Flying Fathers return to Niagara
The Flying Fathers are back!
The Flying Fathers were in Niagara in 2019 but scheduled games the following two years were cancelled because of COVID-19. Now, the Niagara Foundation for Catholic Education, Knights of Columbus council 1652 and the Thorold Mounts have partnered together to arrange games Nov. 21 and Nov. 22.
Tickets are available for a fun, family event in support of the Niagara Foundation for Catholic Education and other local charities. The Flying Fathers hockey team — billed as hockey’s version of the Harlem Globetrotters – will face off against an all-star team of Niagara Catholic students and staff in a hockey game at the Gale Centre on Monday, Nov. 21, and against the Thorold Mounts Oldtimers at the Jack Doherty Arena in Thorold on Tuesday, Nov. 22. Both games start at 7:15 p.m.
Suiting up with the Flying Fathers are local parish priests Fr. Paul “The Holy Goalie” MacNeil, Fr. Daniel Corso, and Fr. Ronald Angervil.
“I’ve had a long relationship with the Flying Fathers,” said Jim Marino, executive director of the Niagara Foundation for Catholic Education. “I played with some of the originals.
“It’s a real community effort and it’s been a tremendous team effort by the three sponsors involved — the Knights of Columbus 1652, the Thorold Mounts and the executive the foundation.”
On several occasions, the original Flying Fathers (including Father Les Costello who, before entering the seminary, was a member of the 1948 Toronto Maple Leafs Stanley Cup winning team) brought their hockey skills and comedy show to the Niagara area. One of those visits was to Niagara Falls 50 years ago.
For 45 years, the Flying Fathers toured North America and Europe raising millions of dollars for various charities while keeping fans laughing with as many outrageous stunts as they could get away with on the ice. Their story was a good news story, a story of fun loving priests with exceptional hockey skills telling the world they were playing and praying for a better world with a burning desire to assist people in need through charity fundraising hockey games. Financial help was given to breadwinners seeking employment, homeless people, families having difficulty paying the rent or putting food on the table, families facing health and medical issues but lacking the financial resources to pay the bills.
After the team’s 25th anniversary in 1980, a number of the originals retired while others played until 2009. In 2018, Father John Perdue, vocations director of Peterborough Diocese, decided to resurrect the team with a new group of priests who have met with tremendous success and are now receiving calls from all across Canada as they are eager to continue the legacy and reach new audiences.
The Niagara Falls and Thorold games will feature enjoyable hockey and all of the traditional Flying Fathers’ antics such as pies in the face, Sister Mary Shooter, the hockey playing nun, Smitty the Clown, the Flying Monk and much more in slapstick surprises.
Tickets are priced at $10 each. To pre-order or for more information contact:
Game 1, Monday, Nov. 21 in Niagara Falls.
Eddie Wright (905) 650-2328, email, eddiewrightster@gmail.com
Gerry Sergenese 289-296-4704 email gsergenese@gmail.com
Jim Marino (905) 735-0247 ext. 210 email, jim.marino@nfce.org
Game 2, Tuesday, Nov. 22 in Thorold.
John Kenny (905) 328-3359, email jonblu2@hotmail.com
Brian Weir (905) 980-0764 email weirzy26@gmail.com
Jim Marino (905) 735-0247 ext. 210 email, jim.marino@nfce.org
Dear reader. If you liked this story or one of the 4,600 other stories found on our website, please consider hitting the Support Us button on the right-hand side of our home page and making a PayPal contribution to our website. Your support would be much appreciated. If you are a business owner, please consider advertising on our site. Our rates are reasonable and we provide plenty of exposure for your business. Contact bpotrecz@outlook.com for more information.
