The
Manalapan
Hockey Club
Cannons
Under-14
Team.
JERSEYS STRONG CONTINUED FROM PAGE 55
dangers law enforcement faces and the honor of the profession with
his own son. When his son once mentioned that he'd like to wear the
jersey of a player he admires, Rudo reminded him that's not what the
Manalapan jerseys are about.
“He said, ‘I know dad,’” Rudo continued. “He understands the
importance.”
With something bigger than the game looming in the background,
the club doesn't have some of the negative stereotypes of some other
hyper-competitive youth sports organizations, said Rudo.
As a result, he said, “The parents have a little better perspective.”
But there's a funny thing about that - the club's teams win. That very
first summer, when the club had no money and just sort of threw
together that first team, the kids went 14-1, winning two tournaments
56
NEW JERSEY COPS
■
SEPTEMBER 2016
and finishing second in the third tournament.
“Word spread of the program to the point that families from our area
told us they wanted to play for us the next summer,” Fountain recalled.
Rudo sees irony in that.
“The teams actually win in spite of the philosophy that it’s not winat-all-costs,” he says. “It attracts the right people and it's funny how that
works out.”
There's an old cliché in sports about how the player’s name on the
back of the jersey isn't as important as what the team represents. In the
case of the Manalapan Hockey Club, that's certainly true.
“These kids,” Carey said, “they take honor in wearing those numbers.” d