Teamwork pays off for Carbonaro kids

Students From the Robert W. Carbonaro School celebrated their victory in District 24’s annual floor hockey tournament on Jan. 14.

Donovan Berthoud/Herald

Players battled for the puck in the William L. Buck School gymnasium.

Donovan Berthoud/Herald

Teams from each of the three elementary schools competed.

Donovan Berthoud/Herald

Luciano Moena took a point blank shot on Board of Education Trustee John Maier.

Donovan Berthoud/Herald

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During any big game in a professional sport, the home team’s crowd makes sure they’re heard to give their team a competitive edge. Although there are no professional indoor elementary school hockey leagues, the gymnasium at the William L. Buck School was still pretty loud on Jan. 14 during the annual District 24 sixth-grade hockey tournament.

This year, each of the three schools fielded competitive lineups in the six-team tournament, but the trophy ultimately went to Robert W. Carbonaro 1 after two hard-fought wins in the semi-finals and finals against Brooklyn Avenue 2.

Their first meeting was a defensive struggle that needed to be decided in overtime, with RWC 1 ultimately netting the winner, and the final match-up was settled in regulation, as RWC 1 won it all.

For Carbonaro Principal Rosario Iacono, his favorite part of the event was seeing the team effort and sportsmanship displayed by each team. One of the main things he and the phys. ed. teachers stressed to the kids in preparation for the tournament was playing as a team. “You win together, you play together and you look out for each other,” he said. “Winning the tournament is not the main objective here. It’s really just about getting the community together.”

Dozens of people came out to watch the tournament, as parents, siblings and other family members sat and stood on the stage overlooking Buck’s gymnasium, cheering and applauding every goal and save.

Each of the three schools hosted tryouts for students in November and ultimately fielded two teams apiece.

Moises Doncell, 11, played center for Buck and helped lead his team within one game of the finals. Although he never played hockey before, he was looking forward to the tournament for weeks. “I just wanted to compete against the other schools,” he said.

Midway through the tournament, Doncell was happy with his team’s performance. “We’re making a lot of passes and communicating,” he said, before going on to score three goals in a later game, helping his team to victory.

Carbonaro’s Allyson Camacho, 11, never played hockey before trying out for her team, but was happy she did. “It’s been good,” she said, “because we tried our hardest and even though we lost, we still had fun out there.”