Clarksburg Tabletop Hockey League Raffling NHL Items
 The San Jose Sharks stepped up to provide a host of items for the club to raffle off. Little is hoping more NHL teams will lend a hand. |
CLARKSBURG, Mass. — The players in Clarksburg School's tabletop hockey league have one goal: getting their name on the Stanley Cup.
Their teacher, Michael Little, has a bigger goals: expanding the club, adding an educational component, and, maybe, even setting up leagues in other schools.
And he's got some well-placed friends to help him score that hat trick.
Some real National Hockey League swag will be raffled off during the trophy presentations next Friday, Feb. 27, to benefit the club thanks to donations from Steve Maroni, San Jose Sharks' director of events, and Don DelNegro, athletic trainer for the Boston Bruins.
"Steve, he's a friend of mine, so I called him up when this came to me. Don, I went to high school with," Little said, standing in front of a table loaded with NHL wares ranging from a Sharks sweat shirt to four signed Bruins pucks.
"What their contributions will do is help me grow the club," he said. The first thing will be to buy more Stiga hockey tables so fourth-graders can join Grades 5 through 8, and to have on hand for parts. "What I want to do is put an educational component in eventually ...
"It's going to entail kids learning about the NHL, the great players, the great teams but also the cultures of hockey not only NHL, but worldwide."
Little started the club three years ago, making the investment in the tables and in the somewhat smaller replica of the Stanley Cup. The base, made by John Blair, so far has two names of the past two champions: Daniel and David Beebe. Daniel's name will appear again as this year's champion.
"The NHL put these out for a very brief time, maybe six years ago," Little said. "I hunted one down because that's the whole aura, the mystique of the game."
Thirty boys and girls have made it through the 12 weeks of competition, playing lightning fast 5-minute rounds.
But they only look fast, said David Beebe, now playing football and baseball at McCann Technical School. "It's the longest five minutes of your life."
"It was really fun for the time I was here ... it gets crazy in here. There's not one kid who hasn't had fun," he said, adding the competition was more intense than the sports he plays now. "You learn to control yourself, the amount of space you have ...
"It's a good conversation starter," he laughed.
Little said the club is a social event that gets kids together and playing face to face.
"What this does is it teaches them sportsmanship, it teaches them tenacity, it teaches them perseverance to stick with it because it's a 12-week season," he said.
Manipulating the injection-molded players with metal rods takes a light but fast touch. The three-dimensional shape of players, different from the old flat ones, allows the competitors more control over the pucks and the ability to do tricks.
Little described it as learning how to play an instrument; the students become more proficient in gauging velocity and subtle techniques, with the younger ones learning from the more practiced.
"It's fun and it's a great social activity, just a fun thing to do," Carson Marsh said. Hope Blake liked "to see how competitive we all get" and her sister, Hannah, was disappointed when her mother wouldn't let play with strep throat.
Daniel Beebe, two-time champ, said you can feel the excitement in the room during game play. His brother joked that "it smells like hockey."
Next Friday, beginning at 3 at the school, the winners of each grade level and the top winner, Daniel, will be presented with trophies. Bracket winners and participants will also be recognized.
And they'll pull the names for the raffle. Tickets are $5 each and can be purchased from Little by contacting ClarksburgTableHockey@gmail.com. Winners in attendance will get to chose their items as their tickets are drawn. Items include Sharks yearbooks, bags, hats and the sweat shirts and Bruins pucks. Seven of the items are signed by the players.
Little is hoping to gain more sponsors help the club grow.
Tags: Clarksburg School, fundraiser, hockey, tabletop hockey, youth programs,
