By Rich Chrampanis
HOLMDEL – Coach Jeff Rainess has seen the results on the field for his Holmdel football team with the Hornets enjoying winning seasons in four of the last five years. But the wins and losses are secondary to a special culture that has been built that extends beyond the gridiron.
Junior football player Andrew Piscatelli has led a group of Hornets football players in conjunction with the Holmdel Half Century Club to visit residents homes and do yard work and home improvement chores.
“I didn’t know quite know what to expect, but I was blown away by the effort from our guys and the great feedback from our customers,” Rainess said. “I am really proud of Andrew Piscatelli who brought this idea to us. The kids made their own teams, organized the work schedule and got up early and did the work – a really impressive group effort by all.”
Piscatelli will be a tight end and defensive lineman this fall for the Hornets, but with the community outreach squad he was a head coach and quarterback all rolled into one. He established five different teams and organized addresses for each group to visit and help residents with leaf cleanup, limb and hedge trimming, grass raking and weeding.
“Our work really shows the community how much we appreciate their support of us and hopefully brought a few elderly residents who have lost touch with the schools and kids of our town back into the mix,” Piscatelli said. “We invited each one to come to our home games to watch us play and enjoy the band, cheerleader, dance team performances.”
Working together on something completely unrelated to football is something that is another example of how high school sports can unite a community and get everyone on the team involved.
“Football teaches – well, actually demands – commitment, tenacity, handling of adversity, learning to become physical in an otherwise passive world, leadership, teamwork, attention to detail, structure, time management, and my favorite of all – establishing personal goals,” Piscatelli said.
Holmdel’s first football game is Sept. 2 at Ocean Township which is a few months away but the Hornets have begun to build the foundation of another successful team and the fans in the stands promise to have some of the cleanest yards in the Shore Conference thanks to the selfless acts of Piscatelli and his teammates.
“It may not feel like it yet, but these are the kind of things that go a long way toward building great teams,” Rainess said.
The article originally appeared in the June 30 – July 6, 2022 print edition of The Two River Times.
