By:Karenlyn Barone
Lores grew up in Lynbrook, the son of Manuel and Lorayne. He attended Lynbrook High School, where he lettered in soccer and basketball and had the distinction of playing on five championship teams. His college career at Oswego State included a varsity letter in basketball and a degree in business management. Lores followed it with a graduate degree in education from Hofstra. His next great accomplishment was marrying the sweet and supportive Eileen Carney, a graduate of East Rockaway High.
In 1982, Lores landed a job at East Rockaway High as a substitute teacher and the boys' JV basketball coach. He was hired as a full-time business teacher the following year. Before long he was coaching boys' varsity basketball as well as girls' varsity softball and soccer.
In between teaching and coaching, Lores and his wife welcomed their own championship team: Katie, Jennifer and twins Michael and Joseph. The Lores family lives in East Rockaway, and Joe and Eileen have been proud to educate their children in the school district where Joe has so solidly established himself.
Lores has coached a total of nine athletic teams; established the Rock Shop, the popular school store where athletic equipment and school-spirit supplies can be purchased; founded the Rocks Athletic Hall of Fame; and developed a method of recording the school's athletic achievements with his Rocks Record Book. He was named Nassau County Coach of the Year in softball in 1998, 1999 and 2002, in basketball in 2000 and in soccer in 2002. He was also voted New York state Sportsmanship Coach of the Year in basketball in 1999 and the New York state Coaches Association Section VIII Basketball Coach of the Year in 2002. Lores had a total of 413 career wins as of 2003. He was instrumental in establishing goodwill games between East Rockaway and Lynbrook in basketball and softball, a tradition that continues today.
More than 15 years ago, Lores started a summer basketball program with Police Athletic League director Larry Pashian that is more popular today than ever. Last year, 256 children from the community participated in the two-week program. In addition, Lores runs a four-week summer play group for elementary-school children that is by far the most popular scheduled summer activity in town, and includes arts and crafts and athletic games. Many of Lores's former students and athletes return every summer to work for him at either or both of the programs. If you ask them why, they all offer variations on the same answer: "We love Joe Lores."
Pamela Boccuzzi, a 2000 East Rockaway graduate and an All-American shortstop on Lores's softball team, says of her former coach, "He has definitely shaped my life. In sports, he made me a truly competitive athlete. He pushed me to do things he believed I could do, and with his confidence in me, I found the confidence in myself."
Boccuzzi said that Lores became her personal advocate, as he does with all his students. "He helped me fill out my college applications, wrote letters of recommendation for me, signed me up for college sports and kept track of all my records," she said. "He also told me that high school sports were the greatest sports I would ever play - and they were." Boccuzzi is now a graduate assistant at Hofstra, working on her masters in early childhood education and English as a second language.
"Joe suggested I go to college for teaching, but I was set on business," Boccuzzi recalled. "He obviously saw something in me that I didn't, and sure enough, education is my calling."
What Lores does for his students is legendary. He goes above and beyond the school day and his coaching responsibilities to reach out to children with a gentle and guiding hand. Perhaps the most telling things about Lores' character are what he does behind the scenes. A district mother called the school's athletic director, Dom Vulpis, because she was worried about her teenager, who lacked confidence and direction. Vulpis turned to Lores, saying simply, "A student needs some help." He didn't ask who the student was, or what the nature of the problem was; all he had to hear was that help was needed. Lores took the student under his wing and provided much-needed mentoring. "Joe Lores was there for me, and he didn't even know me," said the student. "Sometimes he just talked to me, sometimes he just let me hang around, but every time we were together, I felt special."
Role model, teacher, coach, mentor, leader. The Herald honors this community's well-above-average Joe as its 2004 Person of the Year.
