Like his favorite hockey team, the accolades for Scott Tassone just keep coming.
The Oakstead Elementary ball hockey coach, teacher and self-proclaimed Lightning superfan was recognized by the NHL, NHLPA, EverFi and the Tampa Bay Lightning as the NHL Future Goals Most Valuable Teacher following a fan vote.
Each NHL team nominated a teacher for the award, and friends, family, students and fans could vote online through April 1. With Tassone coming out on top, he was surprised during a Lightning Playoff Pep Rally on April 16 by a Lightning alumnus, mascot ThunderBug, Pasco County Superintendent John Legg and the entire Oakstead student body and staff.
Tassone was also presented with a Lightning jersey. The Future Goals Most Valuable Teacher of the Year will be announced by the NHL during Teacher Appreciation Week, May 4-8. Tassone will receive a trip to an NHL event.
The Future Goals Most Valuable Teacher program is part of the NHL and NHLPA’s Future Goals initiative, funded by their joint Industry Growth Fund. Nareg Dekermenjian, a fifth-grade teacher at Dixie Canyon Community Charter in Sherman Oaks, California, and the Los Angeles Kings’ nominee, was named the 2025 Future Goals Most Valuable Teacher.
In 2025, the Lightning selected Tassone as their annual Coach of the Bay after he was nominated by players, parents and fellow staff. He was celebrated at a game last season.
Tassone has been coaching ball hockey at Oakstead since he started the team six years ago. A few years back, Lightning players visited the school to play with the kids, and the team provided Oakstead with gear and equipment.
Tassone also founded the annual Fox Strong Ball Hockey Tournament, which honors former player Mason Fox, who died in February 2024 after a 10-month battle with leukemia. Now in its third year, the tournament has raised thousands of dollars for Smile Like Mason, a nonprofit started by the Fox family, and to help Oakstead staff members fighting cancer. This year’s event featured 400 players from Oakstead and nearby elementary schools Trinity, Lake Myrtle and Skybrooke Bexley.
“Hockey is so popular in Tampa, especially because of the Stanley Cups,” Tassone told the Land O’ Lakes Beacon in January 2025. “I love watching hockey so much, which is why I started this team at Oakstead.”