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More than 30 youngsters took part
in a rollerblade hockey tournament
at the Jewish Community
Center in Oak Park.

PHOTOS BY GLEN N TRI EST

STEVE STEIN STAFF WRITER

ne of the country's hottest new
sports — rollerblade hockey —
once again roared into the gym-
nasium at the Jimmy Prentis
Morris branch of the Jewish
Community Center in Oak
Park.
The second JCC rollerblade
hockey tournament attracted 31
youngsters ages 6-12 who played
on five teams, similar totals to
last fall's inaugural competition.
Each team played at least three games
in the Jan. 15 tournament. A game con-
sisted of two 15-minute running-time pe-
riods. Five players from each team were
on the "rink" at once.
Players whose teams weren't playing
either watched games or spent time eat-
ing snacks and chatting in the JPM li-
brary.
"The best part about the day is that
parents didn't just drop off their kids and
leave. They stayed and watched the tour-
nament," said Theresa Fulgenzi, direc-
tor of sports and fitness at the JPM.
Many of the players either took
rollerblading lessons from Ms. Fulgen-
zi or currently are taking them.
"We had Reform, Conservative and

Orthodox Jewish kids and we had some
gentile kids, too," Ms. Fulgenzi said. "The
teams came from Oak Park, Berkley,
West Bloomfield ... Everyone had a lot of
fun because they all were here for the
same reason."
After the seven hours of play had end-
ed, the Rockets emerged as champions.
They were undefeated in four games. The
teams included:
Jaguars (Oak Park): Coach Adam
Barth, Joey Abrin, Jonathan Barth,
Arthur Goldin, Cary Sternberg and
Micha Vardy.
Red Wings (Oak Park): Coach Moshe
Sherizen, Ari Gottlieb, Aviel and Elad
Hillman, Aaron and David Levine and
Adam Tower.
Rockets (Oak Park): Coach Gabriel
Nadel, Shemee Belou, Doni Sherizen, Avi
Tennenberg, Daniel Weingarden and
Shuli Zacks.
Thunderhawks (Berkley): Coach Jay
Smith, Andrew Barrett, Chris Broad-
bent, David Fiebig, Matt Johnson, Bob-
by Ratkin and Jacob Smith.
Vipers (West Bloomfield): Coach Lynn
Puhy, Tom Anderton, Erin and Colin
Hanson, Matt Puhy, Cortney and J.P.
Vanderveen and Matt Winters.

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Clockwise: Gabriel Nadel, Avi Tennenberg and Doni Sherizen watch the
action; Bobby Ratkin takes a break; and J.P. Vanderveen guards his net.

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