May 8, 2020 2 min read

Professional hockey is on hiatus but dek hockey as a fundraiser for the North Belle Vernon Community Bank Park is still on.

The Monongahela/Yough Rivers 3V3 Ironman Dek Hockey tournament is scheduled for July 11-12 at the park and at Bill’s Dek Hockey in Rostraver. Funds raised by the two-day tournament that feature six different age groups will serve as a fundraiser to improve the handicapped accessibility of the park.

“We take the money and put it into projects,” said North Belle Vernon councilman R.J. Sokol, who led the redevelopment of the park six years ago. “We took a rundown, vandalized and drug-infested park and opened up a $1.1-million-dollar project through funding, donations and volunteer work.”

Improvements to the park have been made over the past several years. The money generated from this tournament will be put toward handicap accessibility, including improving the worn walking path around the exterior of the park. Proceeds will help purchase wheelchair-accessible picnic tables and a wheelchair-inclusive bleacher.

Sokol said the fundraiser has raised about $3,000 the last two years.

“We designed this park to make it for everybody, it’s all-inclusive,” Sokol said of already having a wheelchair-accessible glider, a wheelchair swing and a other specifically designed handicap exercise pieces.

The tournament has been spearheaded by Bill’s Dek Hockey, which will hold games for the older divisions. There are six different age groups, starting at four years and extending all the way to an adult division. Three games are guaranteed. Teams can have as many as six players, including one goalie. The cost per team is $150.

Sokol is hopeful concerns about the cornavirus pandemic subside prior to the tournament, which trying to build on the 200-plus players at last year’s event.

“What this tournament does, and it has grown each year, is it lets people know there is another handicap option available, it puts us on the map for the dek hockey world to use the facility and helps other businesses in our town,” Sokol said. “It’s huge. It’s so important. We are doing everything we can to pull it off.”

For more information or to register, call 724-379-3325 or email billsbane@comcast.net.