Community News,  Friday April 12, 1999

For the love of the game
Planes, trains and
automobiles help parents share game duties

By STAN HUDY
 

MANHATTAN - While the Clifton Park Pee Wee team was competing in the New York State Amateur Hockey Association Tier II Pee Wee State Championship tournament at Skyrink at Chelsea Piers in Manhattan some par-ents got a stronger workout, physically and financially, than their players on the ice.

      Andy and Patty Higgins spent the entire weekend commuting from the Albany area to Manhattan to watch their son, Tim, play in the state pee wee tournament in Manhattan, while their older daughter, Deanna, competed with the Shenendehowa High School girls' basketball team in the New York State Federation Championships at the Glens Falls Civic Center Friday and Saturday.

      Andy, Patty, younger daughter Brit-tany and Tim rode the team chartered bus down Thursday evening to Manhat-tan and stayed with the team at the Madison Plaza Ramada. 

The couple saw the 7 am. game and their son Tim, score a goal in the 7-0 victory.  After the game, they raced to Penn Station to grab an Amtrak train to Hudson; the couple then drove to Glens Falls and saw their daughter score six points and hand out three assists in the Plainsmen's 57-45 win over Bertrand Murray. After a quick congratulations hug and confirmation of their daughter's care, the couple took a train back to Manhattan for Tim's 8:50 a.m. Saturday game.

     Once again, Andy and Patty were dropped off at Penn Station by the team bus and boarded a train for Hudson to watch Deanna score six points in the Plainsmen 63-51 loss to Christ the King at the Glens Falls Civic Center Saturday night in the New York State Federation finals. Like a trooper, Andy's sister drove the couple to the Rensselaer station to board a train and reach Manhat-tan late Saturday night.

      For the Higgins family, Sunday was a day of rest - they saw Tim and his teammates win the New York state title and then rode the team bus back home.

     The Higgins family's efforts were matched by six other sets of parents that spent the weekend commuting or tele-commuting with cell phones to check in and verify the other portion of the family's status.

(This article was edited for length)

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