By Brian T. Dessart
"Devastation," East Rockaway Varsity Coach Dan Vito said after the cancellation. "It's a helpless feeling. It was devastation."
The decision to cancel the season was reached after bumps in the team's path finally led to an insurmountable wall. The team started the season boasting a roster of 15 athletes, but the number dropped to 13 three weeks later. A week later, there were only 11 eligible varsity players, with two others deemed academically ineligible. According to East Rockaway policy, an athlete is declared academically ineligible after failing three or more subjects.
"We were a little concerned that our numbers were so low," Vito said. "But it wouldn't be unprecedented for us to be successful at that point - not in terms of wins and losses. That's not what we're totally judged on."
Vito's concern grew after the team was forced to cancel its April 7 game against Oyster Bay. It was unable to field a full varsity roster due to absences and eligibility issues. According to East Rockaway High School Athletic Director Dominick Vulpis, other school commitments were a contributing factor in the forfeit.
"The players are shared by other school activities," Vulpis said. He also explained that the varsity squad could not bring up junior-varsity players due to safety concerns regarding the filling of skill positions.
"Now, I was very concerned that we might have some type of problem with the rest of the season," Vito said. "When that happens and you're not looking into it, you're not doing your job."
Even after the forfeit, Oyster Bay Athletic Director John Piropato still has great respect for East Rockaway's baseball program. "East Rockaway is a rival of ours - a great rivalry," he said. "We have a great relationship with them, and it is unfortunate the program folded."
On April 9, a bad situation turned worse for the team, as only six players were eligible to play in that day's game against Elmont. This time, though, the team decided to use three JV athletes in order to avoid another forfeit. "We played a game, at least, and that was a positive," Vito said. "We were looking forward to going back up the ladder."
In an attempt to salvage the season, Vito and Vulpis hosted a meeting with the varsity players on April 11. "We both felt there was going to be a time when I would call the boys or the parents together," Vulpis said.
Vito said they also wanted to gauge the morale of the team. At the meeting, Vulpis permitted the players to discuss their feelings about the remainder of the season. "The answers came back very down and negative," Vulpis said. "It's not about winning and losing. It's about the commitment to finish the season. To continue or not continue - this was going to be their choice. They needed to bring a decision."
The following morning, a decision was made. "On Tuesday morning, two players came to me and told me the decision of the team," Vito said. "Out of 13 guys, only three wanted to continue the season."
Varsity baseball player Kevin Gamper spoke briefly about the decision. "Personally, I just like playing baseball, because I'm good at it," he said. "I made a commitment, and I didn't want to break the commitment."
The same morning, Vulpis and Vito again met with the players in a final attempt to save the season. "The room was silent," Vulpis recalled. He told the team, "Gentlemen, remember something: There is something called a blue moment - [it's] when you look at life and the things that had an effect on your life. What's going to happen five, 10, 15 years down the road? There will be someone who will come to you and say, 'Weren't you part of that team that didn't finish?' You're the only one that can answer that."
Vito, who will remain the junior-high and JV instructional leader, said that having to cancel the season was the furthest thing from his mind. "I never thought it would come to this," he said. "You need to learn from this - the lesson learned in dealing with adversity."
Nassau County Section 8 Baseball Coordinator Ken Ward was unhappy that East Rockaway's program folded, but believes Vulpis and Vito made the right decision. "It's disappointing," Ward said. "I think it was a situation where they started with a small team and academic ineligibility cut their numbers down. They have an excellent athletic director in Dom Vulpis ... and Coach Dan Vito. We can commend them for taking the actions they did - to make that type of stand. We expect them to be back next year."
Some team parents, however, have a different opinion. A parent who declined to be identified was angry that the players were ever given the option to back out of the season, and felt that it set a bad example. Another parent who chose to remain anonymous said that some players may have had problems adapting to certain coaching techniques.
Baseball dad Ron Collura was outraged at the decision. "I'm really annoyed with this," he said. "Why would [the athletic department] let these kids vote? They are not old enough to vote in a decision like this." Collura went on to say that, in his opinion, letting the athletes decide to end the season made it "easy for the hierarchy to just say, 'The hell with this'" - something he called "a very, very poor lesson on growing up."
"They just screwed my son's college career. This is the year [colleges] look at kids and take the kids' stats," Collura continued. "They let the problem overtake them, and they hurt every single kid on that team. The East Rockaway Athletic Department walked out on our kids."
According to Vulpis, a plan will be formulated for rebuilding next season. Four players from this season's team are juniors and eligible to return next year, while the JV numbers appear promising.
"This has come about because the numbers were light to start with," Vulpis said. "The kids were involved in other things, and just didn't gel."
Comments? BDessartHERALD@aol.com or (516) 569-4000.
