The Hebrew Academy of Nassau County opened in 1953. Over the last 70 years, the school has undergone tremendous growth and many awesome occasions.
One of the major milestones in our history was when it opened a separate Middle School. This occurred for the 2002-03 school year. Before that, the school operated as Junior High School and Senior High School with one set of administrators. One of the things that happened in that first year under the direction of principal Rabbi Peretz Hochbaum was the launching of the HANC Middle School Hockey team. Over the last two decades, the team had a lot of success. In fact, it went to the championship on many occasions, including the last three years in a row. Unfortunately, each time the team made it, they lost. Often, the loss was in an excruciating manner. Year after year, hard work would not pay off, as the team would never be able to achieve their elusive goal of an illustrious championship.
That would all change in the 2022-23 season. Halfway through the season, HANC was 5-0 with a combined score of 49-1. The team, led by Coach Rabbi Mordechai Harris, was looking forward to an exciting second half of the season. Soon, HANC was 9-0. And then something very unexpected happened. One of the stars of the team, Avi Hackel, got hurt. The team decided they had no choice but to march onward. In their last regular season game, there was a rematch against HALB. The game was much tighter than the first game they played.
In the end, the final score was 1-1, which meant that HANC would go into the playoffs as the number one seed. HANC went straight to the semifinals. Their opponent was to be HAFTR. In an incredibly tense matchup, HANC came out on top with the final score being 2-1. It would once again be HANC vs. HALB in the championship game. The game was set for Monday night, March 27, at HAFTR High School.
On the night of the big game, the gym filled up very quickly and the stands were packed. When it was over, the HANC Hurricanes had won their first ever Middle School Hockey Championship. All of the team members deserve recognition, as this win was a perfect example of a true team effort. For Rabbi Harris, it was a flawless celebration 15 years in the making with HANC Hockey: four as a player and 11 as a coach.
Congratulations to all of the team members: Avi Hackel, Matis Kahn, Ari Zarzhevsky, Isaac Silbiger, Judah Weitzman, Josh Seewald, Mo Akerman, Simon Steinberg, Itai Holtzman, Noah Ehrenhaus, Harry Ritter, Yedidya Lubner, Jeremy Zeitlin, Leo Maryles, Eliad Holtzman, Jonah Rosman, Noam Koegel, Jacob Schoenfeld, Nate Weissman, Charlie Goldstein, Daniel Wasser, Rafi Calm, Jesse Grysman, Zachary Weitzman, and of course, Coach Rabbi Mordechai Harris.
