A photo says a 1,000 words. This is East Islip Athletic Director Steve Restivo a few weeks ago helping tend to the field at his school in dress pants.
Our athletic directors in Suffolk County do so much for their schools.
Thanks to all of them for their unrivaled work ethics!
(Photo Credit Bob Sorensen)
There is a new book about the life of Long Island native and Hills alum Raymond J. Enners.
Heart of Gray was written to honor Enners who, after graduating from the United States Military Academy at West Point, served his country with the Americal Division in Vietnam, where he was killed in the line of duty at the age of twenty-two.
A natural leader, Ray was a world class football and lacrosse player who won honors in high school and later won honors playing lacrosse at West Point. Today, the USILA annually presents the First LT. Raymond J. Enners Award for the best intercollegiate lacrosse player in the nation-some call it the Heisman Trophy of lacrosse.
Heart of Gray presents a gripping account of his distinguished life…from his formative high school years, through his cadet life at West Point where he honed his leadership skills, to the events leading to his death in the paddy fields of Vietnam where he earned the Distinguished Service Cross, the nation’s second highest award for valor.
Written by his younger brother Rich, who is also a West Point graduate, Heart of Gray embodies the ideals of Duty, Honor, Country learned by every member of the Long Gray Line—a code that Ray Enners embraced and is still being taught to future leaders of America’s military.
CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE THE BOOK!
About the Author
Richard Enners grew up in Farmingdale, Long Island, New York, graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1971, and served five years in the Army with the 9th Division in Fort Lewis, Washington and the United States Military Academy Preparatory School in Fort Belvoir, Virginia. He later pursued a career in business, initially sales and marketing, and eventually led companies with revenues of $60M-$120M in Japan, British Columbia, and the USA.
Praise
“The very core of leadership is character. Throughout Heart of Gray you will experience character at its finest, from the roots of Ray’s youth to his values-based leadership approach on the fields of battle.” —Mike Krzyzewski, Head Coach, Duke University Men’s Basketball
“Success in all team sports relies on great leadership and supporting the concept of TEAM by contributing to something greater than yourself. Lt. Raymond Enners embodied these values on the playing field and in life. Heart of Gray reveals Lt. Enners’ exceptional characteristics through his heroic actions and daily life. A truly inspirational story and legacy.” —Chuck Mitrano, President, United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association and Empire 8 Commissioner
“The story of Raymond Enners is an inspiring illustration of how commitment and duty to others learned through athletics, family, and education captures the essence of great leadership evolving through selflessness, dedication, and humility. The life lessons learned by Raymond Enners through participation in athletics are compelling in his actions of bravery and heroism as he made the ultimate sacrifice for his team. Heart of Gray provides a true appreciation of the special person that Raymond Enners became during his lifetime.” —George Searing, President, Suffolk County Lacrosse Coaches Association
The brackets for the Suffolk County girls playoffs are officially available.
Games begin on Friday, October 21.
Top seeds in this year’s tournament
Ward Melville, Miller Place and Pierson/Bridgehampton are the top seeds in this year’s Section XI field hockey playoffs, which kicked off on Friday afternoon.
The Section XI boys soccer playoff brackets have been officially released.
Top seeds in this year’s brackets:
Two student-athletes from Section XI have been selected for the New York State Public High School Athletic Association, Inc. (NYSPHSAA) 2017 Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC).
Jensen Corabi from Half Hollow Hills West and Paige Volkmann from Central Moriches High School will represent Suffolk.
The SAAC was developed to give student-athletes a voice within the NYSPHSAA. Over the course of the school year, the committee will discuss topics relevant to high school student-athletes and develop ways to maintain a positive athletic experience.
“The mission of our organization revolves around the development, safety and participation of student-athletes in our programs and we are excited to finally have in place a Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC),” said NYSPHSAA Executive Director, Robert Zayas. “This committee will be critical in providing feedback to further enhance and improve our programs with our member schools. We are looking forward to bringing in an outstanding group of student-athletes and getting to work with them.”
Things are starting to heat up in Suffolk County athletics. Some sports are already in the post-season, while others have teams vying for seeds and placement.
This is the perfect opportunity for you to block your calendar and plan on attending some playoff and championship action this call.
For all championship info, please review our fall championship schedules by clicking here.
For all playoff brackets, stay locked into our brackets page by clicking here.
Good luck to all student-athletes, coaches and teams this post-season and thanks for making us proud!
The 2016 Section XI fall varsity girls playoff brackets have been released.
Commack is the No. 1 seed in Suffolk County.
The tournament will run from October 13 through October 22.
There are incredible moments on the athletic fields of Section XI every day. Some we hear about, some we see dribs and drabs of on social media.
There are so many that come across our radar now that we are making a huge effort with Section XI communications.
As we see fun pictures, moments or anything worth sharing from around Section XI, we’ll add them to our pages.
Game-winning OT thriller in Southampton
This week’s shareable moment comes from Southampton boy’s varsity soccer, which won a close game against Hampton Bays, 4-3. Sebastian Pereira scored his second goal of the game off an assist from Devin O’Brien at 7:27 of overtime.
Patchogue-Medford alum Marcus Stroman will start the American League Wild Card game for the Toronto Blue Jays on Tuesday night.
“I couldn’t be happier,” he told MLB.com. “I couldn’t be prouder and I couldn’t be more excited to be out there in a deciding game to put us in the playoffs. So I relish this opportunity and I can’t wait.”
Stroman, who was inducted to the Patchogue-Medford Hall of Fame in the summer, was 9-10 with a 4.37 ERA in the regular season.
