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Mostly Cloudy Brooklyn Ave. School teams face off in hockey tourney
District 24 holds annual competition
District 24 held its seventh annual hockey tournament on Jan. 21, in which two teams from each elementary school competed in a double elimination tournament.
“The kids work hard on practicing for it,” said Superintendent Ed Fale. “It’s an event that brings the three schools together, and you don’t have many of those.”
In the gymnasium at the William L. Buck School, sixth-graders from the three schools waved homemade banners and screamed support for their classmates, collectively gasping at every missed goal.
Students had to try out for the teams, which were coached by physical education teachers from each school. Once the team rosters were set, players practiced in anticipation of the popular tournament.
“Every day or something we would wake up early and practice,” said Raquel Henao, 11, a Robert W. Carbonaro School player. “We did good on defense sometimes but we didn’t do so well in scoring goals,” she said with a shrug, adding that she still had fun.
“I’ve been looking forward to this for a while,” said Joe Kelly, 12, of the Brooklyn Avenue School’s Team No. 2, after he scored his fourth goal of the evening. “I’m really excited to be here tonight.”
For the first time in the tournament’s history, the final game ended in a tie and was forced into overtime. The two Brooklyn Avenue teams faced off for the victory cup.
Joe Mangini, a physical education teacher at Buck, joked, “I’ve got my money on Brooklyn Avenue in this game,” before he started the faceoff. The game lasted more than five minutes before Brooklyn Avenue Team No. 1 scored the winning goal. A team from each elementary school has won the tournament in the last three years.
Sweaty students from all teams applauded each other’s efforts with high-fives and smiles as they left the building.
