Their seasons may be lost, but the members of the St. Joseph-by-the-Sea girls’ flag football and softball programs are still teaming up for a winning cause.
Last week, flag football coach Tommy DeAngelis collected donations from the families of both programs, which he then distributed to Staten Island first responders in the form of food and finance.
DeAngelis was joined by his daughter Caitlin, a member of the softball team, as well as: softball coach Nicole Mancusi, assistant coach Al Reyes, a retired NYPD officer, and his daughter Meya, who is also on the softball team — as they made their rounds to Eger Nursing Home, the 123rd precinct, and Castleton firehouse engine 157/ladder 80.
Caitlin DeAngelis and Meya Reyes display the Sea banner at the Castleton firehouse.
The food was catered by Max’s Esca, Aunt Butchies, and La Rosa Chicken & Grill — each of which discounted the orders.
“The families were very generous,” said DeAngelis. “We’re a close-knit group, the girls are all going through the same thing missing their seasons.
“It’s a good feeling seeing both teams helping out first responders,” he added.
Coach Mancusi shared the same sentiment.
“The girls went above and beyond,” said Mancusi. “To see them lose their season, but still want to give back to the community and see all their families get behind this.”
Staffers at Eger Nursing Home thank St. Joseph-by-the-Sea for its donations.
The recipients were equally excited to receive a hot meal given the raucous environments in which they’ve been working.
“We’ve gotten nothing but emails and texts about how happy they were,” said DeAngelis.
“It’s really special to see,” concluded Mancusi.
Travis Burnett
A pioneer in the flag football community, Travis helped co-found the Flag Football World Championship Tour, FlagSpin and USA Flag. Featuring 15+ years of content creation for the sport of flag football, creating and managing the largest flag football tournaments on the planet, coaching experience at the youth and adult level as well as an active player with National and World Championship level experience.
