,” Prescott Littlefield, the president of the Flyers, told Eyewitness News.
Littlefield said the team decided to continue participating in the tournament.
“The girls voted and those that can still play are going to go play tomorrow morning,” he said. “They’re going to gather together in the parking lot, walk into that building as a solid group and go out there and do what they have been working hard to do this entire season.”
An online fundraiser to help the victims has been created.
The Colorado State Patrol Vehicular Crimes Unit is investigating the crash.
Copyright © 2026 KABC Television, LLC. All rights reserved.
