News Article

Staten Island Sports Hall of Fame Announces the 2023 Unsung Heroes

June 27, 2023 By

Six individuals and two organizations have been chosen to receive the Staten Island Sports Hall of Fame 2023 Larry Ambrosino Unsung Heroes Award.

The six individuals are Richard Gundacker, the late Milt Huttner, John Mattera, Gerry Mosley, Helen Settles, and Robert Smith. The organizations are the Warren Jaques Memorial Committee and Rolling Thunder Chapter 2 New York.

Each will be honored at the Hall of Fame’s Unsung Heroes Breakfast, Saturday, Oct. 21 at Li Greci’s Staaten, 697 Forest Avenue, West Brighton.

The awards were renamed a year ago in honor of the HOF’s former chairman, the late Larry Ambrosino, who originated them in 2005. Since then, the HOF has honored almost 200 individuals and organizations.

In announcing the recipients, current HOF Chairman Tony Santo pointed out that the honorees were being recognized for their community service as well as their contributions to the quality of life on Staten Island.

“Each of these persons and groups has greatly enhanced our borough in many ways, and this is just our way of calling attention to their efforts. Each has made our neighborhood a better place to play, watch and celebrate the accomplishments of our sports community,” Santo said.

Here is a brief summary of each recipient’s contributions.

Richard Gundacker — A legend in the world of Scouting in this borough, Rich has been involved with Troop 37 for the past 41 years. Among his many accomplishments, he has guided 56 Scouts to the rank of Eagle Scout. His personal honors include the National Eagle Scout Award of Merit, the Scouter Key, the Bronze Pelican and the Silver Beaver. An Army veteran, he is a retired NYPD detective who worked with a number of units, including the elite Tactical Patrol Force in all five boroughs.

Milt Huttner — the first person to be honored posthumously, Milt has been called the living embodiment of an Unsung Hero. He preferred to live his life in the background, shunning headlines and recognition for the work he did with hundreds of young boys and men. Without title or fame, he quietly mentored young men, most of them baseball players he came into contact with as assistant coach for the American Legion teams from Huttner-Pasqualini Post (named after his late brother). He counseled athletes for countless hours at a time on the nuances of the game and life, then composed handwritten letters by the hundred to help them get into colleges. He died in 1973.

Gerry Mosley — Gerry is the architect behind Shoot 4 Success Coaching with Character, a highly successful non-profit organization he began in 1997, which has provided a safe haven for hundreds of basketball players on all levels to hone their skills and develop into productive people in society. He has been inducted into the Port Richmond HS Hall of Fame, and for 18 years served as a coach — including nine as head coach — for the College of Staten Island women’s basketball team.

John Mattera — John, who for decades owned Arrochar Pharmacy, a welcoming neighborhood business that doubled as a hub for various Island sports groups, has been the president of the Staten Island Baseball Oldtimers organization since 2009. John has seen to it that SIBO, which has supported youth and high school baseball in this borough for almost 60 years, continues to thrive. Under his leadership, SIBO has maintained its high standard of community involvement while each season acknowledging and rewarding the outstanding high school baseball players in the borough.

Robert Smith — Robert has spent nearly 30 years volunteering for charitable causes on the Island, most notably with the CYO track and field program, and especially at St. Joseph-St. Thomas. Prior to his work with the track program, which began in 1995, he was an assistant soccer coach, a coach in the basketball program and basketball program treasurer for eight years. In addition to those posts, he has served on the parish sports council, and headed the parish Holy Name Society. For the past 10 years he has served as the President of the SI CYO track and field/cross country league. He was the recipient of the CYO Outstanding Contributor Award in 2017 and SITRAC community service award in 2019.

Helen Settles — Helen has long been involved with the youth of Staten Island, especially on the North Shore. An integral part of many organizations, including the NAACP, the Special Olympics, Project Hospitality, the Universal Temple of the Arts and Seniors of the North Shore, she has brought her passion and energy to each group. In addition, the retired educator has coached basketball for more than five decades, and this year received the prestigious Jr. Knicks Coach of the Year Award from the Hospital for Special Surgery.

The Warren Jaques Memorial Committee — The group, which this year celebrated its 75th anniversary, has been educating and advocating for the advancement of the Staten Island athletic community since 1948. Among its many achievements each year is the presentation of the Singleton Basketball Trophy to the Island’s basketball champion team and the Warren Jaques Award to the top male and female high school players.

Rolling Thunder Chapter 2 NY — Although its major function has been to publicize the POW-MIA issue by educating the public about those men and women, the group has come to be equally well known for its many charitable works and events. The Staten Island Chapter of the national organization includes, but is not limited to, veterans — many of whom ride motorcycles. The group was honored with the prestigious Albert V. Maniscalco Award in 2020. Named after the former borough president, the award celebrates “the civic mindedness and tireless energy of individuals and organizations that work to help community members in need and make SI a better place to live.”

For further information, purchase tickets for the event ($85) or take out an ad in the commemorative journal, please contact either of the events’ co-chairs: Lou Bergonzi (lbergonzi@verizon.net) or Derek Alvez (dalvez11@gmail.com).

Staten Island Sports Hall of Fame: These 6 basked in the local limelight and now make up the class of 2023

April 6, 2023 By

By Charlie De Biase Jr. | debiase@siadvance.com

Staten Island Sports Hall of Fame President Anthony Santo announced that the Selection Committee has named six inductees to the Class of 2023.

Those selections include Saidu Ezike, Stephan Khinoy, L&M Tavern Touch Football Team, Margaret Nabel, Jeff Stoutland and Andrew Wisniewski.

In making the announcement, the Hall’s president said, “After a process of diligent research, discussion, debate and voting, the Committee has elected five individuals and one team to the Hall. All are extremely worthy of the honor and I congratulate them on their designation.”

The president added, “The process of selecting inductees is one that is exhaustive and taken extremely seriously by each member of the selection committee. Staten Island is a well spring of a rich sports history and achievement and given the Hall’s high bar, of an 80% vote for Induction, the road to the Hall is a purposefully difficult one to travel that sees truly deserving individuals and teams reach its end.”

The Hall’s Induction Ceremony Chairman, Robert Scamardella, noted, “While a date for the ceremony has not yet been decided, it will take place in the Fall and we except to announce the date and time in the near future.’’

The new inductees are a part of the 28th class. Since the first class was announced in 1995, the Staten Island Sports Hall of Fame has inducted a combined 184 individuals and teams.

For a look at the Class of 2023 and some of their impressive accomplishments, please scroll down:

Saidu Ezike

Ezike, a two-time High School All-American and three-time All-Ivy hurdler, left a trail of broken records at Port Richmond High School and after that at Cornell University.

The 2005 PSAL city champion, New York State Federation champion, Eastern States champion, and U.S. Scholastic Nationals champion set Staten Island records in the 55 and 110-meter hurdles; and the story was the same at Cornell, where Ezike was a four-time indoor and outdoor Heptagonal champion and meet record-holder, a second-team All American and set Ivy League records at 60 and 110 meters.

Stephan Khinoy

Khinoy was a top fencer – New England epee champion, fourth at Nationals, and seventh in the NCAA as a Harvard undergrad; and, 40 years later, as an over-60 national finalist at the USA Fencing championships. But he’ll be remembered for introducing the sport to generations of athletes on Staten Island and beyond.

The founder and longtime president of the Staten Island Fencing Club, and head coach of the Staten Island Fencing Center, Khinoy started programs at the College of Staten Island, Staten Island Tech, St. Joseph by-the-Sea and a dozen more. He was on the board of USA Fencing, co-chairman of the U.S. Fencing Hall of Fame and a publisher of books by and for fencers.

L&M Tavern

L&M Tavern won 46 consecutive games and four straight regular-season and playoff championships in the Staten Island Touch Tackle League, which was a sporting and cultural phenomenon on Staten Island for most of the second half of the 20th Century and a chunk of the 21st. The SITTL often attracted dozens of the Island’s best athletes and thousands of fans to weekly games at Walker Park, the Berry Houses and high school stadiums.

There were other great teams, but none as constant as the boys from L&M, which dominated the league’s top division every year, with the same roster, the same coaches, the same sponsor, and a team-first culture that thrives to this day.

Margaret Nabel

Competitive opportunities for women athletes were few and far between in the summer of 1914, when teenager Margaret Nabel joined the New York Bloomer Girls, an all-women’s baseball team, after pitching against them in an exhibition game with the Siscos, a Staten Island semi-pro team.

By 1920, the same year women won the right to vote, she became the team’s owner and manager. And with Nabel also acting as general manager, booking agent, and a one-woman public relations department, the Bloomer Girls barnstormed from Florida to Nova Scotia and as far west as Texas, playing men’s, women’s and mixed teams; and for almost two decades, billing themselves as “Female World Champions,” they remained undefeated against all-women’s teams.

Jeff Stoutland

Stoutland, the Philadelphia Eagles’ offensive line coach and run game coordinator, didn’t just become a coaching star when the Eagles beat the Patriots in Super Bowl LII.

A 1979 Advance All-Star at Port Richmond High School and three-year starting linebacker at Southern Connecticut State, Stoutland began a 29-year college coaching odyssey at his alma mater, with stops at Cornell; Michigan State; Miami, where he took the Canes to a bowl game as interim head coach; and Alabama, where he was an integral part of back-to-back national championship campaigns. His 2012 offensive line was judged among the best of all time.

Andrew Wisniewski

Even as an under-sized guard at St. Peter’s High School, Andrew Wisniewski had a head for the game, a motor that never stopped, and a chip on his shoulder that helped make him the 1999 Jaques Award winner as the best high school basketball player on Staten Island, a college star, and a stalwart of the European professional leagues.

After one season at St. Peter’s College, Wisniewski transferred to Centenary College in Louisiana, where he led the Gents in scoring, assists, shooting percentage and steals for three straight seasons. His pro career included all-star seasons in Germany, where he led the Bundesliga in scoring; Croatia, where he won a championship; and Israel, where his Maccabi Tel Aviv team won the National Cup and Wisniewski was MVP of the title game.

Unsung Heroes Brunch 2022

August 25, 2022 By

https://www.silive.com/sports/2022/08/9-individuals-two-organizations-will-be-honored-as-unsung-heroes-by-the-si-sports-hall-of-fame-on-sept-17.html?utm_campaign=statenislandadvance_sf&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook

Dan Ingellis, who authored “Deferred Glory: Heroes of the Negro Baseball Leagues,” will have a book signing on June 27 at Leidy’s Inn

June 26, 2021 By

By Joe D’Amodio | damodio@siadvance.com
Staten Island Sorts Hall of fame Board Member Dan Ingellis, who authored “Deferred Glory: Heroes of the Negro Baseball Leagues,” will hold a book signing for his first book on Sunday, June 27 from 1 to 3 p.m. at Leidy’s Shore Inn, located at 748 Richmond Terrace. Ingellis is a 74-year-old New Springville resident whose book was inspired by his late friend Andy Mele, the Advance’s Memories Columnist for a decade until his passing last summer. For years, Ingellis used to do research for Mele’s books.

The book is currently being sold on Amazon.com for $15.99 for the paperback and $9.99 for the Kindle edition. According to Amazon, “Deferred Glory: Heroes of the Negro Baseball Leagues” is about the lives, struggles and desire of negroes to one day become professional baseball players in the Major Leagues. During this period of their lives, these players while playing in the Negro League endured tough traveling to ballparks in cities both in the South and North in order to play baseball. They suffered through segregation mostly in the South both on and off the field. These men withstood horrible treatment because of their dreams to become Major League baseball players.
Eventually, these thirty-five players and executives were inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. Unfortunately many were inducted posthumously.

So stop by Leidy’s and purchase a book and get it signed or have the book in your possession signed by the author himself.

It’s finally official: MSIT dedicates ball fields in honor of Gloria Cordes Elliott, Bob Steele

June 26, 2021 By

By Charlie De Biase Jr. | debiase@siadvance.com
“There’s no crying in baseball?”

Well, Jimmy Dugan will have you believe that’s the case, but truth is, sometimes there is.

And ironically, Ed Elliott, a long-time baseball guy himself, chose to wear a T-shirt with that very phrase during McKee/Staten Island Tech’s Field Dedication ceremony to his late wife, Gloria Cordes Elliott, and Bob Steele on Tuesday afternoon.
“Oh yeah, she would have loved it, but probably would have been a little embarrassed by it too,’’ said Ed Elliott as he eyes filled with tears. “She deserved this. That’s for sure.’’

The ceremony, which was attended by hundreds at MSIT’s New Dorp complex, was a long-time coming for various reasons as the program officially named its softball field after Cordes Elliott and its baseball field after Steele. Bob Steele wore many hats during his tenure with McKee/Staten Island Tech’s athletic program. He was the program’s baseball coach for 42 seasons.

Cordes Elliott, of course, graduated from McKee HS in 1949 before embarking on a highly successful four-year career in the defunct All-American Girls’ Professional Baseball League during the 1950s. Elliott, a right-hander, owned a four-pitch arsenal that included a knuckleball. She initially signed and played for the Kalamazoo Lassies and was eventually named an All Star.

Steele, meanwhile, will always be synonymous with MSIT athletics — and for good reason. The Great Kills resident, who attended the ceremony with plenty family members in tow, was not only the Seagulls’ long-time baseball coach (42 years), but athletic director as well (32 years). He first stepped through the doors at McKee HS in 1960. During his tenure as athletic director, MSIT’s program jumped from six teams to a whopping 34. Today, MSIT is home to 39 different teams.
Both Cordes Elliott and Steele are Staten Island Sports Hall of Famers that have been honored by the Advance/SILive.com. Cordes Elliott was tabbed the History Award winner in 1995 while Steele was named the Sportsman of the Year in 2002.

Dedicatory address
Borough President James Oddo, a driving force in making Tuesday’s MSIT Field Dedication to Bob Steele and Gloria Cordes Elliott a realty, speaks during the ceremony.“It’s a tremendous honor and overwhelming. I’ve seen some people I haven’t seen in years — guys that used to play for me,’’ said the 85-year-old Steele, who got to see Michael Polito (former McKee baseball MVP and basketball starter), who last played for the legendary coach in 1965. “I was stunned when they called to tell me about it. It certainly brings back a lot of memories.

“It means a lot to see my name on that sign,’’ added the current CSI baseball assistant coach. The ceremony, which was emceed by Staten Island Tech principal Mark Erlenwein, included a Dedicatory Address by Staten Island Borough President James Oddo, who was a driving force in making the Field Dedication a realty. Oddo, a big baseball fan himself, spoke passionately about both Cordes Elliott and Steele during his address.

Staten Island Tech’s High School Band, which is led by Robert Rams, played the ‘Star-Spangled Banner’ and ‘Take Me Out to the Ball Game’ at the opening and close of the ceremony, respectively.

“It was wonderful,’’ added Ed Elliott, a legendary presence at Staten Island Little League who is also a Staten Island Sports Hall of Famer. “Everything was right to the point. I don’t think (my wife) ever really knew how respected she was. She did a lot of things for kids.’

Former Advance/SILive.com columnist and Hall of Fame Board Member Jay Price, who was on hand along with dozens of former coaches/athletes, wrote about Cordes Elliott and Steele on a number of occasions through the years. He does believe there’s a connection between the honorees. “Obviously, they belong to a different time and a different Staten Island,’’ said Price. “They come from a time when, whatever became of you or became of sports, it happened organically and it was always about the kid.’’