Bullies beware of these Lynbrook girls

Gabriella Balogloua, left, worked with with Brianna Carbonaro during the drills portion of last week’s Titans Girls’ Self Defense class.

Brian Croce/Herald

Deirdre McCarthy, top left, pinned Kate Anemone, bottom left, while Sophia Napolitano, top right and Marra Rohr fell to the floor.

Brian Croce/Herald

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There are two things that the young ladies in the Lynbrook Titans Girls’ Self Defense class don’t like — bullies and when it’s time for class to end.

Each Thursday for roughly 10 weeks, about 50 girls from the Lynbrook community learn self-defense, self-confidence and conflict resolution in one-hour spurts. There are two classes each week — one for girls ages 6-9 and the other for 10 to 14 year olds.

Village Trustee and longtime Titans Wrestling coach Hilary Becker has ran the program for the last 14 years. He started it when his daughter Noelle was 6 as a way to teach her what to do if she was ever in a bad situation. Becker said he wanted his daughter to feel safe and not vulnerable, and has had the same goals in mind for the hundreds of girls to come through his program ever since.

“It starts out as a bully in the playground and as you get older…bad things unfortunately do happen sometimes,” he said. “We’re training them to be prepared for whatever comes their way and so they can get themselves out of a bad situation and be safe.”

Each week, the girls eagerly make their way to the gymnasium in the Lynbrook Kindergarten Center where Becker and other volunteer coaches begin warm-ups. After several laps around the wrestling mats filled with various calisthenics, the girls form a large circle to stretch.

Hannah Barroso, a sophomore at Lynbrook High School, helps run the self-defense class each week. She has been with Titans Wrestling for the last four years and said she enjoys the warm-up workouts most of all. “I like how everyone comes together and we work hard,” she said. “Each class you see their improvements.” Her sister, Madison, a sixth grader at South Middle School, added that she likes doing push-ups, but also enjoys exercising in any capacity.

One of the volunteer coaches Frank Shwom has been helping out with Titans Wrestling for seven years. He got involved because his grandsons took an interest in wrestling. According to Shwom, the class is as much about self-defense as it is about being aware and knowing what to do at all times.