Yorktown High School Hockey Fundraiser at Saxon Woods

In high school basketball, there's no added school cost for Yorktown's players to suit up for practice and walk to the gym. The same goes for home games. 

Hockey is a different matter.

There are added costs for insurance, transportation to the rink on a daily basis and use of the rink. That puts parents in charge of raising enough money to operate the sport through events like the golf outing on Thursday at the Saxon Woods Golf Course in Scarsdale.

Cathy Ashe, new president of the Fundraising Committee, estimates the total annual cost to be about $22,000. So the more money parents can fundraise, the less each parent has to put up at the end of the year, she says.

On the other hand, the school does kick in some money to cover referees, league fees and chaperones ... but wouldn't it be a better approach to convince their kids to take up a sport that doesn't take a fundraising village?

Bob Boeschl, whose three sons all play hockey, would have none of that.  It's a tough sport that progresses a kid, because if you're not aggressive, and you don't put your heart into it, you're going to fall flat.

And it's understood by all on the ice, but the tears that often come with the hits seem to discount Boeschl's assertion.

"There's a lot of crying – by the parents," joked Frank Magnante, whose grandson T.J. Meyerski skates for the Huskers.

The whining is also confined to the stands but the fights aren't.  Sometimes there are fights, says T.J's Dad Jim, but the players leave the animosities on the ice.  Since they all know each other and have played with and against each other in various leagues, says Meyerski, you find they're joking around before the game and not holding back once they hit the ice (and each other).

Nurturing both the aggression and sportsmanship of this close-knit group of players is Coach Bob Fritsche.

"He's a man of his word, who's tough and fair," Meyerski said. 

But with the parents pulling the purse strings, they must have some added say as to who plays and who sits. 

"The coach runs the team and we're here to support him," Ashe said. "Because the less involved we are the easier it is for him."

Along without a stake in any of this was Yorktown's Mark Lampersberger. He took part in the golf outing (with permission from his wife) – even though he can claim only lacrosse players in his family. Friends with one of the hockey dads, he felt it's important to lend support because it's all about the kids. Today, certain parents may be asking you for your help and tomorrow you might be asking them for theirs, he said. 

Of course, summing all the virtues of Yorktown varsity hockey can be framed in the form of a question. Do girls like hockey players? 

"I'm sure they do," Magnante said. "And if they don't, they should." 

For more info email Lynne Rothman at lynnerothman@aol.com

To make donations: Lynne Rothman, 87 Kent Drive, Cortlandt Manor,NY 10567, and make checks  payable to "Friends Of Yorktown."