Ice Hockey Can Be A School Sport Too
At the March 6 Farmingdale School District Board of Education meeting, a group of young men donning green and white jerseys took their seats before the board, waiting patiently for the public comment period.
The young men represented Farmingdale Ice Hockey, which plays under the New York Islanders High School Hockey League and is composed of middle school, junior varsity and varsity teams. The Daler sport was formed in 2015 with less than 20 ninth- and 10th-grade players. Now, the team has expanded to include nearly 60 players spread across the middle school, JV and varsity levels. While so many Farmingdale school district students play for the team, they are not recognized as a school sport. At the board of education, the team sought to change that.
“For some of us, hockey is the only sport we dedicate our time to, and we can’t even say that we are a school athlete,” one team member said to the board of education, noting that the Farmingdale cheerleaders had asked for the same recognition and reached the Nassau County championships in their first year as an official school team. “Please give my teammates and I the chance to do the same and bring an ice hockey championship to Farmingdale schools. We want to represent Farmingdale schools with Daler pride.”
Another teammate took to the mic to address the board and emphasize that the team’s spectators only come to games after hearing about them through word of mouth. If the team had school recognition, the entire school district community could know about their games and achievements. “We just want to be seen as athletes of the Farmingdale community,” he said.
Elizabeth Barbieri, the general manager of the Farmingdale Ice Hockey teams, said the boys’ passion for getting their team officiated in the school district comes simply from wanting to feel included in a school community that is so big on their school sports.
Between morning announcements that let students know about important games and team accomplishments, varsity awards night and scholar athlete opportunities, there is a lot for the boys to achieve should their ice hockey teams be incorporated into the school district.
“I have a lot of very bright boys and they should be recognized as scholar athletes,” Barbieri said. “The boys will continue to pursue it. They’re very strong willed.”
With practices twice a week and games three times a week, the boys dedicate a massive amount of time to their sport, so it is no wonder why they are petitioning so vehemently for the school’s acknowledgement.
As he replied to the boys’ wish, Superintendent Defendini acknowledged the team’s “real guts and real leadership, getting up in front of a group of adults and putting a request out there.” He applauded their politeness and respect and expressed his pride in seeing what the young Dalers accomplished by speaking in the public comment segment of the evening. “Over the course of the coming weeks, we will absolutely be reporting back to you.”
