BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Bethlehem’s largest adult ice hockey tournament is kicking off Friday along with Musikfest.
Hockey Fights MS is celebrating 20 years. The tournament was started in 2005 by Candice Arnold shortly after she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.
Starting Aug. 1-3 and Aug. 8-10, more than 50 teams will face off at Steel Ice Center.
“I grew up here in the Lehigh Valley playing ice hockey and in 2005 I was diagnosed with MS and at the time I was a student at Muhlenberg College, and I had to do a school project, I had to shadow a small business,” Arnold told 69 News.
Instead of shadowing a business, Arnold, who grew up playing ice hockey, created a fundraiser for MS.
“I asked my professor if I could do this instead and he said yes. It was supposed to be a one-time fundraiser and it just kind of blew up from there,” Arnold explained.
Now Hockey Fights MS tournaments are played as far north as Maine to down south in Virginia.
“We’ve had some teams playing since the very first tournament so it’s pretty cool,” Arnold stated.
Steel Ice Center’s owner Keith Krem said Hockey Fights MS is the largest tournament the rink hosts.
“It’s an exciting time for us. Obviously, we’re on the southside of Bethlehem [during Musikfest] so we have a lot of moving parts that are going on here but this is a really cool opportunity for the hockey community to get down here in really one of the most exciting times to be at Steel Ice Center,” Krem said.
Dawn Reeps is a volunteer and has played in the tournament since its inception.
“It’s just a lot of fun. You get to see a lot of friends that you don’t get to see all year and obviously we get to play hockey,” Reeps said.
To date, Hockey Fights MS has raised more than $575,000 to benefit various research centers and the MS Wellness Program at Good Shepherd Rehabilitation.