Subcultures within subcultures: Floor hockey in NYC Orthodox Schools

January 3, 2017 5:54 PM

A ‘World Unto Itself’ in New York Area Yeshivas: Floor Hockey At certain powerhouses, hockey is perhaps the most prominent sport, and rivalries have developed between neighboring yeshivas.

In Brooklyn, the games can be particularly intense whenever the Magen David Yeshivah or the Yeshivah of Flatbush, both in Midwood, or the Yeshivat Darche Eres in Sheepshead Bay, face off.

“They’re seeing all these kids in synagogue the next day, so that creates a certain competitiveness,” Mr. Stone said.
...
“If God didn’t mean for this greatness to exist, why did he give us Gretzky and Jordan?” Rabbi Schiller said.

(Warning, it does mention the son-in-law of the president-elect, who played for his high school).

posted by Salamandrous (8 comments total)

This is not a new phenominon - when I went to a (non-yeshiva) Jewish day school in NYC a decade ago, floor hockey was a Thing; so much so that I didn't learn that floor hockey wasn't a big deal in most high schools till I went to college.
posted by Itaxpica at 6:12 PM on January 3, 2017 [1 favorite]

I want the treatment on my desk by Thursday
posted by clockzero at 7:38 PM on January 3, 2017 [4 favorites]

Now I will be racking by brain all day for a fake movie titles with Jewish Hockey Puns that don't come across as anti-Semitic.
posted by Badgermann at 6:35 AM on January 4, 2017 [1 favorite]

My stepsons were both on their varsity floor hockey team at their yeshiva, which had the motto (printed on all their banners and I think jerseys), "One Team. One Goal." I think they finally changed it after it proved too prescient.
posted by Mchelly at 6:45 AM on January 4, 2017 [6 favorites]

Just don't tell them about competitive ga-ga.
posted by Mid at 7:07 AM on January 4, 2017 [5 favorites]

I went to a public school in rural Pennsylvania, and floor hockey was something that was trotted out sometimes on rainy days. For someone who didn't like PE, it was surprising fun, mostly because if you hand every player a weapon, it becomes a great equalizer.
posted by lagomorphius at 7:15 AM on January 4, 2017 [1 favorite]

I played floor hockey for years at Columbia, and some of the guys would tell stories about playing against Yeshiva University and how brutal those guys were. Never had the pleasure...
posted by AJaffe at 7:53 AM on January 4, 2017

padded boards ? c'mon.. (having played with real boards, it is a different game there. Rebounds/bounces off the walls, rub/hold/press players on the boards, very different..)
posted by k5.user at 1:11 PM on January 4, 2017