Mike Beltran didn’t grow up playing ice hockey. But when his son wanted to play at High Point, Beltran was part of a group of parents who worked to get the sport added.

The team has continued to grow this year and is now part of a new trio with Wallkill Valley and Kittatinny.

Founded in 2005, the Wildcats tried to cooperate with Kittatinny at least a decade ago, but it was unsuccessful. High Point added players from Wallkill Valley, which did not offer ice hockey, in 2013. Van Orden was the Wildcats’ sporting director at the time, and when Van Orden held a similar position at Kittatinny, Beltran was again brought up the idea of ​​a tri-op.

Over the summer, the Kittatinny Board of Education approved the addition of ice hockey.

The Sussex County tri-op joins Newton / Lenape Valley, Parsippany Regional – a cooperative between Parsippany and Parsippany Hills – and Bernards / Somerville / Middlesex in the Charette division of the Morris County league, where Morris Catholic is the only program autonomous. Vernon is the only Sussex County hockey team that is not part of a co-op or tri-op.

There are actually four schools represented in the new tri-op, as three Sussex Tech students are also on the list. Tech student-athletes can participate in their home district if their school does not offer a specific sport.

Beltran estimated that the tri-op had 14 people from the High Point District – including the Sussex Tech trio – six from Wallkill Valley and around 10 from Kittatinny.

“They came out of the woods,” said Beltran, a retired Boonton police chief and Wallkill Valley security guard. “We started with ‘We know there are four determined kids to play.’ Then the word spread and it all built from there. … We have hockey players, but we have a lot of kids who were playing pond hockey and wanted to try. We all have them. different talent levels coming up. “

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Logistics have been difficult, although players only share a bus for events not taking place at Skylands Ice World. Players and their parents tend to carpool to and from practices and home games. For away games, the bus stops at Kittatinny, then High Point and finally Wallkill Valley.

The players’ families are also responsible for some of the funding, including transportation and the new uniforms, which have the black and white Wallkill Valley star in the middle, flanked by a red wild cat and a cougar. Royal blue.

Van Orden has stated that Kittatinny does not contribute financially to the tri-op.

“We teach the kids the basics on top of trying to teach the intricacies of the game at the same time,” Van Orden said. “It’s the good thing, when you see kids from different schools playing together on the same team. At the end of the season you would think they were from the same school.”

Top 5 rankings

1. Delbarton
2. Morris Knolls / Morris Hills
3. Morristown Beard
4. Mountain lakes / Boonton
5. Randolph

Jane Havsy is a storyteller for the Daily Record and DailyRecord.com, which is part of the USA TODAY NETWORK. For full access to live scores, the latest news and analysis, subscribe today.

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