Hoping To Bounce Back

Dominant pitching key to 
redemption from playoff elimination

The Garden City varsity baseball team’s season is underway and Coach Rich Smith is looking forward to another run at the playoffs as they come off of last season’s tough second round playoff loss. 

 

Last year’s playoff team that went 12-5 opened eyes around the high school diamonds and will lead to higher expectations out of this year’s quad. 

 

Garden City Recreation And Parks Department News: April 12, 2013

Recreation And Parks Needs Assessment

Please be advised that residents can expect the receipt of the Needs Assessment Survey between April 12 and April 15.  All residents are urged to participate.

Parent And Tots Sports Program

The Recreation and Parks Department is please to offer a program dedicated to parents and tots. The US Sports Institute’s Parent and Tot Program will introduce 2 and 3-year-olds to a variety of sports, games and group activities, all with the help of a parent. This seven-week program, open to residents of the Village of Garden City, will be available on Thursdays beginning April 18 according to the following times:

10 to 10:45 a.m. $95

11 to 11:45 a.m. $95

Noon to 12:45 p.m. $95

Girls Quest For Eight Begins

Highly touted girls lax program locked and loaded

The Garden City girls lacrosse team has been unstoppable the last seven years, winning seven consecutive state titles on their way to becoming one of the most dominant teams in all of Long Island sports. Coach Diane “Chappy” Chapman has been able to reload each year to the tune of more than 200 wins with talented underclassmen to support the experienced seniors and juniors that typically lead the team.  

This year’s team will once again fit that formula after having graduated several All-Americans and experienced leaders from last year’s championship team. The team will rely on the leadership of captains Linda Marie Attanasio, Liz Furman, Carly Knowles and Lily Schmitt to bring another successful season to Garden City.

Third Grade Boys Win Long Island Hoops Championship

Practice pays off. Just ask the 2012-2013 Garden City Athletic Association (GCAA) third-grade boys travel basketball team, who recently won the Island Garden Super League championship. Coached by Kevin Wood and John Kufs, the team practiced from November through March, alternating with game days. “Kevin did a tremendous job at scheduling practices and getting us gym time,” Kufs said. “We were well-prepared for the games. … By the end of the season, the team was executing many of [offensive and defensive] strategies that they had struggled to grasp months earlier.”

The team competed against 15 “travel/tryout-caliber” teams from all over Long Island, according to Wood. The boys won their first 10 games, beating all of the best third-grade teams in the division. “At that point, the league scheduled our team to play seven of our last eight games vs. fourth-grade teams, [against] which we struggled, losing five of those seven, along with a loss in February in the Syosset Goodman rematch,” Kufs said.

Spring Soccer Is Underway

Boys and girls of all ages and levels l

ace up for the new season

One of the largest youth organizations in town, the Garden City Centennial Soccer Club, has kicked off its Spring season. The Centennials have been working hard for over 30 years to provide young soccer players with an environment that allows them to play and enjoy youth soccer. The club has several avenues for the boys and girls who enjoy the game of soccer to play at a level that best suits their abilities.

The largest program, intramurals, is based on four principles: everyone plays, balanced teams, positive coaching and open registration. The program covers boys and girls from kindergarten right through high school and is very dependent on the volunteer efforts of the many parents that step up and get involved. Getting as many parents involved as possible in the program has made the Centennials as successful as it is. Opening day for the intramural season is April 6 with the season concluding with SoccerFest on June 1.

Garden City Recreation And Parks Department News: March 29, 2013

Recreation And Parks Annual Easter Hunt

The Garden City Recreation Department is once again sponsoring the annual Easter Egg Hunt on Saturday, March 30 at Community Park’s fields.  This year three hunts will be held beginning at 10 a.m. with three age divisions: preschool to kindergarten, grades 1 and 2; and grades 3 to 5.

Special eggs will be stuffed and hidden for all divisions. Each hunt will also feature a grand prize, (an Easter basket filled with goodies), that will go to the youngster who finds the egg marked “#1 Lucky Egg.”

For further information, please call the Community Park at 516-483-2525.

Local Stars Honored By Long Island Soccer Hall of Fame

Paul LeSueur and Chris Armas among inductees

On a recent Saturday evening at the Long Island Junior Soccer League’s annual convention, the first group of Long Island Soccer Player Hall of Fame inductees was presented. This inaugural class of inductees includes two former players with strong Garden City ties – longtime resident Paul LeSueur and Adelphi Women’s soccer coach Chris Armas. Also inducted were Cosmos goalie Shep Messing who played high school ball at The Wheatley School and Kim Wyant who played for the LI Lady Riders and coached at Dowling College.

After graduating from St. Anthony’s High School in 1990, Armas went on to star at Adelphi University, being named an All-American as a senior. Upon graduation he joined the Long Island Rough Riders for two all-star seasons. He then went on to star for 12 seasons in the MLS for both the LA Galaxy and the Chicago Fire, while also attaining 66 caps in international play for the US. He is currently in his third year as head coach of the Adelphi Women’s team.

Swimmers In Junior Olympics

Garden City residents Kalie Yuen, Julia Hall, Alana Brown, Veronica Trzeciak, and Ryan Brown have qualified to compete at the 2013 Metropolitan Swimming Junior Olympics. These young swimmers will compete representing the nationally ranked host team, Long Island Aquatic Club (LIAC). Each year LIAC sends a large squad to the Junior Olympics to compete for the titles as the best age group swimmers in the Metropolitan LSC. Also pictured above are Delaney Hall, Lindsey Schlichte, and Connor Brown, qualifiers for the Junior National Championship meet to take place in Orlando Florida the same week. This is an extremely admirable accomplishment as only a select number of swimmers nationwide qualify each year. These athletes got their start at the Metropolitan Junior Olympics as age group swimmers and are proud to represent LIAC and Garden City at the national level. The Junior Olympics took place March 15–17 at the Nassau County Aquatic Center, in Eisenhower Park. For more information on the Junior Olympics or the Long Island Aquatic Club visit LIAC’s website www.longislandswimming.com.

Student-Athletes Dominate Once Again

Trojans have a strong winter season

across the board

Garden City High School is blessed to have one of the stronger student–athlete populations on Long Island. Regardless of the sports season, the teams, coaches and players compete hard on both the field and in the classroom. On the academic side this is no more evident each year then when the list of scholar athletes is presented and the universities that they will be attending are announced. For some sports the verbal commitments are made in junior year (lacrosse), but in many it is the spring of their senior year. Typically you will see schools like Harvard, Georgetown, Boston College and Notre Dame on that list – schools where even the best athletes need to also excel in the classroom.  

This winter session was no different for the Trojans as they had several outstanding performances, great team results and four County Championships.

Girls Making Playoff Statement

 Lady Trojans earn Coach Sparacia 200th career win

The Garden City girl’s varsity team has enjoyed a successful season this year with a deep playoff run. The girls entered the post-season as the number six seed in Nassau after a second place finish in Conference A-1 with a 9-2 record while compiling a 12-4 overall record during the regular season. For a relatively young team with two juniors, two sophomores and a freshman in the starting lineup, the Lady Trojans have had an excellent campaign.

As of this writing the girls have been on a roll in the playoffs with three straight victories and an appearance in the County Championship game against Floral Park on last Saturday, Feb. 23.