When the Herricks High School and Middle School football teams take their fields this year, they’ll see a large blue-and-white H stenciled at midfield.
The letters are the handiwork of the Herricks Athletics Boosters, who aim to diversify students’ experience in the Herricks School District and build school spirit by supporting athletic activities.
“I think you need balance. It can’t be just the academics. In sports, especially team sports, you can learn to work with individuals without realizing it,” said Bill Clark, president of the Herricks Athletic Boosters.
Clark said he thinks that participation in team sports help to instill a sense of camaraderie and discipline, life lessons he feels he learned as a centerfielder on the Herricks High School baseball team.
The athletics boosters at Herricks number more than 100 members who volunteer both time and money to support the school district’s athletic programs.
They sell hot dogs and Herricks apparel at home football games. This year, they donated the second of two high-definition cameras to the district – at a cost of $2,500 apiece – to enable student producers to more easily edit Herricks games and put them up on the Herricks public access channel on Cablevision’s MSG Varsity service and Fios Channel 47. The boosters also bought a new sound system in the high school gym.
Last year, the group purchased new scoreboards for the baseball field and for the girls soccer and softball field at the high school. The organization also purchased new hurdles and high-jump equipment to accompany the new track installed at the high school.
Next on their agenda is outdoor scoreboards at the middle school and new equipment for the high school fitness room.
“They have been incredible,” said Jim Petricca, athletic director for the Herricks School District. “They reach out to the coaches and see what their needs are.”
This year, they’ve sought to raise funds by selling customized football jerseys to students and alumni on the Herricks Web site.
“One of the things that we targeted early on was, let’s get the Herricks name out there, so that when we’re in the stands, people know Herricks parents are out there,” Clark said. “It was a natural progression that we put the jerseys out there.”
The momentum the Herricks boosters are generating has been a natural progression over the past several years as more parents have joined the organization, according to Clark, who has led the group for the past three years.
Kevin Dowd, the booster’s projects manager and its clinics and camps coordinator, credits Clark’s leadership and a changing consciousness among parents in the district’s about the value of athletics.
“I think it’s about more parents realizing that we really do have good athletes at the high school. It’s always been academics. But it’s not just about wins and losses,” Dowd said. “These kids can do a lot more in sports than they’re being given credit for.”
To foster interest in athletics, Dowd has been organizing clinics and week-long summer camps for basketball, lacrosse, volleyball, football and wrestling with plans to add softball and tennis to that roster. Students from outside the district can also participate, with all participants paying a nominal fee and revenues above costs going back to the respective school teams.
The boosters bought fiddlesticks – small lacrosse sticks – for grade school kids to develop a familiarity with the sport.
“From that, we’ve gotten more kids to sign up for the clinic. They’re getting exposure to the sport, so now when they get into seventh grade, it’s not the first time they’ve handled a lacrosse stick,” Dowd said.
The summer camps have seen increased participation under the direction of the district’s coaches, with the football camp growing from 30 to 100 players and 260 kids playing basketball last summer, up from 50 boys and girls five years ago, he said.
A flag football league has evolved from that effort, with 100 grade schoolers currently turning out to play on Sunday mornings.
Clark said the conventional wisdom is that a strong football program drives participation in other sports. And he believes Herricks, which has seen success in soccer and baseball in recent years, can eventually compete on the same level as other high school football “power houses.”
“Our thought process is that in 10 years, football can be an important sport for the high school,” he said.
Clark’s son, Billy, plays football and but he and Dowd, whose two sons are also athletes at the high school, emphasize that the boosters take en even-handed approach about the aspects of the athletics programs they support. This year, the group purchased new signs for the cheerleaders along with boom boxes to use in accompanying their routines.
The boosters aren’t trying to take over funding of Herricks athletics, but rather seeking to enhance the interscholastic athletics programs.
“You see what’s going on financially. It seems like the sports program can use the support that we’re giving it. We want to build something that will make their high school experience better,” Clark said.
On Friday, the Herricks Middle School football squad will play an afternoon game on the high school field with a barbecue from 4 p.m., preceding the Herricks High School Homecoming at Michael J. Tully Park at 7 p.m., where a full house is expected for the Herricks High football game against Kennedy Bellmore High School.
The Herricks Athletics Boosters will hold their annual dinner dance fundraiser on Oct. 28 at 8 p.m. in the American Legion Hall on Willis Avenue in Williston Park.
Reach reporter Richard Tedesco by e-mail at rtedesco@theislandnow.com or by phone at 516.307.1045 x204
