By
Without even putting a puck in a net, the Boston College women’s hockey team scores some big points with special needs children and adults in Newton every week.
For the past seven winters, team members have taken part in a weekly Thursday night skating event for the special needs community sponsored by the Newton Parks and Recreation Department and held at the Fessenden School in West Newton.
“This program would not be possible without the Boston College women’s hockey team,” says Mark Kelly, the department’s director of special needs. “They have helped us expand this program from about 10 kids to more than 35 each week. We are so appreciative of all that they do.
“We can’t say enough about BC and BC athletics. These young women not only fit in all of their studies, their practices and their games, they find the time to come over here every Thursday night to generously share their time and talent.”
The dozen or so BC skaters, who with other volunteers attend the session each week, pair up with youngsters to teach fundamentals to beginners as well as engage in conversation and on-ice companionship with older children and adults who take advantage of the weekly evening of exercise and fun.
Last year, the team brought the Beanpot championship trophy to the rink for their young friends to see. Former BC goaltender Molly Schaus ’11, who took part in the Newton skating program as an undergraduate, was a member of the silver medal-winning Team USA in the 2010 Winter Olympic Games. She brought her medal to the Fessenden skating session – much to the delight of the youngsters and their parents.
“They are just a great group of young ladies,” says John Geraci of Newton, the parent of a nine-year-old boy who is legally blind and has Asperger’s syndrome, but who delights in his weekly skating opportunity. “I know it takes a lot of time to play hockey at the college level. And it’s not just the hour they spend here on the ice – it’s the travelling to and from the rink, too. It’s very nice of them to do it.”
Many of the young skaters also attend BC women’s hockey games to cheer on their new on-ice friends. “Tommy and I went to some games last year,” Geraci says, “and one of the girls who had been skating with him waved and called out to him as she came off the ice. It was just a great moment. His interests are not very athletically inclined, but for him to go to a game and to pay attention – even a little bit – because he knows who is playing, is just a wonderful thing.”
The skate night at Fessenden is “the highlight of the week” for sophomore Amanda Movessian, a hockey forward from Woburn.
“It’s a really nice experience. We teach some of the younger kids how to skate – ‘left foot out, right foot out’ – but for some of the older ones, it’s more conversation, engaging with them. We have inside jokes, secret handshakes – it’s all a lot of fun.”
“I come every Thursday,” says freshman Erin Kickham of Needham. “I love seeing these kids. It makes them feel so involved. If I can put a smile on their faces every week, it’s something I definitely want to do.”
Adds sophomore Taylor Wasylk of Port Huron, Mich.: “It’s an hour of our time, but it makes the children’s week. That is so worth it.”