7 minute read
Boys Basketball
By JOSEPH LOVERDI ‘22 AND TIANA CYRELSON ‘22 Sports Editor and Media Editor
There are four major sports in the United States (soccer is arguably the fi fth, and closing in on fourth): basketball, baseball, football, and ice hockey. The fi rst three all have Eastern-affi liated programs—while ice hockey is an independent club team that has no ties to the school whatsoever. This leads to the question:why is ice hockey not an Eastern sport? It’s an incredibly nuanced situation that spans across multiple superintendents who have refused to link the team with the school. The varsity team has done well in the past; in 2016, an overtime winner saw the Vikings beat Kingsway 4-3 to claim the South Jersey High School Hockey League Tier 1-B Championship, and the team today draws in decent-sized crowds. However, previous superintendents have branded the sport “too dangerous,” and refused to offi cially affi liate the team with the school. This is interesting, as it’s arguable that football is just as dangerous as hockey thanks to the consistent physical contact between opposing players (in fact, football causes more concussions per 10,000 athletes than ice hockey as per Norton Healthcare). Plus, hockey runs in the area’s veins; the Flyers’ practice rink, the Flyers Training Center, is right down the block from Eastern, and many past and present Flyers live in the area. We’ve even produced an NHLer, as Montreal Canadiens goalie Cayden Primeau (son of former Flyer Keith Primeau) is from Voorhees. It’s hard to see the rationale of why a sport as regionally popular as ice hockey isn’t a school-sanctioned sport. Both ice and ball hockey draw hundreds of players from the area, and it could be a tremendously popular sport attendance-wise as well, potentially drawing crowds similar to that of football games due to the sport’s high-energy play. Goaltender Max Brzozowski sees the team’s lack of affi liation as the team’s biggest obstacle. “For the organization as a whole, it’s been a challenge to operate without the legitimacy of being a school sanctioned sport,” he said. “However, this challenge has presented a unique opportunity for us to grow together as a group and to build a community—an opportunity I believe we have capitalized on.” A lack of funding has presented itself as another challenge for the team. “Because Eastern hockey isn’t affi liated with the school, it makes it harder to get students to the game,” winger Sean Pomerantz said. “It has affected the funding, especially this year because we are short on kids that signed up, so we don’t have enough funding for practice.” The fact of the matter is the hockey team has to pay out of their own pocket for the most expensive youth sport in the United States. Eastern has a very large sports fund, which is what you’d expect from a largesized school with a history of athletic excellence. If the ice hockey team was to be affi liated with the school, they’d get portions of that funding, which they desperately need. Eastern isn’t the only school that has an unaffi liated ice hockey team; local rivals like Cherokee and Shawnee have them as well. They’re all in the same league
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as other club teams, so none of these programs are directly affi liated with the schools, even though they’re comprised of students who go to said schools and have fans from their schools who attend games. Overall, it’s easy to fi nd the positives of the school recognizing the team as one of its own. The profi ts from selling tickets to the games could be massive as the hockey team looks for the audience it wants. The funding that the school could provide would not only keep the program afl oat, but allow them to buy better equipment and afford practices to bring the best product out on the ice when they play. In the meantime, go ahead and watch the A Viking eyes the icy terrain during a tense local ice hockey team play. It’s worth it. matchup against the Chiefs. Photo supplied by Tiana Cyrelson ‘22 The Vikings and Chiefs in the midst of battle skillfully skating to obtain control of the puck. Photo supplied by Tiana Cyrelson ‘22
Hopeful and Hungry: Boys Basketball
By DAWN BETNER ‘23 Staff Reporter
With just seven wins last season, this season Eastern is focused on improvement and hopeful. for a better basketball season this year. So far, they are 6-7 with 13 games left in the season. According to Jason Brice (#3), the team isn’t “doing as bad as we thought.”He continued to say, “We didn’t have the best summer, we had lots of confl icts but we like each other so it’s moving onto the court now.” With another 13 games, there is hope for this season. Jason comes in second for the most 3pts with 16 so far this season. The team has a lot of pride in being like a family. However, it took time for them to grow this bond. Cehki Hill (#4) said, “The team has improved on becoming one, and playing as a team. No matter if we win or lose, we play together. At the end of the day that’s really what it’s about, having fun playing the sport you love with people who’ve got your back till the end.” Like with any other team sport, there needs to be a foundation of trust and support in order for success. Noah Payne (#11) leads the team in points, steals, and rebounds. Damien Edwards (#5) leads the team in 3pts, with 19 so far this season. While content with the team’s successes, he also said the team isn’t “satisfi ed because we should’ve won some more close games.” He suggested that in order to improve the team has to `` do a better job closing games out and winning the
close games.” “Defensively we aren’t talking enough and teams are getting too many fast break points.” Cehki stated the opposite, saying that the team needs to limit “slow starts in the game, if we come out with a slow start then the other team can take advantage of that and for us it’s gonna be hard to come back from that.” The boys were excited with their victory against Washington TWP game with another win. After being down 9-12 in the fi rst quarter, Eastern came back and ended up winning 69-43. According to Evan Zanetich (#10), “It was a very vital Olympic conference win.” With every win comes the team With every win the team gains a little more gains a little more faith faith in their identity in their identity as a as a family and more family and more hope for hope for a strong a strong season. season. Head Coach Kevin Crawford mentioned that in basketball, the most important games are at the end. The Playoffs. He is content seeing such a young team with all of this talent. There are only three seniors on the team this year, but Coach Crawford says that “they’ve contributed a lot.” The team’s regular starters are Jason Brice (Jr.), Noah Payne (Jr.), Shane Huggard (Sr.), Damien Edwards (So.), and Max Portnoy (So.). With all of these younger players on the court now, the future shines from the opalescence of potential the team has in their upcoming years. The team knows what needs to be improved, and with more practice, the rest of their season is looking bright. The Eastern community rallies behind the team and cannot wait to see them come back! The boys basketball team is ready to take back the courts of South Jersey
in their new season. Photo supplied by Kevin Crawford
