Copyright Staten Island Advance
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.— On Nov. 13, Moore Catholic will induct seven new members into its Hall of Fame, including Ted Borkowski — a school trailblazer and member of Moore’s first varsity basketball team. He began his tenure as a Maverick in 1970. Regarded by his peers as one of the first true star athletes in Moore’s history, Borkowski consistently ranked among Staten Island’s top players, standing alongside borough legends such as Curtis’ Larry Cubas and St. Peter’s John Engles, thanks to his exceptional perimeter-shooting ability. But before Borkowski is honored for both his on-court performance and his leadership in helping establish the program, he reflected on the challenges that the team faced in their early stages. “Our biggest guy on the team was 6-foot-1; we had no seniors, and it was always like David against Goliath every night, to be quite honest with you,” Borkowski began with a laugh. “We had no glass backboards in the gym, we had a terrible scoreboard; we just went in knowing ‘Yeah, we’re probably going to lose,’ but the effort and the grit was there. The guys never gave up,” he continued. Perhaps most remarkably, Borkowski understood the challenges that lay ahead even before enrolling at Moore, yet rather than joining an established Island program suited to his skill set, he embraced the difficulty of helping to lead a fledgling team. “I separated and went to Moore because my mom convinced me that’s the way I could make a difference for myself, have some impact, stand out in the crowd, and still make a difference on a new program,” said Borkowski, who will go into the Hall along with Kimberly Cantoni (’05), Julie Fleschner ’88, former teacher Jim Grogan, former coach Bill Hodge (posthumously) and teacher Camille Horihan. “It was a tough decision, but that’s what I would tell anybody in school today: make something out of it, make a difference in your life, and it’ll benefit you later on down the road.” Despite the challenges of leading an inexperienced program with limited resources, Borkowski fondly recalled some of the team’s memorable victories — most notably a win over the highly skilled Monsignor Farrell JV squad. They achieved that feat before the team transitioned to varsity, which he famously described as Moore’s version of “the shot heard ’round the world.” “That was our first major victory,” Borkowski explained. “Since the school had just become co-ed, a lot of people thought, ‘Oh, wow, a ‘girls’ school’ just beat Farrell’s JV,’ which was pretty good.” Then, when it came time to face varsity competition the following year, Borkowski recalled a monumental win over New Dorp that left the Island’s sports community stunned. “The biggest thing that happened to us back then was when we beat New Dorp. At the time, they were undefeated, and and they went on to win the public school championship that year; but we pulled it out,” he shared. Borkowski was pleased to share that in the Advance’s coverage of the game, former sportswriter Joe Nugent opened his piece with: “Before you begin to read this story, let one and all be warned: You are not going to believe it!” He also recalled that, although the Moore community knew the Mavericks would be underdogs in nearly every game, the school’s support sustained their belief that they could still pull off some memorable victories. “We had such good school support, with the nuns at the school and the students, even though they knew the odds weren’t in our favor; one nun named Sister Athanasius was probably our biggest fan,” Borkowski warmly remembered. After his time at Moore, Borkowski said the lessons of discipline and leadership he learned as a Maverick inspired his later careers in the Marine Corps and with the San Diego Police Department. “I did 40 years in law enforcement, but the people and mentors I had at the school made all the difference. The relationships I built and the teachers who became my mentors — like Warren Fenley, Rich Potter and Chuck Driscoll— helped build the foundation for my future success," he shared. “I went through a lot of struggles becoming a Marine officer and drill instructor, but I learned from those experiences and applied those lessons throughout my career.” Although Borkowski’s move to the West Coast and his travels as a Marine have kept him from returning to Moore since his teenage years, he wasn’t ashamed to admit that he shed a few happy tears when he learned of his upcoming Hall of Fame induction. “I’ll be honest with you, when they told me I got it, I cried. This was probably the only other time I cried for a sports award in addition to qualifying for the Boston Marathon,” he poignantly shared. “I think it’s because I’m a lot older. Maybe when I was younger, I might not have appreciated it as much — it would have been more of a singular thing. But as you get older, you learn through life that you don’t get there without other people. So, you look at it differently at my age.” Lastly, while Borokowski may have been the face of the genesis of Moore’s program, he made sure to emphasize that he will be dedicating his nomination to all of his former teammates, coaches and mentors who helped him to earn this recognition in the first place. “Those relationships and mentors are what developed my personality, my career. I don’t want it to be about me; the award’s going to be enough. I want to recognize these guys I play with because they went through the same struggles,” he concluded. While all of the forthcoming Hall of Fame honorees are more than deserving of their places, Borkowski stands out as a reminder of what can happen when you stay committed to building something from the ground up — an impact that’s still felt within the Moore community more than 50 years later.
