Central dedicates plaque to fallen star

Allison Kelly was a rising tennis star in Valley Stream. At Central, she led the Eagles to a Nassau County championship in 2000, which helped earn her a full tennis scholarship to Hofstra University in 2001. Her light, which illuminated tennis courts from the time she was 5, was abruptly extinguished in 2004 when she succumbed to a fatal brain tumor. She was only 21.

To honor her memory, Central High School dedicated a tree, along with a plaque engraved with her picture, her senior quote and the three years she finished first in singles — 1998-2000. Her tennis coach, Tom Yerou, spoke glowingly of Kelly to those who attended the ceremony, which included Kelly’s family, Central Principal Dr. Joseph Pompilio and the Central varsity tennis team.

“I also had the opportunity of watching her grow up from a toddler,” Yerou said. “It seemed like all of a sudden there was this little 11-year-old girl out there on the Hendrickson Park courts hitting the ball with her dad for hours on end. Although it seemed at times she had her fill of tennis, she kept on coming back because she loved the game, and more, she loved the people she played it with.”

When Kelly was 11, she was invited to appear at the Hamlet Cup Tournament, where she met and played practice matches with the likes of Ivan Lendl, Michael Stich, Stefan Edberg, Arthur Ashe and her personal favorite, Jennifer Capriati.

Her father, Owen, said his daughter was an extremely gifted and dedicated athlete, and exhibited an unparalleled courage when she was diagnosed with an unclassified sarcoma, a rare disease that afflicts only 1 of 8,500 annually, in February 2004.

“When she was diagnosed, we both broke down and cried,” he said. “From that day forward, she never cried again. She accepted death at a young age. I don’t where she got the courage from. She didn’t get it from me.”

Owen thanked the school administration, Pompilio and Yerou for dedicating a plaque in his daughter’s name.

Kelly’s best friend, Jackie Principe, said that Kelly was such a skilled tennis player, she wouldn’t have been surprised if she continued playing after college. “She definitely would have been in the Olympics,” she said.

Principe noted that Kelly was the type of person who would do anything for her friends, and was always there at the drop of a hat. “She was a great person and a great friend,” she said, adding that it was nice to see Central honor her friend’s memory. “I absolutely love it. Considering she was a star there and they hadn’t won since she left, it’s great to keep her memory alive there.”

Yerou noted that Kelly’s tennis teammates at Hofstra “felt lucky to cross paths with her” and that while he coached her at Central, Kelly was always a humble winner. “She confided in me that she felt bad that she would defeat her opponents with an overwhelming score,” Yerou said, “and so she would allow the other girl to win one or two games in the set so it wouldn’t be a shutout.”

Kelly lived her life to the fullest, Yerou added, and made it matter. Her senior quote read: “In life the beginnings are often tough, the ends are often sad, but it’s the stuff in between that really matters.”