Charity hockey tournament raises $171K for underprivileged youth

Efforts are underway to break down barriers for underprivileged or minority youth wishing to play hockey, thanks to the nonprofit 43 Oak Foundation, the Islanders and UBS.

Since hockey is a sport where athletes are predominantly white and come from a middle- to upper-class background, Sean Grevy, founder of 43 Oak Foundation, said that growing up in Philadelphia, he faced barriers playing hockey as his parents lacked the financial means to fund his athletic endeavors.

Grevy created the foundation in 2017 after coaching a 14-under hockey travel team from 2014-16. He wants to help athletes who may have otherwise been left behind in the sport to further their education through hockey.

“That was really the purpose of the 43 Oak Foundation, — just to create an environment where all our student athletes were not blocked from entry into this sport at a high level,” Grevy said.

UBS Arena hosted its second 3 Keys Cup charity hockey tournament on Oct. 19, with the participation of eight financial institutions — UBS, Natixis Investment Managers, Massachusetts Financial Services Investment Management, Putnam Investments, BlackRock, Pacific Investment Management Company, JP Morgan Asset Management, and Lord Abbett — and together they raised more than $171,000 for the foundation. Last year, the participating financial institutions were able to raise $160,000 for the nonprofit. The tournament remains the largest fundraising event hosted for the foundation, according to UBS managing director Greg Toskos.

Throughout the tournament, any games that ended in a tie up until the championship game between UBS and Natixis Investment Managers were decided by which team had raised the most money. Employees at the companies filled the participating teams’ rosters.

The tournament has garnered interest from other financial institutions, Toskos said. There was a waiting list if any of the firms dropped out, but the teams this year remained the same from the 2022 tournament.

Around 30 young athletes who participate in the 43 Oak clinics took to the ice after the game. Since the nonprofit was founded, Toskos said the program has expanded to help more than 70 athletes across the country.

High-level ice hockey tuition can cost $10,000 a year, Toskos said. The money raised by 43 Oak Foundation not only pays for that tuition, but also helps pay for travel expenses when players go to away games.

The goal of the project is to help the involved athletes get into college through a hockey scholarship.

“Our goal, our focus is really to create a network of like-minded and similarly-situated individuals and families that can kind of rely on each other,” Sky Silverstein, the foundation’s executive director, said.

Beyond the athletic side of the program, student athletes learn skills through mentoring sessions every other month with UBS and the Islanders. Students have learned how to write resumes, interview skills, leadership skills and more.

“We mix and match some hockey, but also some life skills to try to help,” Toskos said.

Social media has increased the reach of the nonprofit — it started with seven athletes and now helps 70 athletes throughout the United States, predominantly on the east coast.

Silverstein has been involved with the organization since he was 18 years old. He participated as a mentor in the program, helping underprivileged families from Harlem through the sport. He resonated with Grevy’s story right away.

“Even though we didn’t live similar childhoods, I could tell he had a real passion for what we were doing,” Silverstein said.

A lot of the families that are being helped are first-generation hockey families, and Silverstein said that the foundation assists them in figuring out the best path through the sport to educational success.

“You never know where that could take you,” Silverstein said. “You never know if otherwise you might not have even wanted to go to college, little things like that."

To donate to 43 Oak, visit 43OakFoundation.org/donate. For more information about getting involved with the organization as a volunteer, contact info@43oakfoundation.org.

“Every dollar to go through the door, goes directly to the kids,” Grevy said. “And we need to keep raising money.”