The school year is getting underway this week, which also means its another year of great performances ahead for the Daler sports teams. Athletic Director Jeanne Berkoski is excited for the teams to grow and get acclimated to the new sports facility at Howitt Middle School.
“The new facility started getting worked on two years ago,” said Berkoski. “It’s all turf. Last year, the all purpose field that hosts lacrosse, football, soccer and track was open first followed by the baseball/softball field this summer. The pool at the middle school should be starting in three months. It’s real exciting.”
Despite the changes, the people who run these programs remain. The schools did not replace any head coaches during the summer.
“The only new coach in our programs is Steve Probst, a former Farmingdale quarterback,” said Berkoski. “He’s a pretty big deal here. He was at Freeport and teaches at Freeport. He came back to his home and is now an assistant varsity coach for the football team.”
As much as the sports side is important to the athletic director, students getting a good education is even more important.
“Section VIII has scholar athlete programs and our goal is to be number one in New York state,” said Berkoski. “We have eight banners in our gymnasium where particular sports have the highest averages in the state. That’s competitive as well.”
The past nine years, Farmingdale has had all varsity teams named as scholar athlete teams, which means that 75 percent of rosters have an average of 90 or better. It’s something that Berkoski has a lot of pride in this and hopes that students can come away as strong members of society.
“We teach our student athletes to be leaders,” said Berkoski. “If you don’t have that strong quality, learn how to be a leader in your own way.”
