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Community Service, Section XI News

Middle Country and Longwood Recognized by Team Up 4 Community

Middle Country and Longwood placed second and third, respectively, in the winter Long Island Holiday Sports Heroes Challenge hosted by Team Up 4 Community.

The final stats for winter 2024: 36,429 athletes dedicated 198,831-plus hours to community service, giving back $1.8M in impact!

Middle Country hosted a Hoops for Hope event to raise awareness of cancer. Coach Andrew Gallo conceived the idea for Hoops for Hope during his wife’s third day of chemotherapy treatment. He was inspired to give back to the community that had shown immense generosity during such a challenging time. Choosing Positively Pink as the event sponsor was a meaningful decision, as its founder, Maria McMullen, is a close friend of his wife and a former Middle Country teacher.

Throughout October, Longwood’s Junior High, Junior Varsity, and Varsity cheerleaders turned each home football game into a celebration of support for breast cancer awareness with their “Tuck for a Buck” fundraiser. The cheerleaders took their spirit beyond the sidelines, rallying fans and collecting donations in the stands with pink pom poms in hand.

Section XI News

Longtime Port Jeff Coach Al Desiderio Will be Missed

Longtime Port Jefferson coach and teacher Alphonse (Al) Desiderio passed away recently. He was a business teacher and coach for the Port Jefferson School District from 1958 to 1995.

Coach Desi is the longest-tenured high school baseball coach in Suffolk County’s history, having coached at Port Jefferson for 37 years. He has coached his teams to over 400 wins, including 10 league championships and 20 playoff appearances.

He was inducted into the Suffolk County Sports Hall of Fame in 1997. He was also a professor of business management at Suffolk County Community College for over 40 years. Always willing to help others, he was involved with the Miracle League of Long Island and helped bring the first softball team to Suffolk County for autistic and handicapped children.

The funeral mass for Al Desiderio will be at Infant Jesus Church in Port Jefferson on Thursday, November 14 at 10:30 a.m. The burial will be at Cedar Hill Cemetery.

Section XI News

John Glenn Wins NYSPHSAA Community Service Challenge

The New York State Public High School Athletic Association Inc. (NYSPHSAA) announces Elwood/John Glenn High School (Section XI) as the Spring 2024 Community Service Challenge winner. This is the first award for Elwood/John Glenn High School in the 12 years NYSPHSAA has conducted the Community Service Challenge, which partner NYCM Insurance presents.

Seeing the need for more opportunities for classmates with disabilities, Elwood/John Glenn High School students raised $5,000 to expand their district’s Unified Sports programs. With a vision beyond the high school, the goal to add more athletic programming trickled down to the middle and elementary schools in the district with the ‘Blooming Buddies’ program.

“By bringing these programs down to the elementary and middle school levels, we open up opportunities for students with and without intellectual and developmental disabilities to connect at an earlier age,” said Elwood/John Glenn rising senior Joey Mammolito. “These connections help break barriers and remove stigmas.  I am happy to see more and more of my teammates and other athletes getting involved each year.”

Mammolito has been credited with much of the work done to strengthen additional programming for students across the Elwood/John Glenn district.

“[Mammolito’s] dedication to the Unified Basketball and Bowling Program is commendable. Joey played a key role in establishing the Blooming Buddies Program and has been active in the Athletes for All program,” said Elwood/John Glenn Athletic Director David Shanahan. “Joey is a young man who certainly has made a difference in the lives of students involved in our Unified Programs.”

This spring, 6,712 student-athletes participated in 181 community service projects. The 51,900 hours served by student-athletes resulted in a value of $438,551 in time served and raised $201,934 in charitable donations.

“NYSPHSAA is proud of the student-athletes who commit to their district Unified Sports opportunities, and Elwood/John Glenn High School is the ultimate example of what can happen when student-athletes chip in,” said NYSPHSAA Executive Director Dr. Robert Zayas. “We are proud to have student-athletes like Mammolito and his classmates representing NYSPHSAA.”