Armonk, NY
Sports
Westchester HS Football Coach Won't Face Criminal Charges After Investigation Westchester HS Football Coach Won't Face Criminal Charges After Investigation
Westchester HS Football Coach Won't Face Criminal Charges After Investigation With his team making a run to the state championship game, a police investigation has been launched against New Rochelle High School varsity football coach Lou DiRenzo, though he won't face criminal charges, authorities said. On Wednesday, Nov. 13, the New Rochelle School Board and Schools Superintendent Laura Feijóo shocked the community when they announced that the popular coach would be "reassigned," and barred from any activity within the district or his team. The community rallied around DiRienzo, with teachers, students, former players and parents going so far as to call for the …

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by Zak Failla
Elizabeth, NJ
Sports
GoFundMe Started For Union Football Player In Coma Following Injury GoFundMe Started For Union Football Player In Coma Following Injury
GoFundMe Started For Union Football Player In Coma Following Injury A fundraiser has been started to help a Union High School varsity football player who suffered a serious injury in a game Oct. 25.  Kofi Ansah, a senior, was in the game against Bridgewater-Raritan when he suffered a lacerated spleen. He has been in a medically induced coma since Saturday, according to a GoFundMe campaign started on his behalf.  Although the lifelong Union resident's condition is serious, he is improving, the campaign's organizer said.  "The recovery process for Kofi has been long and full of highs and lows. His health is moving in a positive direction. Doct…

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by Paul Milo
Jersey City, NJ
Obituaries
Christopher Correia, 19, Of Kearny, Athlete Who Was Studying Sports Medicine Christopher Correia, 19, Of Kearny, Athlete Who Was Studying Sports Medicine
Christopher Correia, 19, Of Kearny, Athlete Who Was Studying Sports Medicine Christopher Pastilha Correia died Friday. He was 19 years old.  Born in Hackensack, he lived his entire life in Kearny. A bodybuilder as well as a standout football player who also enjoyed soccer, he graduated from Kearny High School in 2017 and was studying sports medicine at Bergen Community College. He planned to become a physical therapist.  He is survived by his parents, Fernando and Julia (nee Pastilha) Correia; brother  Jason Correia, and many loving aunts, uncles, cousins and friends. Arrangements were by Armitage & Wiggins Funeral Home, Kearny. A funeral Mass w…

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by Paul Milo
Brentwood, NY
Sports
Long Island Football Players Nominated For 'Heart Of A Giant' Award Long Island Football Players Nominated For 'Heart Of A Giant' Award
Long Island Football Players Nominated For 'Heart Of A Giant' Award Some Long Island student-athletes have been nominated for a prestigious award sponsored in part through the New York Giants. Football players in Happaugue, Bellmore, and Farmingville have been nominated for the “Heart of a Giant” award, and now need their communities to vote them into the finals.  Each week, 10 football players in the Tri-state area are nominated for voting, and their communities have 25 days to vote them in. Six finalists and four honorable mention finalists will be named. Each of those will receive $1,000 for their school’s football program, with the winner receivin…

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by Zak Failla
Hackensack, NJ
Schools
NJ Referee Suspended Two Seasons For Forcing Wrestler, 16, To Cut Hair Before Match NJ Referee Suspended Two Seasons For Forcing Wrestler, 16, To Cut Hair Before Match
NJ Referee Suspended Two Seasons For Forcing Wrestler, 16, To Cut Hair Before Match A New Jersey referee who forced a high school wrestler to cut his hair before a match was suspended for the next two seasons, authorities announced Wednesday. Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal, who announced the decision in tandem with the state Division on Civil Rights, also mandated anti-bias training for officials and staff involved in high athletics across the state. At the same time, the DCR issued guidelines that explain when treating people differently due to their hairstyle may violate the state’s anti-discrimination laws, in an effort to help prevent further issues. The guidelines…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Massapequa, NY
Sports
LI HS Football Coach Removed From Post While District Conducts Investigation LI HS Football Coach Removed From Post While District Conducts Investigation
LI HS Football Coach Removed From Post While District Conducts Investigation A Long Island varsity football coach has been temporarily removed from his position after an incident during a scrimmage last week, school officials announced. Shoreham-Wading River High School head coach Aden Smith is the subject of an investigation by the school district, Superintendent Gerard Poole announced. “The district is currently investigating an incident involving the varsity football team’s head coach,” the superintendent said in a statement. “The incident took place during a scrimmage against Islip on (Friday, Aug. 30.) While this investigation is underway, the head coach has b…

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by Zak Failla
Massapequa, NY
Schools
Long Island High School Gets $150K Grant To Field Fall Sports Teams Long Island High School Gets $150K Grant To Field Fall Sports Teams
Long Island High School Gets $150K Grant To Field Fall Sports Teams A struggling Long Island school district will receive a hefty grant from the Suffolk County Police Department in an attempt to keep athletics alive for students. Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone announced that Wyandanch High School will receive a $150,000 grant to help restore its sports program. Earlier this year, 123 school districts on Long Island saw their budgets passed, with only voters in Wyandanch rejecting a proposed $77.8 million spending plan that represented a 40.93 percent tax increase. 
“Whether it is football, basketball, volleyball or any other sport, we have to prov…

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by Zak Failla
North Salem, NY
Sports
North Salem Athletic Director's Dismissal Sparks Outcry In Community North Salem Athletic Director's Dismissal Sparks Outcry In Community
North Salem Athletic Director's Dismissal Sparks Outcry In Community The unexpected ousting of a Hall of Fame high school coach and athletic director has an area community up in arms with outrage. On Monday, July 1, the North Salem Board of Education announced that longtime coach Henry Sassone, who has been a fixture in the district for nearly four decades, will not be returning to his posts next season. Sassone, who has led the boys basketball team to more than 400 wins and also serves as the district’s athletic director, was told last month that he will not be re-appointed to his positions. When the news was made public this week, the community cried out w…

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by Zak Failla
Paterson, NJ
Schools
Website Names Best Public NJ High Schools For Sports Website Names Best Public NJ High Schools For Sports
Website Names Best Public NJ High Schools For Sports The website Niche has released its ranking of the best public high schools for sports, with football powerhouse Wayne Hills clocking in at No. 1.  Pascack Valley High School,  River Dell and Ramapo also made the top 10.  Niche based its rankings mostly on millions of parent and student surveys, which made up 50 percent of the grade. Niche also considered factors such as the number of championships a school has earned, girls' sports participation rates, and the number of sports on offer. To view the complete list, click here. 

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by Paul Milo
Ridgefield, CT
News
$50K Torched Baseball Field Incident Leads To Suspensions Of Three Ridgefield HS Coaches $50K Torched Baseball Field Incident Leads To Suspensions Of Three Ridgefield HS Coaches
$50K Torched Baseball Field Incident Leads To Suspensions Of Three Ridgefield HS Coaches Three varsity baseball coaches at Ridgefield High School have been placed on administrative leave after extreme measures were taken to try and squeeze in a high school baseball game. The field at Governor Park was doused with gasoline and set on fire over the weekend in an effort to dry out a playing surface that had been rained on in advance of Ridgefield’s scheduled game against Amity. The idea did more harm than good. In total, reparations are expected to cost upwards of $50,000. No one was injured and there was never anyone in danger, police said. The incident remains under investigati…

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by Zak Failla
Mount Pleasant, NY
Police & Fire
HS Football Coach Arrested In Westchester For Allegedly Assaulting Player HS Football Coach Arrested In Westchester For Allegedly Assaulting Player
HS Football Coach Arrested In Westchester For Allegedly Assaulting Player A football coach at a high school in Westchester has been arrested for allegedly hitting a student-athlete in two separate incidents two years ago. According to the arrest affidavit, 44-year-old Sheddrick Wilson of Ossining, an assistant coach at Archbishop Stepinac High School in White Plains, was charged Friday with two counts of endangering the welfare of a minor, after surrendering to police in White Plains. The one-time Houston Oilers wide receiver also resigned from the school Friday afternoon. The arrest affidavit says that in December 2016, Wilson hit the then 16-yea…

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by Kathy Reakes
Fort Lee, NJ
Obituaries
Former Leonia High Standout Athlete, Coach Chris Farulla Dies, 29 Former Leonia High Standout Athlete, Coach Chris Farulla Dies, 29
Former Leonia High Standout Athlete, Coach Chris Farulla Dies, 29 Christopher Daniel Farulla of Leonia died suddenly Aug. 21. He was 29 years old. Most recently of Phoenix, A.Z., Farulla was a longtime resident of Leonia where he was a high school wrestler and football player. He wrestled in the 2007 New Jersey State Wrestling Championships, earning the title Region 2 Champion. He later became a wrestling coach and mentor to countless high school athletes. Friends and loved ones remembered Farulla as being unapologetically honest and a good friend. "Chris Farulla, you were one of a kind my friend," JP Reyes wrote on social media.  "Alway…

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by Cecilia Levine