Peer Mediation hosts floor hockey tournament
Photos and reporting by Lavi Ben-Dor, Staff Reporter
On March 30 and 31, the Peer Mediation Team hosted a school-wide floor hockey tournament. Twenty-four teams of six students faced off against each other, with some playing on one night and some on the other. One men’s team and one women’s or co-ed team from each night qualified for the finals. The finals for the floor hockey and pickleball tournaments and the “Minute to Win It” challenge will be held on April 15.
In the women’s/co-ed bracket, seniors Rachel Hanscom, Taylor King, Brooke McGillis, Allison Henry, Taylor Lawlor and Jennie Holland will play against the team of sophomores Molly Dudrear and Skylar Brogan, juniors Dana Sencindiver and Adam Baynard and seniors Tim DiPaolo and Daniel Essex.
In the men’s bracket, seniors Chris Churchman, Billy Flatley, Brian Dailey, Mike Dolente, Adam Whitehead and Kevin Finegan will compete against seniors Jacob Schrager, Alex Fisher, Brendan O’Reilly, Tanner Scott and Kevin Fatholahi and junior Tim Quinn.
Members of the Peer Mediation Team helped set up and take down the equipment and time rounds. Freshman and Peer Mediator Matt Holtzer enjoyed watching everyone actively engaged in the tournament.
“I thought it was really intense,” Holtzer said. “It’s fun to watch good competition, and [the competitors] were all fighting to win.”
Peer Mediation advisor Marcia Mariani said that the tournament has always been a success and this year is no exception.
“Everybody seems to love [the tournaments], and they come back every year,” she said. “For the finals, the whole school gets involved, and the bleachers are packed. For most classes, it’s not ‘can we go watch the floor hockey finals?’ but the whole class going together to watch it. It’s a great game every year.”
According to Mariani, the best part of having the tournament is that anyone can participate and anyone can win—unlike many sports competitions that require participants to try out before joining the team.
“The beauty of the tournament is that anyone can do it,” Mariani said. “Anyone can make a steal, and anyone can win. Floor hockey has been the constant [tournament] throughout the years, and everybody loves it because anyone can play. The people in this competition are not necessarily [just] the athletes—they’re normal, everyday kids.”
Lavi Ben-Dor can be reached at lbendor@stoganews.com.
