A familiar face for Islanders fans

Dina Tsiorvas never imagined she’d be the face of her hometown hockey team when she was growing up. She always envisioned herself as a dancer.

For those who regularly attend New York Islanders hockey games, Dina the Arena Hostess, as she is commonly known to fans, is a familiar and friendly face. Several times a game she appears on the big video board talking with fans, running contests, promoting merchandise and announcing upcoming events.

She grew up in North Valley Stream and attended Blessed Sacrament School through sixth grade, before moving on to Memorial Junior High and Central High School. At Central, she was a member of the Streamers dance team, which were national champions. The dance kickline team performed during halftime for Eagles football games. “We weren’t on the sidelines,” she said. “We were part of the halftime show with the band.”

The Streamers competition season ran from December through March, but Dina said they were still able to fit in performances during the occasional home basketball game.

In the early 2000s, after attending Nassau Community College and Hofstra University where she studied business, Dina came back to coach the Streamers for about five years, leading them to the national competition.

As a student, Dina spent half of her school day at the at Long Island High School for the Arts in Syosset where she took dance classes. Then, she went back to Central for her academics, taking mostly Advanced Placement courses. After going home to change, it was back to Central for three more hours of dancing with the Streamers.

She remembers fondly her days at Central High School, walking with her friends to get lunch on Merrick Road at Subway, Burger King, Magic Bagels or the pizza place, now Rosa’s Pizza. “If you had a car when you were a senior,” she said, “then you would head out and go to Lynbrook to go to the Taco Bell or the Pizza Hut or the Wendy’s.”

Becoming arena hostess