Brooklyn Borough President Eric L. Adams on Thursday hosted his second annual “A Night Honoring Brooklyn Champions,” which celebrated the success of the borough’s recent academic, artistic and athletic championship teams.
Students and coaches from local elementary, middle schools, high schools and colleges accepted trophies and words of praise Adams during the ceremony in the courtroom of Brooklyn Borough Hall.
“You have achieved success in the fourth-largest city in the United States,” Adams said. “From all those who played the game, you emerged victorious. I urge you to continue to excel, to care for your body — eating right and staying away from drugs.
“And I want you to remember that the relationships you build in sports will always remain a part of your life,” he added. “I still know people who played football with me in high school, and we still support each other to this day.”
Honorees included the Bedford Stuyvesant Crusaders adult amateur minor league football team, as well as the National Society of High School Scholars award winners of Bedford-Stuyvesant Preparatory School from Bedford-Stuyvesant; the flag rugby team from IS 392K The School for the Gifted and Talented from Brownsville; and the Brooklyn Chiefs dance team from Canarsie; a student from IS 239 Mark Twain for the Gifted and Talented from Coney Island who contributed voiceover work to “The Peanuts Movie.”
Others were: The spelling bee team from PS 289 George V. Brower; the Brooklyn United Marching Band from Crown Heights; the Wolves football team from Grand Street Campus High School from East Williamsburg; and the Engineers girls varsity badminton, girls cross-country, girls varsity volleyball, and boys cross-country teams from Brooklyn Technical High School from Fort Greene; the Bonnie Youth Organization baseball league from Flatbush.
The Orange Wave indoor and outdoor track and field team of Thomas Jefferson Campus High School from East New York; the Cougars boys badminton team of Franklin D. Roosevelt High School from Mapleton; the Young Poets Society Contest winner of IS 240 Andries Hudde from Midwood; the girls soccer team of Sunset Park High School from Sunset Park; and the debate team of MS 50 El Puente Community School from Williamsburg, were the other honorees.
“Be inspired,” said Ryan Hamilton of the City University of New York Accelerated Study in Associate Programs, a program that helps students from underserved neighborhoods to succeed in college. “Be inspiring.”
School administrators and coaches whose students and teams were honored by Borough President Adams also celebrated the achievements of the extraordinary young men and women.
“The Bedford Stuyvesant Crusaders use football as a vehicle to carry young men to better places in their lives,” said Tywan Anthony, founder of the Bedford Stuyvesant Crusaders. “Football is the point of entry for many — from that point they learn so many skills: team building, management, time management, hard work, and the list goes on. Football is not just a sport — it’s a way of life that helps transition our youth and young adults into better lives.”
