By Andrew Hackmack
New York state has pulled its funding for the Games for this year, meaning that athletes would be charged $285 each to take part. As a result, the Hudson Valley region backed out as the host, explained Bob Kenney, the event's Long Island regional director. If another location for the competition is not found, it could be canceled altogether.
"It is really in limbo," Kenney said. "Each day it gets worse and worse, because time becomes a factor." He added that he is not setting up any tryouts at this point because he does not want to create any sense of false hope among potential participants.
Some local athletes say they were looking forward to this year's Games. Justin Corke, a student at Valley Stream South High School, competed for the first time last year in Binghamton, and planned to try out again for this year's team. He was the goalie for the Long Island region scholastic boys' soccer team, which won a silver medal. "We actually did really well," Corke said of his team. "We won all of our games until the final match."
Corke said that his experience in the Empire State Games allowed him not only to play with some of the best athletes from Long Island, but against the best athletes from around the state. The 11th-grader said he had a great time last year, playing four games in four days.
Stephen Zawislak has taken part in the rifle competition for the past five years, including last summer, when he competed for the first time in the open division, for athletes 18 and older. He was planning to try out again this year, but even before the Hudson Valley region pulled out, all open division sports were canceled.
"I'm not as much disappointed for myself, but for all the people in the scholastic division," Zawislak said. "You get to go against the best of the best in all the regions of the state."
In his five years of competition, Zawislak said, he took home 18 medals in individual and team events. He graduated from South High School last year and is now attending John Jay College, where he plans to major in criminal justice. Zawislak is a member of the college's rifle team, which competes in NCAA Division III.
One of his teammates at South High and in the Empire State Games, Nick Novello, now attends Ohio State University and is also on his college's rifle team. Novello said he would not have been able to participate in the Games this year, anyway, because tryouts would have taken place when he is at school. But, like Zawislak, he expressed regret for the lack of a competitive opportunity for the up-and-coming athletes in the sport.
"It was a great opportunity for amateur athletes like me to be part of a major competition," Novello said. "Especially being in New York and in this sport, because you really don't find that many competitions. I've found out while in college that there are a lot more competitions in other states that just aren't offered in New York."
Novello took home a dozen team and individual medals in his three years of competition in the Empire State Games. He said it was an invaluable experience to test his skills against the best shooters in New York.
Both boys say they have fond memories of the Games. In his first couple of trips, Zawislak said he was focused on his events, but he began to realize he was seeing the same people every year. Eventually he struck up several new friendships, and now sometimes sees those friends in college matchups. "Meeting the people is the best thing," Zawislak said.
Blake McCauley, the coach of the Valley Stream Central High School District's rifle team, has coached the Long Island team at the Empire State Games for the past six years. He said he doesn't expect the Games to be held this year. Even if it is, shooting is one of the sports at the scholastic level that was going to be cut for at least the 2009 games.
"It's a disappointment indeed," McCauley said. "For the youngsters, it's something they look forward to all year."
He explained that besides being able to go up against athletes from all over the state, the competition gives young competitors the flavor of college life, since they are housed on a local campus.
McCauley also noted that all of the coaches, referees and even medical staff at the Games are volunteers who look forward to the event just as much as the athletes. He said he hopes to see the competition return in the future. "I understand there are economic challenges right now," he said, "but they seem to be able to come up with the money for all kinds of other stuff."
Kenney said that the Long Island region typically brings 850 to 900 athletes to the Games each summer, and upward of 3,400 try out. "There's always an interest - in some sports tremendous interest," he said.
Many athletes who don't make the cut one year set a goal and work hard to make it the next year, Kenney explained. "I'm sure there will be disappointment," he said of the possibility that the event would be canceled.
Zawislak said it would be wrong to charge a participation fee for a youth-focused athletic event that used to be free, but Corke said he would have accepted a fee if it meant being able to play in the Empire State Games again. "I'd pay whatever just to be there with everyone again," he said.
Comments about this story? AHackmack@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 265.
