Pizza Wars Battle the Rising Cost of Youth Hockey

The first annual Pizza Wars to benefit the Norwood Nuggets Youth Hockey Program will take place on Saturday May 7th from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at the Coakley Middle School.

According to Chris Larson, two-year board member, Nuggets Fundraising Coordinator and parent of 12-year-old hockey player Andrew Maguire, “The goal is to make this a community event.”

Lawson credits fellow board member Anita Hennessey with suggesting the idea for Pizza Wars.

“Any creative fundraiser to bring people in is so helpful to us,” she said.

Tuition for one player for a single season of Norwood Nuggets Youth Hockey is $1,000. “By nature of the sport, it is expensive but we try to keep the cost down,” Larson said.

“With rink rental rates increasing we try to keep tuition as close to $1,000 as possible. If I could pull in $40,000 a year we could decrease costs but unfortunately I can’t," she added. "The biggest downside is we don’t have our own rink. In order to play we have to travel and pay other towns and we have no control over their rental fees.”

All proceeds from the Pizza Wars will go directly back into the Nuggets Hockey program in an effort to keep player costs down.

“Norwood is such a close knit community you want to bring everyone in, and make a little money for everyone." Larson said. "You have to invest in your town if you want it to be successful; hopefully this also brings business back to the pizza shops.”

Of the twenty-eight pizza shops solicited for the event, ten restaurants happily agreed to donate twenty pizzas and participate in The Pizza Wars.

For only $5, guests will receive a ticket with a list of the participating shops.

After sampling cheese pizza from Abbondanza, Bertucci’s, Conrad’s, Express Pizza, Giorgio’s Pizzeria, Old Colonial Café, Papa Gino’s, Pizza Galore, Pizza Palace and Santucci’s, attendants will then choose their personal favorite, have their ticket stamped and entered in the ballot box.

There will also be raffles for a door prize, a bake sale and refreshments for sale.

This year The Pizza Wars is only featuring cheese pizza but according to Larson, “maybe next year we will have most original pizza.”

Larson hopes The Pizza Wars isn’t a one time event.

“I hope this will be a yearly community event, like the Craft Fair," she said. "I hope people will say, 'It’s May; it’s time for the Pizza Wars.'”