December 26, 2011
De Fazio Challenge about more than basketball |
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Head coach Alice De Fazio and Marist will host the Bill De Fazio Challenge this week. (Photo: Jason Bernstein) |
| Marist at Bayonne Girls Basketball Photo Gallery |
By Jason Bernstein Editorial Director |
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As Alice De Fazio rattles off the names of the teams scheduled to participate in the Christmas tournament Marist will be hosting there is a sense of concern and pride about the list.
De Fazio knows that it will be an up-hill battle for her Royal Knights this week with these potential opponents. But that challenge has always been a part of the legacy of the tournament, now named after her late husband Bill, created during his long career at Marist. It is a legacy that Alice, the new head coach at Marist is looking to continue at the recently renamed "Bill De Fazio Challenge" which starts this afternoon.
"The Christmas tournament is going to be a showcase like Bill had it in the past," Alice De Fazio said. "We're really anxious to host these teams and really, really have a good show."
With a collection of talent which includes state-ranked Teaneck, Newark Tech, Paterson Kennedy, Curtis of Staten Island and three-time Hudson County champion Bayonne among others, some of the region's top teams will be in action.
"It's a very, very strong field," De Fazio said. "Teaneck from what I'm hearing, is going to be a Top 10 team in the state. Bayonne is always very good. Newark Tech is very good and athletic. Curtis is supposed to be one of the better teams from Staten Island. Paterson Kennedy had been in the tournament consistently and they're always very good. We have our work cut out for us."
Even when the Royal Knights were among the state's premier teams under Bill De Fazio, they often struggled in the tournament as it always featured the best in the metropolitan area.
Besides for maintaining one of the area's top tournaments, the other way Alice is looking to preserve her husband's legacy is through the scholarship fund which was created in Bill's name last year after he died of pancreatic cancer in October of 2010.
"I'm hoping that can be a jumpstart for us fundraising for us too," said De Fazio, who cited Bill's legacy as a reason why she became Marist's head coach. "But the whole sentiment for the Bill De Fazio Scholarship is why I want to go back and make this connection."
The Bill De Fazio Challenge starts today when Bayonne facing Mount St. Mary's today at 3:30 p.m. at Marist High School's Bill De Fazio Court. It is the first of four games on the schedule today, capped off by Marist and Curtis at 8 p.m. There will also be four games starting at 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 28 and Friday, Dec. 30. The championship game will be held on Friday at 8 p.m.