Royals Agree to Terms with 'Star' for a Day

Reading, PA – The Reading Royals of the ECHL, affiliate of the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League, and the Antietam Valley Recreation and Community Center Life Guard Program today were excited to announce that eight-year old Zach Strunk will be honored as a ‘Royal for A Day’ during a game in the upcoming ECHL season. The honor, which is part of the “When You Wish Upon a Guard” program run by the AVRCC Life Guards, was bestowed earlier today on a completely surprised Zach by Royals’ Team President Drew Bell and the team’s mascot Slapshot at the AVRCC.

“We’re excited to have Zach as part of our team,” said Bell. “He’s a courageous young man, who is doing his part to help others. So we’re glad to have this chance to give back to him and his family. I’m sure our players are going to be honored to meet Zach and call him one of their teammates.”

Zach’s response was short and sweet: “This is awesome.”

Zach, who is a long-time Royals fan, suffered an unfortunate lawnmower accident as a young boy in which he lost a portion of his leg. Zach recently lost his grandmother to breast cancer and has been working to raise awareness for this cause. As part of the ‘Royal for a Day’ honor, Zach will be the team’s guest at an upcoming day of activities. His day as a Royal will include dressing up with the team (with his own jersey), meeting the players in the locker room, watching practice from the bench, and getting autographs and photos with the players. The date of the “Royal for a Day” event is still to be determined, but will be held early in the Royals’ upcoming season. Zach and his family will also receive tickets to five Royals games in the 2016-17 season, including the team’s Pink in the Rink Celebration. In one of those games, Zach will have a chance to drop the ceremonial first puck.

Season Sixteen of Royals’ “Hometown Hockey” kicks off on Saturday, October 15, (7:00 pm) when the Elmira Jackals will visit Santander Arena in Reading, Pennsylvania. Season Tickets for the 2016-17 Reading Royals ECHL season are currently available. Call 610-898-7825 for more information or log onto www.royalshockey.com.

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