NCAHL

The NCAHL is a community of men and women making a difference in the lives of children on the spectrum and their families.

In the summer of 2021, four beer league hockey players, one hockey wife, and one autistic child packed their gear and overnight bags into a car and drove eighteen hours from Raleigh, North Carolina, to Glacier Hills, Illinois. They were headed to the Pucks for Autism Hockey Tournament. The fun they had that weekend (and the exhaustion from thirty-six hours of driving) sparked a dream to bring this kind of charity tournament back to Raleigh’s vibrant hockey community.

The following year, the North Carolina Autism Hockey League was born, with a mission to raise awareness about Autism Spectrum Disorder and fund sensory tools for children with autism through weekend hockey tournaments.

Our founder, Andrew Mazzeo, became keenly aware of the need for greater support for autistic children in North Carolina's public school systems because of his son, Mason, who is on the spectrum. The Mazzeo family observed that some non-verbal students lacked the resources needed to effectively communicate with parents and teachers. They saw an opportunity to offer children the gift of communication by raising funds to provide schools with sensory tools and help renovate classrooms into sensory rooms—equipped with low lighting, compression suits, medicine balls, and more.

NCAHL partners with hockey players, families of children on the spectrum, special needs teachers, and anyone looking to make a difference in the lives of autistic children—by raising awareness, building community, and providing financial support.