Now that the school year is in full swing, that means it’s a busy time for the Diocese of Brooklyn’s Catholic Youth Organization (CYO) program.
The playoffs are approaching for boys’ and girls’ soccer, and the largest CYO sport – basketball – just got underway.
To ring in the basketball season, CYO and Cathedral Prep and Seminary, Elmhurst, teamed up to host a Basketball Coaches Clinic on Oct. 23. Father Joseph Fonti, rector principal, graciously welcomed over 75 CYO coaches’ to the school.
The coaches clinic had been an annual occurrence since CYO Director Rob Caldera took over in 2013. However, this year, the clinic took on a more interactive feel.
The basketball staff at Cathedral Prep – Joe Crimi, Walter Stark, Jim Walsh and Chris Doyle – walked the CYO coaches through live drills and practice techniques, with the help of the Crusaders’ hoops players.
Actually seeing the drills being run allows the CYO coaches to be well prepared for the start of their parish seasons.
The clinic though was not just about seeing these live drills. Cathedral coaches also discussed key topics, including the role of a CYO coach, setting up a team, organizing a practice, utilizing an assistant coach, working with parents, properly dealing with officials, misunderstood rules, the game of basketball itself and a coach’s goals for a particular season.
The CYO basketball season began Oct. 16 for girls and Oct. 30 for boys. Between a handful of preseason tournaments and the Basketball Coaches Clinic, another exciting season of CYO hoops is on the horizon.
CYO Opening Mass
On Oct. 24, youth sports teams from Queens Deanery No. 5 got together for their annual CYO Opening Season Mass.
Queens Deanery No. 5 includes Our Lady of the Snows, North Floral Park; American Martyrs, Bayside; Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament, Bayside; Holy Family, Flushing; St. Gregory the Great, Bellerose; St. Kevin, Flushing; St. Robert Bellarmine, Bayside; Sacred Heart of Jesus, Cambria Heights; and St. Anastasia, Douglaston.
Msgr. Martin Geraghty, the recently retired pastor of St. Robert Bellarmine, was the main celebrant of the Mass. Father Kevin McBrien, pastor of Our Lady of the Snows and dean of the deanery; Father Thomas Pettei, episcopal vicar for Queens; Father Frank Schwartz, pastor of American Martyrs; Father William Dulaney, CYO moderator of St. Gregory the Great; Father Mark Matthias, parochial vicar of Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament, and other parish priests concelebrated the Mass.
The CYO players all received a special blessing, a prayer card and a CYO button at the Mass as Msgr. Geraghty wished them a successful and safe new season.
Father Matthias was the homilist and expressed the importance of sportsmanship, teamwork and prayer. He told the players that it’s not the score at the end of the game that is most important, but it’s instead how you play the game and always staying close to Jesus Christ – that is what the CYO is all about.
CYO Cross-Country Champs Crowned
The champions of the CYO’s fall cross-country season were crowned Oct. 25. This year’s big winner was Our Lady of Victory, Floral Park, which took the title in five of the eight divisions. Here are the winners:
Boys
Novice: Our Lady of Victory
Bantam: Our Lady of Victory
Junior: Our Lady of Victory
Senior: St. Margaret, Middle Village
Girls
Novice: Our Lady of Victory
Bantam: St. Francis de Sales, Belle Harbor
Junior: Our Lady of Victory
Senior: St. Francis de Sales
Contact Jim Mancari via email at jmmanc@gmail.com.