By TARA SULLIVAN
RECORD COLUMNIST | The Record
THE RECORD FILE PHOTO
St. Anthony boys basketball coach Bobby Hurley Sr. does not take a salary in his position at the school.
The long-running joke among high school basketball coaches is that they’re in it for the money, an insider’s nod to the truth that most of them put what meager stipend they earn right back into the programs they run. But four-plus decades into a career at St. Anthony High School in Jersey City, Bob Hurley can, with a straight face, say he’s not in coaching for the money.
Hurley, the Hall of Fame coach with more than 1,000 career victories to his name, no longer draws a salary from the Catholic school located in the innermost borders of Jersey City, declining the $8,500 this past season. His altruism doesn’t end there. Hurley, twice retired from full-time careers with the city’s probation and recreation departments, accepted a position as the high school’s president this past year, but doesn’t take a salary for that, either.
With his eye focused squarely on the bottom line for this financially challenged school, Hurley is merely practicing what he has been preaching for the past few years, adding the weight of his own actions behind efforts to raise enough money to keep St. Anthony’s doors open. With a life legacy long secured by a list of players who turned their success on the Friars’ basketball court into college educations and more than a dozen professional basketball careers, Hurley only adds to it now, turning the considerable force of his personality toward the welfare of every St. Anthony student.
“It’s been very satisfying to find out their stories,” Hurley said in a phone conversation from the school. “For years, I only knew the 45 to 50 basketball players in my program, about a quarter of the school. I’m finding out about the rest of the kids in school, their talents, their backgrounds. I’ll be in my office on the second floor, and the kids, who are around the age of my grandchildren, come in all the time to talk about their day. It’s enjoyable. They’re much more relaxed around me than my players are.”
The same disciplined approach that kept countless young basketball players in line over the years does cross over well in one way, however, pushing Hurley to work as hard for the welfare of the entire school as he has for its basketball program. Yet for all the fundraising highs he’s helped hit, using the likes of a golf tournament, a sports roast and a beefsteak dinner to meet past annual goals in the $1.4 million range, the school finds itself in crisis as the end of the fiscal year approaches.
The unexpected and unfortunate postponement of two big fundraising events has led to an approximate $300,000 budget shortfall, an amount that puts the school in danger of going into the red. In the precarious world of private, Catholic education, being in the red means being in danger of the diocesan ax.
“In talking to him, I can hear it, it’s the first time he sounds really nervous,” said Dan Hurley, Bob’s younger son, who along with older brother Bobby, has become a successful college basketball coach. “That place means everything to him, it’s like a part of the family, like another son or daughter for my parents. My dad would sacrifice anything to keep that school open.
“This is crunch time."
The elder Hurley has made a living beating the pressure of crunch time, winning 27 state basketball titles by teaching his players to fight harder, smarter and longer than any opponent. As time runs short on his newest life mission, he is doubling down in his two-minute drills, forcing himself to draw up the one play he hates the most: Asking for help.
“My dad was a very good example of everything we had we earned,” Hurley Sr. said from his president’s office, the one he’s halving this summer to give a private bathroom to a student body desperately in need of one. “At school on a daily basis, I’ve learned to do everything there is to do in the development office. Everything except the ask. I cannot make the ask.”
Hence the letter that went recently out to past donors to the school, one describing the shortfall and the immediacy of the need to overcome it, asking for help in any way possible.
This space can be used to publicize two upcoming events, beginning with a small, high-end cocktail hour June 9 that features celebrity guests Phil Simms (last year’s roast subject who volunteered to do another event this year after the roast fell through), Nets’ center Brooke Lopez, broadcaster Don Criqui and Bayonne boxer Chuck Wepner. For those unable to match the $10,000 price tag (St. Anthony hopes to draw 20 attendees to raise $200,000), there is a June 19 beefsteak dinner featuring comedian Donnell Rawlings that goes for $150 a ticket.
Jack Chimento, the finance chair of the school’s Board of Trustees, estimates the cost of education for each of the approximately 200 St. Anthony students at $14,000 a year. With a tuition charge of about $6,000 per student, the balance is made up with fundraising.
“This year we need close to $1.5 million, and that’s just to keep the doors open, to break even,” said Chimento, the former Bergen Catholic basketball standout who retired from a career on Wall Street and who volunteers on the St. Anthony board. “There are currently 205 students, and with Bob coming in, the freshman class, which has averaged 45 to 50 students, is going to be north of 60 to 65. That’s a big turnaround and will help us, but we still have to raise money. This is the last inner city school. And a hundred percent of every graduating class, every senior the last 20 years, has been accepted to college.”
That included young Bob and Dan Hurley, who went on to great college basketball success at Duke and Seton Hall, respectively, and who now coach at Arizona State and Rhode Island, respectively.
“For these inner city kids in Jersey City to get a private school education, that environment, the comfort and security of going to a school that’s helped so many kids, it’s not just about the athletes,” Dan said.
Right now, it’s about the money. And Bob Hurley, with a legacy long secured by the basketball players at St. Anthony, is looking out for everyone now.
Email: sullivan@northjersey.com
http://www.northjersey.com/sports/s...ing-at-critical-financial-shortfall-1.1345731
RECORD COLUMNIST | The Record
THE RECORD FILE PHOTO
St. Anthony boys basketball coach Bobby Hurley Sr. does not take a salary in his position at the school.
The long-running joke among high school basketball coaches is that they’re in it for the money, an insider’s nod to the truth that most of them put what meager stipend they earn right back into the programs they run. But four-plus decades into a career at St. Anthony High School in Jersey City, Bob Hurley can, with a straight face, say he’s not in coaching for the money.
Hurley, the Hall of Fame coach with more than 1,000 career victories to his name, no longer draws a salary from the Catholic school located in the innermost borders of Jersey City, declining the $8,500 this past season. His altruism doesn’t end there. Hurley, twice retired from full-time careers with the city’s probation and recreation departments, accepted a position as the high school’s president this past year, but doesn’t take a salary for that, either.
With his eye focused squarely on the bottom line for this financially challenged school, Hurley is merely practicing what he has been preaching for the past few years, adding the weight of his own actions behind efforts to raise enough money to keep St. Anthony’s doors open. With a life legacy long secured by a list of players who turned their success on the Friars’ basketball court into college educations and more than a dozen professional basketball careers, Hurley only adds to it now, turning the considerable force of his personality toward the welfare of every St. Anthony student.
“It’s been very satisfying to find out their stories,” Hurley said in a phone conversation from the school. “For years, I only knew the 45 to 50 basketball players in my program, about a quarter of the school. I’m finding out about the rest of the kids in school, their talents, their backgrounds. I’ll be in my office on the second floor, and the kids, who are around the age of my grandchildren, come in all the time to talk about their day. It’s enjoyable. They’re much more relaxed around me than my players are.”
The same disciplined approach that kept countless young basketball players in line over the years does cross over well in one way, however, pushing Hurley to work as hard for the welfare of the entire school as he has for its basketball program. Yet for all the fundraising highs he’s helped hit, using the likes of a golf tournament, a sports roast and a beefsteak dinner to meet past annual goals in the $1.4 million range, the school finds itself in crisis as the end of the fiscal year approaches.
The unexpected and unfortunate postponement of two big fundraising events has led to an approximate $300,000 budget shortfall, an amount that puts the school in danger of going into the red. In the precarious world of private, Catholic education, being in the red means being in danger of the diocesan ax.
“In talking to him, I can hear it, it’s the first time he sounds really nervous,” said Dan Hurley, Bob’s younger son, who along with older brother Bobby, has become a successful college basketball coach. “That place means everything to him, it’s like a part of the family, like another son or daughter for my parents. My dad would sacrifice anything to keep that school open.
“This is crunch time."
The elder Hurley has made a living beating the pressure of crunch time, winning 27 state basketball titles by teaching his players to fight harder, smarter and longer than any opponent. As time runs short on his newest life mission, he is doubling down in his two-minute drills, forcing himself to draw up the one play he hates the most: Asking for help.
“My dad was a very good example of everything we had we earned,” Hurley Sr. said from his president’s office, the one he’s halving this summer to give a private bathroom to a student body desperately in need of one. “At school on a daily basis, I’ve learned to do everything there is to do in the development office. Everything except the ask. I cannot make the ask.”
Hence the letter that went recently out to past donors to the school, one describing the shortfall and the immediacy of the need to overcome it, asking for help in any way possible.
This space can be used to publicize two upcoming events, beginning with a small, high-end cocktail hour June 9 that features celebrity guests Phil Simms (last year’s roast subject who volunteered to do another event this year after the roast fell through), Nets’ center Brooke Lopez, broadcaster Don Criqui and Bayonne boxer Chuck Wepner. For those unable to match the $10,000 price tag (St. Anthony hopes to draw 20 attendees to raise $200,000), there is a June 19 beefsteak dinner featuring comedian Donnell Rawlings that goes for $150 a ticket.
Jack Chimento, the finance chair of the school’s Board of Trustees, estimates the cost of education for each of the approximately 200 St. Anthony students at $14,000 a year. With a tuition charge of about $6,000 per student, the balance is made up with fundraising.
“This year we need close to $1.5 million, and that’s just to keep the doors open, to break even,” said Chimento, the former Bergen Catholic basketball standout who retired from a career on Wall Street and who volunteers on the St. Anthony board. “There are currently 205 students, and with Bob coming in, the freshman class, which has averaged 45 to 50 students, is going to be north of 60 to 65. That’s a big turnaround and will help us, but we still have to raise money. This is the last inner city school. And a hundred percent of every graduating class, every senior the last 20 years, has been accepted to college.”
That included young Bob and Dan Hurley, who went on to great college basketball success at Duke and Seton Hall, respectively, and who now coach at Arizona State and Rhode Island, respectively.
“For these inner city kids in Jersey City to get a private school education, that environment, the comfort and security of going to a school that’s helped so many kids, it’s not just about the athletes,” Dan said.
Right now, it’s about the money. And Bob Hurley, with a legacy long secured by the basketball players at St. Anthony, is looking out for everyone now.
Email: sullivan@northjersey.com
http://www.northjersey.com/sports/s...ing-at-critical-financial-shortfall-1.1345731
