Weldon E Howitt High School - Hi Life Yearbook (Farmingdale, NY)

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Left: Adam Digiralamo ties up Deer Park defender as goalie looks on. Hockey Team Heats up Ice Early on Sunday mon- rings, while most people are just waking up. Al Barth, Joe DeFlorio, and other members of the Farm- ingdale hockey team are al- ready assembled at the Racquet and Rink Arena. As a handful of sleepy par- ents look on, the team prac- tices on the ice, awaiting the arrival of its opponents. Many students admit that they never knew the school had a hockey team. The team’s lack of recognition is largely due to “money and the administration,” as manager Denis O’Connor asserted. Hockey is by far the most expensive high school sport as each player's equipment costs over 400 dollars and ice time alone costs 125 dollars an hour. The district refuses to pay for such costs, but more importantly, the administration re- nounces any association bestween the school and the team because of the violent nature of the sport. “They think it’s a violent sport because fights are known to break out at games. Because of this they refuse to publicize the games in school, O’Connor stated. “The lack of fan support hurts our team because the other schools come and cheer their guys. Although hockey is often fierce, it is no more violent than football or lacrosse. Hockey players are better equipped to withstand stick slashes and checks from other players as compared to the lacrosse players who have little or no protection. Football players sustain more than twice the num- ber of injuries during the regular season than do hockey players. Yet both la- crosse and football are ac- credited high school sports while hockey receives only criticism. Victory has always come easy for the hockey team due to its skill and dedica- tion. They will continue to play and win whether or not the school supports them, for they are determined to be the best. Above Middle: John Vatter faces Above Kevin Kiendle. Farmingdale off against Deer Park. goalie, puts the stick to a Division 137 High slapshot.

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EXPENSES “We don’t have enough money to even afford prac tices, so we just don't practice. It puts us at a disadvantage because the other teams can practice and we can’t. The only time we get to skate is at games' — Adam DiGirolamo, senior. “The school won't give us any money because they don't recognize us as a varsity sport. All the players have to buy their own equipment because we don't have any money in the treasury — Kevin Kiendle, junior. Back Row: Manager Denis O’Connor. Neil Cappadona. Mike Fallen, Dan Collins. Captain Al Barth. Richard Alsis, Assistant Captain John O’Connor. Second Row: Coach Paul Markson. Tom DeSantis. Gary Gordon. Roger Lavan. John Booth. Kevin Ryan. Assistant Coach Ray Kiendle. Front Row: Joe DeFlorio. George Bethancourt. Assistant Captain Kevin Kiendle. Charlie May. Thomas Zarek, Adam DiGrolamo. 136

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Right Judy Freshour prepares for a front walkover. Far Right: Diane Ferrara shows her good balance and extreme flexibility. Even though the team didn’t get off to a great start, we had a lot of girls with great talent, Kathy Kenny commented about the girls’ gymnastics team. The first meet was lost to Calhoun by a score of 97- 84. A loss of thirteen points wasn’t bad considering that half of the team did not at- tend the meet. This was easily the most talented group I’ve ever had or worked with. But we were up against some tough competition in the di- vision, coach Jim Haraba commented. The girls worked very hard, and I think we did much better this year than we have ever done before.’’ A friendly atmosphere helped boost the team spir- it, along with a good coach. Everyone was friendly and we worked hard together so we could win, Judy Miller said. The coach knew the girls were inspired to compete only with themselves and couldn’t be forced to achieve perfection. He did have some expectations, however, and the girls put forth their best effort to fulfill them. We worked hard every day to do the best job we could, Donna Miller stated. Above: Gina Cestaro straddles the balance beam EQUIPMENT 'It’s about time we got the new uneven parallel bars. We couldn't hold any competitions here, because the bars were so bad. We had meets at Woodward Park- way — Kathy Kenny, junior. Most of our equipment is OK, but we had really old bars and this year we got a new set. They really helped our performance — Maria Garace, senior. The new bars are really great, they help improve our timing, and we don't have to hesitate before a move — Judy Freshour, junior. 138