Manalapan Cannons Under-14 Coach Chris Rudo talks with players during a
tournament game in August at the Ice Palace in Brick.
how the kids interact with the officers in the club, it's really cool."
The players, especially the older ones, have definitely connected
with their law enforcement hockey mentors. Carey tells a story from
the first game of the season this year, the day after five law enforcement
officers were killed in the Dallas attack in July.
“Several of the players came up to me and said they were sorry for
my loss,” Carey said.
“What we have tried to do is mesh our love for hockey and our profession together and keep the kids aware of who we, the coaches, are
professionally, and to develop great relationships with the players and
their families knowing we are law enforcement officers,” said Fountain.
The club started as a group of mostly law enforcement officers playing adult hockey in 2012, with founding members including Fountain,
Carey, Local 229 President Ed Hedden and Local 229 Vice-President
Anthony Cascella.
Then, in 2013, Fountain put together the first kids' summer tournament team. It started, Fountain said, with “one team of 13 kids, no
money, and a group of awesome families."
The next year, the club grew to six youth teams. Now, in its fourth
season, there are eight teams, a total of more than 100 players, from
Under-8 to Under-18 Division, or in hockey terms, from Mites, to
Midget Majors. And after being without its own regular home rink for
several years, the club also now has home ice at the Ocean Ice Palace
in Brick, where the Barton family, which owns the rink, is a big supporter of law enforcement, Fountain said.
Fountain added that several players have developed a deeper
interest in the work the officers do, with some asking to go on ridealongs.
Rudo, whose best man at his wedding was an officer killed in the line
of duty, said the jerseys have led him to have conversations about the
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