Orthodox now part of a hockey team in Great Neck

Semopr at MSJAJS

Thanks to the Great Neck Park District Supervisors, Orthodox Jewish residents of Great Neck and surrounding areas are now able to participate in the Great Neck Bruins Travel Hockey Team.

With the recent addition of so many new team members this season, the team has moved the Squirts home ice slot from Saturday to Sunday mornings. This enables Orthodox Jews to participate since Saturday is the Sabbath when customary for Jews to be engaged in synagogue activities and not travel. This season, all home games are on Sunday mornings at 6:15 am. This crucial change allows Orthodox and other observant players to participate in the hockey program, a special opportunity which has traditionally been unavailable to them due to their duties of religious observance.

Charles Greszes, a Great Neck Park District resident, and a fifth grade student of the North Shore Hebrew Academy, is one of the players who has benefitted greatly from the day change of games. Charles is one of the starting defensemen and high scorers of the team.

Excited to have a chance to participate on the team for the game he loves so much, Charles said, “I am so happy I get to play hockey in my home town Great Neck and that I do not have to miss any games anymore because of Shabbat. I am also happy that I got to make so many new friends from different parts of Great Neck and that I get to play in my home rink.”

In December, the team celebrated a pot-luck team party at Parkwood, which included kosher pizza from one of the premier kosher pizza shops in Great Neck.

Boys in the locker room are often heard discussing the various holidays their families celebrate and connecting and bonding through their different traditions. It is inspiring to see children from so many different walks of life and backgrounds come together over the game they love to develop close friendships, thanks to the tremendous efforts and vision of the Great Neck Park District.

“It is remarkable to see how responsive and supportive the Great Neck Park District deputy superintendent, commissioners and our governor have been all season long in supporting the availability of ice time to a more diverse Great Neck resident base,” said Isaac Greszes, team manager and a volunteer coach for the Bruins Squirts.

“The ice time at the Andrew Stergiopoulos Ice Rink at Parkwood is very precious, and it takes a lot of time and effort to accommodate all the different needs of the community. We are fortunate to have such great leaders in our park district to make it all possible. Based on the successful year the Great Neck Bruins Squirt team is having, the community hopes that we receive the continued support of our Park District next year, and in the years to come, with the home ice on Sundays, so that all our children and the greater community have an equal opportunity to be a part of the Great Neck Bruins.”

Anna Hardcastle is editor-in-chief of North Shore Notes and The Written Voice.