Syosset Lacrosse Assistant Lands Port Washington Job

Syosset High School Lacrosse Assistant Accepts Port Washington Head Coaching Job   

Previously the defensive coordinator for Syosset Braves varsity lacrosse team, Tom Rooney has accepted the Port Washington position. He has spent the past 11 seasons in the Syosset program.

In a statement on the Braves lacrosse website, Rooney said he felt it was the “right time to move on.”

“I plan to continue working with the youth lacrosse league in Syosset and will continue to support the Braves, as I am first and foremost a proud resident of this town,”  Rooney said.

Rooney will continue to teach at

The Braves have yet to name a new defensive coordinator, according to head coach John Calabria.

Syosset Club Hockey Looking For Middle School Players

The machine that is Syosset Club Ice Hockey refuses to stop - just six months after finishing their most successful season in over a decade, the Braves are eager for new members. Specifically, they are looking for 6th, 7th, and 8th graders to join their middle school team.

The program, which is not affiliated with the , is comprised of three teams - Varsity, Junior Varsity, and Middle School. The middle school team, coached by Paul Ackerman, competes in a 12-team league against opponents from Jericho, Cold Spring Harbor, Locust Valley, and other Nassau County based teams.

Practices begin Sept. 7. The season gets underway in early October and ends in March. Although there are pre-season evaluations for placement purposes, there aren’t any cuts.

“Everyone who wants to play can play - there’s always room,” said Syosset Hockey President and varsity coach Richard Goldstein.

Practices are held at in Syosset and the Bethpage Community Park Ice Rink.

According to Goldstein, those who intend to play hockey in high school would be best served to start as early as possible.

“Players learn the game,” Goldstein said of the youngest division of the program. “They play middle school to get ready to play junior varsity and play junior varsity to play varsity, just like other sports."

"It’s very important to play middle school because it gives players a very good foundation to play through high school graduation," he said.

The coach added that the success of most of his varsity players is directly correlated to what they learned on the middle school team.

Lately, that success has been significant. The Braves varsity finished in 3rd place in the regular season in the Nassau County High School Hockey League and fell to Massapequa in the Town of Oyster Bay championship game. Syosset scored over 100 goals for the first time in the history of the program.

Not surprisingly, high hopes exist for the upcoming year, and not just for the varsity.

“It will be a lot of fun,” Goldstein said. “Varsity is going to be very strong; JV and middle school will be competitive.         

More information can be found at syosset-braves.org. For those interested in becoming a player for the Syosset Club Hockey program, e-mail Goldstein at thebraveswin@hotmail.com.