Those who Play for Lisa Cermignano Learn About the Game of Basketball - As Well as the Game of Life
2010-2011 WAGNER BASKETBALL
Stephanie Blais (left) and former Seahawk Chanez Robinson
When Lisa Cermignano was introduced as head women’s basketball coach at Wagner on April 12, 2012, it marked the beginning of an exciting, new era in Seahawk women’s basketball. A native of southern New Jersey, a Hall of Fame Player at George Washington, and later a highly-respected assistant at three high-profile institutions in George Washington, Vanderbilt and Illinois, Cermignano has juggled many different tasks since her arrival. In addition to assembling a coaching staff, adding recruits to the 2012-2013 roster, directing a series of on and off-campus camps, criss-crossing the nation in pursuit of future recruits, Cermignano arranged a variety of team-building programs throughout the summer. In addition to ensuring her players are reaching their full potential in the classroom and on the court, Cermignano also believes the Wagner head coach’s responsibility includes familiarizing her student-athletes with Staten Island and the surrounding environs. The first team-building activity Cermignano had her squad partake in was a scavenger hunt in Manhattan, an exercise where each Seahawk had to figure out riddles and learn different parts of the big city. On another day, the Seahawks took a trip to Ellis Island where they soaked in the history surrounding a place that served as a gateway to America for millions of immigrants. After experiencing Ellis Island, the team members piled back onto the ferry for the short trip to the Statue of Liberty – so they could experience the ultimate symbol of freedom and of the United States. “Basically what we were trying to do our first summer here was build relationships amongst our team. It was kind of a get to know each other type summer,” Cermignano said. “We were trying to do it off the court and being that we’re in Staten Island, I feel like there’s so much that our kids need to be aware of that’s either happened around us, or happened to us. There are many places and things that we need to gain an awareness of that are just in our backyard.” Other team-bonding activities included a movie night held in the Spiro Sports Center, a fun-filled few hours that also included an array of video and card games. Most recently, the Seahawks took part in a vigorous team run on the 1.7-mile South Beach Boardwalk. While all of the activities and day trips had their purpose, none were as purposeful, powerful, or poignant as the day the Seahawks traveled, as a team, to the newly-opened 9/11 Memorial in downtown New York. Wagner athletics has been intertwined with 9/11 activities and fundraisers for some time. Each year, a large group of Seahawk student-athletes participate in the Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Run/Walk with this year’s event being held on Sunday. The Wagner women’s water polo team has taken the lead in being a part of this special day since its inception and this year was no exception. Also participating in this year’s event were members of the swim, dance and cheerleading teams as well as Seahawk distance runner and Staten Island native Daniel Zaccariello. “The kids were obviously very young when 9/11 happened, they were obviously aware of 9/11 but they hadn’t been to the new memorial,” said Cermignano. “I think this is something you do with your team yearly. I really do.” To help deepen the meaning of the experience, the Seahawks were tasked by the coaching staff with the assignment of researching individuals who sacrificed their own lives on 9/11while heroically saving the lives of others. Team members were divided into pairs and each pair researched a different hero. Once on site at the memorial, each tandem set out to find the name of the person they had researched. The four individuals selected to be researched included: Welles Crowther, a 24-year old equities trader from Nyack NY, who used his experience and training as a former volunteer fireman to save others on that fateful day. In 2006, the former lacrosse player at Boston College was posthumously named an honorary New York City firefighter by Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta. Thomas Hannafin, a 36-year-old native of the Westerleigh section of Staten Island and a member of the New York City Fire Department’s Ladder Company 5 in Greenwich Village. Hannafin and his fellow firefighters from Company 5 were among the first responders. He was last seen on the 37th floor in Tower One. A former standout basketball player at the College of Staten Island, Hannafin, who left behind a wife and two children, was the brother-in-law of Wagner Hall of Fame women’s basketball player Maureen “Moe” Hannafin. Rick Rescorla, 62-year old director of security for the financial services firm Morgan Stanley in the World Trade Center implemented evacuation procedures that are credited with saving many lives day. He was a retired United States Army officer of British birth who served with distinction in Northern Rhodesia as a member of the Northern Rhodesia Police (NRP) and later as a soldier in the Vietnam War as a Second Lieutenant in the United States Army. Rescoria left behind a wife and two children, Stephen Siller, a 34-year old West Brighton resident, was a firefighter who had just finished the late shift at Squad 1, Park Slope, Brooklyn, when his scanner told of the first plane hitting the Twin Towers. Heimmediately returned to Squad 1 to collect his gear, then took his final heroic steps to the World Trade Center. When Stephen drove his truck to the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel, it was already closed to traffic. With sixty pounds of gear strapped to his back, he ran through the tunnel, hoping to meet up with his company. Siller was among 10 squad members who died that day. He left behind a wife and five children.
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