By:Nicole Falco
Hawkey, 74, was honored by the Green Hornets for his 400th career coaching win during the organization's annual awards banque Jan. 30. His son, Green Hornets president Robert Hawkey Jr., who's known as Bobby, presented a trophy to his father on behalf of the organization. Hawkey was also the recipient of numerous other awards and accolades from local elected officials, including town Councilman James Darcy and Mayor Edward Cahill, and local high school football coaches, including Valley Stream Central's Mike Mutone, Holy Cross's Tommy Pugh and Chaminade's Stephen Boyd.
Hawkey won his 400th game last Nov. 21, when the Green Hornets defeated the Rambos of Enfield, Conn., in the team's annual Thanksgiving weekend Varsity Bowl trip. The Rambos are coached by Bill Zimmerman, a former Green Hornet. The annual bowl trips have taken the Hornets and their families to Atlantic City, the Poconos, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, New Hampshire and Virginia.
"More important than the 400 victories are the thousands of kids' lives he's touched over the years," said Darcy, who played for the Green Hornets in the 1960s. "I learned a lot [playing for the Green Hornets] - not just the basics of football, but many life lessons, like setting goals and working hard to achieve them and working as a team even though there are people you may not get along with on the team."
Hawkey grew up in Valley Stream. He attended the Brooklyn Avenue School, Holy Name of Mary and Central High, graduating in 1949. At Central Hawkey played football, helping the team win a county championship. After graduation he began working as a runner on Wall Street, and eventually worked his way up to executive vice president and director of E.F. Hutton, a governor of the American Stock Exchange.
"One of the most important lessons I got from Coach Hawkey himself is, you have to give back to the community," Darcy said. "He was a very successful man, and could have walked away to bigger and better things, but he stayed rooted in his hometown and always gave back."
Hawkey's affiliation with the Green Hornets began in 1950. A Philadelphia man, Bob Warner, began contacting numerous communities in the region, hoping to drum up interest in starting youth football teams in their areas. Hawkey and a handful of others, including Bill Scher, Leon Lang, Herb Green, Bill Warsdale and Ed Ulinoff, are credited with putting together the first team. At the time, eight towns committed to the idea. Today, 25 towns are involved.
On the first day of practice at Firemen's Field, 100 boys showed up to register. Today, the Valley Stream Green Hornets boast a roster of 225 players divided among seven teams based on age and weight, as well as 75 cheerleaders. The Green Hornets are part of the Nassau Suffolk Football League.
"When I first took the coaching job, I was asked, 'Do me a favor? Will you take the team for two weeks - I got a guy coming?'" Hawkey recalled. "I'm still waiting for the guy to show up, and he can't have it now."
Hawkey married his childhood sweetheart in 1960. He and Audrey raised four daughters - Elizabeth, Jean, Chrissy and Susie - and Bobby. All four girls were Green Hornets cheerleaders, and Bobby played for his father in 1979; that team won a championship. Even Hawkey's grandchildren have been involved with the Green Hornets. Two of his six granddaughters were cheerleaders, and his two grandsons are approaching the age where they will be eligible to join, Hawkey said.
Many Green Hornets coaches are former players. Many of the players' parents once played in the organization and for Hawkey. Bobby has been coaching alongside his father for 18 years, and is now the senior team's defense coach. Dan Kane, Artie Maratea, Denis Cirenza and John Tansey also help coach the senior team.
"When it comes to football, [my father] is a serious coach," Bobby said. "We teach football, but more than that, we teach values. We have kids come back to us and say how [having played for the] Hornets helps them in school and helps them in their jobs."
At least two Green Hornets went on to play pro football. One of them is Chaminade coach Boyd, a Central High graduate and a former linebacker for the Detroit Lions. "When you start to play for the Green Hornets as a Peanut, your goal is to play for Hawkey on the varsity team," said Boyd, who, ironically, didn't get to play for Hawkey because he didn't make the weight requirement. "He's done so much for that organization, and that organization has done so much for kids. It's easy to donate things or to donate money, but he's been there every year and made sure that the organization is running year-in and year-out. ... It was an honor playing for the Green Hornets."
And many Green Hornets continue playing in high school like Boyd did.
"One of the first things I did when I got my position was make a connection with the Green Hornets," said Central's Mutone, who became head coach of the school's varsity team last year after 16 years as an assistant. "They've been very supportive of all the high school programs in the area. The kids who have come through his program all come fundamentally sound and have a real knowledge of the game - that's a credit to him and his staff."
Between regular-season games, practices, football camp in August and the organization's most recent addition, arena football, the Green Hornets keep Hawkey busy all year long. And even after 54 seasons and 400-plus wins, he is still intent on keeping his coaching skills sharp. He regularly attends clinics offered at Holy Cross High School. "It's a changing sport, and you have to keep on going to clinics all the time," he said.
To learn more about the Green Hornets, visit www.valleystreamgreenhornets.com, call (516) 901-9966 or write to P.O. Box 274, Valley Stream, NY 11582. The organization is also interested in hearing from former players, coaches and cheerleaders.
Comments about this story? NFalco@liherald or (516) 569-4000 ext. 208.
