Child in need, spinal research send Seawolves skating

Jan 31, 2014

Tabor Academy athletes are putting on their skates for good causes this February with two benefits games.

First up, the Seawolves hit the rink on Saturday for a foundation started by Tabor alum Travis Roy, a star hockey player at the school who went on to Boston University.

In his first game, Roy, then 20, was injured and paralyzed from the neck down. Roy finished college and created the Travis Roy Foundation to support spinal cord research and those with spinal injuries.

He has continued to be a presence at Tabor where the hockey rink bears his name.

“Every year we’re kind of reeducating them on the story,” said head hockey coach Gerry Dineen.

He said players take the annual Travis Roy Cup game seriously, and Roy himself always comes to speak with the players.

“He makes connections with the kids. I think that makes the day a special day. It’s not just this random organization,” said Dineen. “They understand this is a person, and they have a connection with him.”

With St. Sebastian’s School, where Roy had a number of friends, the teams have raised more than $100,000 for the foundation since the cup began 18 years ago. They took in almost $10,000 this year.

The Seawolves A and B boys teams both played though the A team succumbed to the Arrows 2-3.

This weekend, Feb. 7 and 8, the girls and boys varsity teams will “Pink the Rink” to raise funds for Pippa Larsen, the daughter of a Tabor faculty member with leukemia.

This year marks the second Pink the Rink for the school. Last year, it benefited the mother of player suffering from cancer. The game hits home for the school.

The one-year-old Pippa is known by many at the schools as her mother, Ginger, teaches Tabor science and her father, Alex, is a Tabor graduate. Pippa is undergoing treatment at Children’s Hospital in Boston and is expected to be in the oncology unit for four to six months.

Dineen said many students and parents have been active in preparing for the game.

The girls varsity team will play 5:30 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 7 against St Paul’s School, followed by the boys varsity on Saturday at 4 p.m. against Dexter School.

Dineen said the games are representative of the school as a whole.

“We’re pushing our kids academically and athletically and developing them into the best human beings they can be,” he said. “We feel strongly that giving back to the community is a big piece of that.”