Over 100 kids grabbed their skates and headed to the James Bohan Hockey Rink in Middle Village last weekend to join the Middle Village Players Roller Hockey League for a pre-season impromptu skate session.
The MVP Roller Hockey League prepared the roller rink inside Juniper Valley Park only weeks prior to the start of their summer events and was rewarded with a large turnout from Friday, June 30, to Sunday, July 2.
Paul Pogozelski, president of the MVP Roller Hockey League, said a majority of kids traveled to the park with their parents on Saturday, July 1, along with those who were willing to volunteer their time to coach and train the young skaters.
“A lot of the guys who showed up actually were from the old Middle Village Hockey League,” Pogozelski said. “They came and supported us. I had about seven or eight of those guys, from the old days of the 90s in the 2000s.”
Senator Joseph P. Addabbo Jr. also visited the rink to show his support for the local league. He even shared a little about his own experience playing roller hockey and ultimately thanked everyone involved for bringing this back to the community.
Pogozelski said he appreciated Addabbo’s visit and appreciates the work of other elected officials like Councilman Robert Holden and Congresswoman Grace Meng.
Overall, Pogozelski still shares a great appreciation for the sport and emphasizes how kids and teens alike gain a greater experience from participating in roller hockey.
“The hockey kids are the ones that are gonna work the hardest because they have to lug all that gear, they travel a lot, especially the ice hockey kids, they travel to Canada, they travel everywhere. So a lot of the ice hockey kids use roller hockey as a really good training tool,” Pogozelski said. “ Roller hockey has a lot of ice hockey kids and then there are some kids that just can’t afford ice hockey, that go through roller hockey. And honestly, that’s really the kids I really want more.”
The MVP Roller Hockey League is also accepting donations of hockey gear like gloves, hockey sticks, pads and more. Those donations can be made at the designated storage unit at Juniper Valley Park. Contact Pogozelski (Pogo) at (917-335-2802) or through their website at mvproller.com.
Registration for the league ends Monday, August 7th and they officially begin their games on Saturday, September 9th.
