NORTH ANDOVER – Last February 4, there wasn’t a vacant seat at the Brooks School hockey arena.
It was “Matthew Harty” Day, and four local high school hockey teams put on a show with two terrific games, all while helping to raise money in honor of the beloved young boy, who passed away from mitochondrial disease back in 2013 at the age of eight.
This Saturday will mark the ninth annual event, which kicks off at noon with the HPNA girls taking on Westford Academy which will be followed by a 2 p.m. game featuring the North Andover Boys facing Acton-Boxboro.
The two-game event has changed to Merrimack College, where it’s expected to have another jammed packed capacity crowd.
“In memory of Matthew and his effect on the North Andover community and hockey community at large, as a little boy who followed his three siblings from rink to rink to rink to cheer them on, he was known and loved by so many, and despite his challenges and disabilities, he had an incredible “special power” to connect and inspire people,” said Matthew’s father Paul. “We expect a big turnout for the games and welcome anyone interested to cheer on the teams as Matthew once did all his short life.”
Each year since Matthew’s passing, through MitoAction.org, the Harty Family organizes several events with the proceeds going to raising awareness for the Matthew Harty Camper Fund, which allows children with Mitochondrial disease to attend summer camps and provides scholarships for North Andover High seniors and college students battling the disease.
It started 11 years ago with a street hockey tournament for young kids in town, and two years later, the high school hockey games were added. Over that time, over 350K has been raised, which has gone to 114 scholarships. Just last year, 12 scholarships totaling 30K were given out to NAHS graduates, who by essay were awarded due to their volunteerism for kids with special needs, and eight were awarded to Mito patients well enough to go to college.
All the proceeds from Saturday’s doubleheader will go directly into the Matthew Harty Camper Fund.
Gary Kane, the head coach of the HPNA team, said this is a very special day not only for his team, but for the Harty Family and the local communities.
“I go back to my first season coaching. Matthew’s oldest sister (Rebecca) was an eighth grader on our team and Matthew was always here at the rink,” said Kane. “When Matthew passed, it was one of the hardest things I have ever gone through as a coach. I still have the image of his sister’s shirt which hung on our bench during games. Since that time, our team has consistently been a part of the endless effort to continually support Mitoaction.
“Saturday means so much to our girls and team,” Kane continued. “The girls get so fired up, they get to wear different kinds of shirts which signifies Matthew Harty and the entire family. They are an intricate group and as good of a family as you’ll ever meet and some of the greatest additions to our hockey program as we have had.”
Over the last four years, Matthew’s other sister Gabby played for HPNA and took part in the event. One of her former teammates, junior forward Mia Kmiec is proud to take part in this Saturday’s event.
“It’s an important game and one of our biggest ones of the year,” said Kmiec, whose brother Ryan will also take part as the goalie on the NA boys’ team. “It doesn’t matter who we are playing, we just make sure that we come out and play as hard as we can and help the cause. Whenever so many people come to this game, it just helps bring us energy, so we’re expecting another big crowd.”