Not every athlete gets along with their team: they could have different interests, not enjoy spending countless hours together or they naturally don't enjoy each others company. There always seems to be a conflict or two on every travel team, but not this one. The Long Island Prospects was a group of men that I had the privilege to play with for four years and, to this day, every single player on that team is considered my family. Thanks, Coach.
You created a family that I will know for the rest of my life. All of the players on these teams had one common goal, and that was to win. You taught us that sacrifice was necessary to be successful both on the field and in life, and I believe that is what made our team so dominant every summer. Going away for months at a time from Georgia, to New Jersey, to Maine, to New Hampshire, to Pennsylvania, to getting me signed at The University Of Rhode Island and then coming back to Long Island for a few days to repeat this process once again. You sacrificed your summers year after year to get our whole baseball team scholarships, and that is something that can never be forgotten.
But you didn't stop there; you did more then sacrifice your summers and get all of us signed. Year after year we went to Camp Kehilla, a camp for kids and teenagers with special needs. We spent about five hours at the field teaching these children the game of baseball, and you should've seen the smile on their faces. You also got them tickets to go to a Mets game which is a experience that they'll never forget. You walked up to me while we were at this camp a few years ago and said that I should be a teacher because I'm great with kids. I brushed it off and didn't think anything of it but now I find myself majoring in English adolescent education with special ed. It's funny how things work out.
Thank you, Coach Joe Mongiello, for everything you've done for me and the rest of the Long Island Prospects. I have best friends from that team that I talk to on a daily basis that I will know for the rest of my life, and if I ever have baseball players in my family I'd love to watch them play for you in the bleachers and hear the famous words, "Right side get signed."
