Clarkstown North Softball Pays Tribute To Memory Of Longtime Coach John Sullivan

When Stacey Becker, a graduate of Clarkstown North High School, was a senior softball player at the school in 1995, her coach and law teacher was John Sullivan. The day of the annual rivalry game between Clarkstown South and Clarkstown North, it was difficult for Becker to concentrate in her law class. But Sullivan kept pushing her to continue her cross-examination during the class.

So after school was let out she decided to go home and have a quick nap before the big game. The next thing she knew, her teammate was honking at her from outside her house, telling her that the game started in a half an hour. Becker rushed to the field just in time for the game to start, afraid to go over to Sullivan for fear of what he might say to her. But afterwards he simply told her that he was glad she was OK and warned her never to do that again.

Becker returned to the Clarkstown North softball field Friday afternoon as the team dedicated its season to Coach Sullivan, who died in his sleep in February at age 68. Sullivan retired from teaching social studies at North in 2000 but continued to help out with coaching the girls’ basketball and softball teams up until his death. He was inducted into the Clarkstown North Hall of Fame in 2009.

“What I learned from Coach Sullivan is respect, hard work, and discipline,” Becker said in her speech during a ceremony at the North softball field. “[…] It’s something that you will use every day that you have and every person that you meet, and it’s the way that I remember Sullivan. I remember him in how I treat people and how I go to work every day and do my best and show up and I don’t have excuses. I try to with my friends and with my family be present, and every time I see them help people when they’re not at their best and advise people if they come to me in need. And that’s what Coach Sullivan always did for me.”

The ceremony featured speeches by Becker along with Jordan Turner, a former softball coach at Clarkstown North who coached and taught alongside Sullivan. Sullivan’s two young grandchildren then threw out the first pitch of Clarkstown North’s game against Nanuet High School, a game the Rams ultimately won, 4-3.

“He [John] loved the team,” said Margaret Sullivan, John’s widow, after the ceremony. “He loved teaching; he loved coaching; he just loved the team. He loved being there for the girls. He was strict, but that was part of the game. He really loved it.”

Turner noted in his speech that after the game he was going to coach his young daughter’s softball game, which he felt was a fitting tribute to his friend’s legacy.

“I know that seeing me coaching my daughter, being there for her and passing on a sport that we shared a passion for, would do more to honor John’s memory than anything I could say here,” he said.

Turner then told a story about how when Sullivan retired from teaching he thought that everyone would forget about him in a few years. But Turner said that he assured Sullivan that he would never be forgotten or replaced. Turner concluded his speech with a quote from poet Hannah Senesh that he felt summed up this point perfectly.

"’There are stars whose radiance is visible on Earth though they have long been extinct,” Turner said. “’There are people whose brilliance continues to light the world even though they are no longer among the living. These lights are particularly bright when the night is dark. They light the way for humankind.’ And that was John.”

During the game a banner hung on the side of the field that stated, “Clarkstown North 2011 Softball Season: Dedicated  in Loving Memory of Coach John Sullivan.” The banner cost around $300 to make, and according to Clarkstown North’s athletic director Tess Brogan, the players and coaches from the current softball team ran various fundraisers to get the money for the banner. Brogan also noted that in June the school will submit a proposal to the Board of Education to try to get the softball field renamed in Sullivan’s honor.

Members of the Sullivan family and a mixture of former and current Clarkstown North athletes and coaches came out for the dedication, along with some other longtime area coaches who went against Sullivan for many years and respected the work that he did. This included Tony Toronto, the current Nanuet High School softball coach who was on the other side of the dugout for the game and was a longtime friend of Sullivan’s.

“My biggest memory of John Sullivan is that he never took a day off,” said Fred Bruntrager, former athletic director at Clarkstown North, after the ceremony. “He never coasted. Some people coach and maybe there’d be a day where they don’t give it 100 percent. He gave it 100 percent every day in the classroom and coaching. He never coasted through a day, he worked 100 percent, and I think that’s rare.”

And as Becker pointed out at the end of her speech, Sullivan’s impact will live on through those who knew him.

“As long as all of us remember him and everything that he taught us, and we use that in our everyday lives, which I do every day, then he will never be forgotten,” Becker said.