The Rob Sund Scholarship Fund was created in honor of Rob Sund. The program is funded through donations from various events and fundraisers of the association. Funds from the program go to offset team fees for families in need. The board of directors of the association will review all applications at a private executive session. All information and discussion will be considered confidential and will not be available for public knowledge.
Financial Aid requests are due one week prior to the close of registration.
Rob Sund was a self-described hockey dad. He and his wife Lyn were passionate for both the game and the hockey community that the game created. Born in Duluth he was the oldest son of five children. He was an electronic engineer for Cardiac Pacemakers Incorporated. Rob's children, Jeremy in hockey and Kristin playing volleyball, both note they remember their Dad being in the stands for all of their games. Rob loved to watch kids play sports, he loved the leagues in which his kids played and he loved belonging to the youth sports communities.
At the age of 42, Rob Sund died in December 1987 during quadruple bypass surgery.
The Rob Sund Fund was initially established as a means to thank the hockey community for the love and support the Sund family received during the very difficult time after Rob’s death.
Community. Passion. Empathy. These are the tenets that the Rob Sund Fund represents. Daughter Kristin, a volleyball coach, still imparts to her teams the examples she learned from her parents as a child. Get to know one another, recognize “too crazy”, love the bleachers, and cheer for each child as if they were your own. As an association, we maintain this fund because we believe as many kids as possible should play hockey. Our hockey family is like any other; we’ll have siblings that squabble. The Rob Sund Fund reminds us that regardless of our personal differences when one of our members is in need, help will be provided.
By reading the comments provided by Rob's family hopefully we’ll all understand that it is not the destination we’ll remember, but the journey.
Lyn (wife)
"In fact Jeremy still plays hockey in an adult league in Denver. His response pretty much sums it up about Rob; he was "just" a hockey Dad who was always there for volunteering, supporting the league and especially his son. So this was a salute to all hockey dads. He was only 42 when he passed away in December 1987 during quadruple bypass surgery. He was an electronic engineer for Cardiac Pacemaker, ironic I know. I believe I established the scholarship fund in 1988 or 89 with an annual golf tournament to support it. I agree Hockey truly creates a sense of community as our hockey "family" was so supportive for our family during a very difficult time that this was a way of saying thank you. I don't know what we would have done without them."
Jeremy (son)
"My father passed away when I was 13. He never missed one of my games. He was an amazing father and he loved Hockey! I do remember him giving my old equipment away to kids that needed it. I can tell you there wasn’t a single game that I looked in the stands and couldn’t find my parents."
Kristin (daughter)
"My Dad, and Mom for that matter, were the consummate hockey parents. My Dad came to love hockey by being born into a hockey family from Duluth, he was the oldest of four brothers and a sister. My Grandfather coached and I’m pretty sure everyone in the bloodlines played hockey including the current generations. I really don’t have any childhood memories that don’t include hockey-talk or a bunch of guys yelling at a TV. To this day I don’t know how my parents managed to be at every game of every sport we played.
I played volleyball and I could hear my Dad’s voice at every game and then there was the game overview on the way home. Jeremy had the same play-by-play post-game review with Dad too.
I share stories about my dad with all the parents each year. I encourage them to get to know each other, get to know each jersey and cheer for every kid like they were your own, get all crazy about bad calls but keep each other in check, learn to love the bleachers (or in my dad’s case your breath on the glass during hockey season), and have a hug for your kid no matter what the scoreboard says –thanks Dad.
Was he “just” a hockey dad? Yep, that’s what he would tell you. That’s how hockey dads are. If the memorial fund can pass along these sentiments to more families and provide some financial relief, I hope you can keep it going. We lost our Dad way too early but having this fund contribute to building new hockey communities helps us know his spirit is still alive."