Abby Harris Memorial Hockey Jamboree set for Dec. 6

By Ted Glanzer 

Staff Writer 

Abby Harris

Before she died a day prior to her 20th birthday, Simsbury resident Abby Harris encouraged people to live a beautiful life.

Harris died Dec. 29, 2022, from glioblastoma, a form of brain cancer.

But her parents, Lourdes and George Harris, have continued Abby’s memory and her legacy through the Abby Harris Memorial Hockey Jamboree, which takes place Friday, Dec. 6.

It’s the second year of the jamboree, which will feature two Simsbury High girls hockey games at 5:50 p.m. and 7:20 p.m. at the International Skating Center of Connecticut in Simsbury.

Abby’s parents have also set up a scholarship in her honor, which has raised more than $50,000 so far and has four recipients. This year’s jamboree will not serve as a fundraiser for the scholarship like last year, Lourdes Harris said.

Lourdes said it’s been, at times, a challenging two years since Abby died. Lourdes only recently was able to cancel Abby’s cellphone plan, as it was one way to remain connected to her daughter, who was playing hockey at Manhattanville College before her diagnosis.

“My daughter started skating when she was 4 years old,” Lourdes said. “She came home one day from school, learned to skate for free. … And that was it for her. She just loved skating.”

Abby, who was just 4-10, played wing and center for the MiniLights, the younger team of the Northern Lights, and high school teams in Simsbury.

“She was small but fierce,” Lourdes said.

That was true not just on the ice, but off it. 

Lourdes said she stood up for her friends and was quick with a compliment or a word of encouragement.

In carrying her memory forward, members of her family – including Lourdes and George – got a tattoo of living a beautiful life with her handwriting.

George has preferred to remain in the background, supporting Lourdes in her effort to keep Abby’s memory alive. 

Last year, he wrote of several exchanges he had with parents of children who participated in the first jamboree:

“The father of the young woman who received the first scholarship from Abby’s fund was excited to update me about his daughter, currently in Ireland as part of her studies. He emphasized how meaningful it was for her to be the first recipient, and how Abby’s message of, ‘Live a Beautiful Life – Stripes and All,’ has continued to inspire her.”

“The father of one of Abby’s younger teammates at SHS spoke of the impact Abby made on his daughter. The first day she walked into the locker room as a freshman, Abby immediately welcomed her, and she went home that day and told her dad that she had been nervous but met a really nice girl. This was a real hockey dad (not a faux hockey dad like me); his father had been a tough old guy who had covered the hockey beat for the Boston Globe. But he teared up as he told me the story of Abby’s impact on his daughter.”

“And a father of a current SHS freshman introduced himself by saying, ‘my daughter is number 3, she just scored a goal!’ then shared how Abby’s U-19 team had been on the ice helping his daughter’s team when she was only 10. He and his daughter remembered Abby and her kindness from that day.”