Aberdeen hockey player John Laursen’s plan to hold a charity game – Play for a Purpose – finally came to fruition Thursday, nearly four years after the ugly incident that inspired it.
Back in December of 2018, 13-year-old Divyne Apollon II and his travel team, the Maryland Maple Leafs, played a game against a team from Pennsylvania, which turned violent after opposing players directed ‘monkey sounds’ and other taunts at him. Apollon, who is Black, was suspended from the game for fighting.
His story didn’t go unnoticed. The media picked it up.