In sports, we’re sometimes a bit too cavalier in how we use the word “legendary.”
Legendary status should be reserved for the athletes or coaches who truly leave an immeasurable impact on their particular sport.
John Brennan is, without a doubt, fitting of that status.
The St. Francis Prep, Fresh Meadows, and entire CHSAA community are mourning the loss of the Terriers’ longtime varsity boys’ and girls’ tennis coach.
Brennan, a devout St. John’s University, Jamaica, men’s basketball fan, suffered a stroke while watching the Red Storm take on UConn on Feb. 23 at Madison Square Garden. He died the next day at Mount Sinai West Hospital at the age of 73.
A Mass of Christian burial was cel- ebrated on Feb. 28 at Brennan’s home parish, American Martyrs, Bayside, where the Bellerose resident was a daily communicant.
“John was not only one of the best coaches in the CHSAA, but as chairman for so many years, he was able to touch the lives of almost every player in the Catholic League,” said Brooklyn/Queens CHSAA President Ray Nash. “He will be impossible to replace.”
Brennan grew up as a baseball and basketball player who went on to play freshman hoops at St. John’s. When his skills didn’t fully translate to the college game, he turned to tennis, playing two years for the Johnnies.
Upon his graduation in 1974, he moved out west to Los Angeles to begin a career as a tennis instructor. However, he was diagnosed with his first bout of oral cancer and returned home to New York for treatment. After major surgery and radiation therapy, he returned to Los Angeles to continue his tennis career.
Brennan wound up back in New York and took the position as the junior varsity boys’ tennis coach at St. Francis Prep. He soon ascended to the varsity level, and in 1988, he took over the girls’ program as well. For more than 33 years of coaching, the accolades became too many to count.
Across both programs, he won dozens of league, city, state, and Mayor’s Cup champion- ships — including his girls’ team this past fall that won the city championship. From 1998 to 2010, the girls’ team posted 205 consecutive victories and even posted an improbable stretch of going 140 matches in a row without losing a set. That’s unheard of in tennis.
In 2008, the St. Francis Prep Alumni Board recognized Brennan as an honorary alumnus. In 2014, Brennan was an inaugural member of the St. Francis Prep Red and Blue Terrier Ring of Honor, which recognizes the outstanding achievements of prominent past athletes and coaches who have enhanced the school’s spirit and reputation. When he was inducted into the CHSAA Hall of Fame in 2018, he was the first-ever tennis honoree.
“There was nobody like him,” said St. Francis Prep athletic director Sal Fischetti, a fellow CHSAA Hall of Famer who also serves as girls’ CHSAA tennis chairperson for the Diocese of Rockville Centre, Long Island. “He’s just like the coaching greats — Tim Leary, Vince O’Connor, Jane Modry. With his heart and soul, he loved it.
“If you go on the St. Francis Prep website and look at the school mission statement, it says, ‘St. Francis Prep, we treat others with dignity and respect.’ Dignity and respect are two great words to describe John Brennan as a coach. He lived our mission as a school, without a doubt.”
While he built a powerhouse tennis program, his primary focus was always on the development of his student-athletes. He mentored them and was a role model in handling adversity, especially after his cancer returned. Yet, even three major operations couldn’t stop him.
“Coach has always been very supportive of me since my freshman year,” said senior girls’ varsity tennis team captain Lara Afolayanka, who spent four years on varsity under Brennan. “I’ll remember him most by the simplicity in which he explained the game to us.
“He let us know that we were great and would give us words of encouragement.”
Given his longevity and success both on and off the court, Brennan leaves a lasting legacy not soon to be forgotten. When it comes to CHSAA tennis, a strong case can be made that he’s the only legend, and as the saying goes, legends never die.
This man of faith did things the right way, and his resilience, wisdom, and spirit will live on at the Prep and beyond.
“If he’s not in heaven,” Fischetti said, “then nobody gets into heaven.”
Contact Jim Mancari via email at jmmanc@gmail.com.