St. Anthony's Cancels CYO Basketball Program

A few months after winning a league championship, St. Anthony of Padua School will likely cancel its CYO basketball team this winter.

Despite last year's success, the small Catholic school in West Harrison could no longer find enough kids and parents to maintain a full team, said Principal Ann Marie Zagaglia. Facing a shortage of parent volunteers and a roster too small to compete, head coach Barry Barefoot decided to leave this fall after 15 years with the program.

Since then no other parents have stepped in and the roster remains too small for eligibility. Zagaglia said that although she is hopeful new volunteers will come forward, it is unlikely there will be a team this year.

"We won the CYO championship last year, which was a banner year for us," said Barefoot. "We had a lot of kids (then), turns out this year we don't."

Although CYO basketball was once one of the only opportunities for middle school students to play competitive basketball through the winter, increased popularity of travel teams and year-round training for other sports has put a dent in participation. 

Zagaglia said that several assistant coaches left because they were dedicating their time to other sports, leaving Barefoot and his wife carrying too much of the load every year.

Decreased enrollment at St. Anthony's has also made it nearly impossible to find players. Barefoot said that there were only eight players signed up this year, not enough considering the effort it takes to run an entire team.

"He (Barefoot) told me he went crazy trying to get help, and that he couldn't do it all," said Zagaglia. "I said to him I don't blame you—I said I think you should be commended for all the years you put in here."

With only 59 students currently enrolled in the school, only 10 of which are in eighth grade, the school doesn't have enough parents and students to operate on its own. League rules do not require players to enroll at the school they play for, but they must be a parish member. Although St. Anthony's has a strong parish the school has been unable to find parents or volunteers help—much less take over the program completely.

"We just need the adults," Zagaglia said. "I think it's a great program for the kids, it's kind of sad."

The school has put an emphasis on increasing enrollment, hosting open houses and other events to showcase the school. After spending 22 years at a larger Catholic school with strong sports programs, Zagaglia said that building the basketball team will be a priority once enrollment starts moving in the right direction.

"Sports would be definitely our next target, but I need those kids to come back here," she said. "I need the parents to come back and see this is not the school that they either didn't like or were afraid of or heard rumors about, so we can build up enrollment again and then get programs going."

Meanwhile there is still basketball to be played for returning players from last year's team. Barefoot said that he is taking three eighth graders with him to another CYO team in the area. 

"All isn't lost, they still get to play their last year," he said. "The kids are playing—so it's a happy ending."