Hundreds of Wildcats gather for PACT assembly

With preseason practices well underway and the Fall 2024 season set to kick off in just days, Wildcats gathered in the WVHS auditorium earlier this week for a presentation about the athletics department’s P.A.C.T. for student-athletes. Warwick Valley Athletics Director Gregory Sirico hosted the assembly, and was joined by high school administrators and members of the WV coaching staff.

Coach Sirico teed up the day’s theme, saying, “There is a legacy that you are a part of, a tradition that you are a part of. It’s a very important tradition to a lot of people, and with membership comes responsibility.”

P.A.C.T. stands for Pride, Accountability, Commitment, and Trust. These four values/qualities are at the core of Warwick Valley athletics’ organizational strategy, and are expected of every Wildcat student-athlete — both as competitors and district ambassadors. Coach Sirico invited WVHS Principal Georgianna Diopoulos, along with a few of the district’s coaches, to elaborate on these qualities and put them in perspective for the Wildcat audience.   

PRIDE
“If you ever had me as a teacher, then you know that I love school pride,” said WVMS teacher and Wildcats football offensive line coach Warren Patafio. Coach Patafio said that pride means having respect for yourself, your school, and the community, and can depend heavily on understanding one’s role on a team of any kind.

“Whether you’re a starter, a back-up, or the team captain, you’re either going to help your team get 1% better or 1% worse every single day,” he said. “So, it is important to keep working hard, to keep getting better. When you look back, you’ll take great pride in knowing that you were part of making something bigger than yourself, better!”

ACCOUNTABILITY
WVHS teacher and boys soccer coach Dennis O’Connor began his segment on accountability by emphasizing the basic, but critical, practice of simply being where you say you’ll be, when you say you’ll be there — getting to class on time, completing an assignment, making it to practice on time.

“If practice is at 3:30, and I ask my players what time should they should be there, they all say the same thing, ‘3:15,'” said Coach O’Connor. “Are you doing what you can to make your teammates better? Are you cheering for your teammates even when you’re not starting or playing at all? Are you going to be the one who helps pick up the gear? That’s what we need you to work on; those are the kinds of things that make you accountable. Remember, there is always somebody who will follow your lead!” 

COMMITMENT
Coach Sirico then introduced someone he has known as a both a Warwick Valley student and coach (one of the top track coaches in New York State, in fact), boys cross country coach Michael Potter. Coach Potter talked about commitment through the lens of consistency and the importance of being a team player.

“Always! Always be a team player,” he said. “If you want to be great, it’s hard. You have to invest time in what you’re doing and work hard every single day. [Warwick] is a rural area, a farming town, so we understand the idea that you reap what you sow. You get out what you put in, so as Coach [Patafio] alluded to earlier, be better leaving the practice field, and know that you did everything you could.” 

He challenged the athletes to not just talk the talk, but to walk the walk. 

“In the track world, I say every time you put one foot in front of the other, you’re making a deposit into a bank,” he explained. “When you put deposits into the bank, your bank account grows. So, when it’s time to perform on a soccer field, the volleyball court, the football field, that’s when it’s time to withdraw those deposits.”

Coach Potter pointed out that the Wildcats should always bear how “wanting something and committing to something are very different.”

“You’ve got to commit; you can’t just want it,” he exhorted. “If you don’t put in the work at practice, you’re never going to be able to do what you want to do on the athletic field.”

TRUST

WVHS Principal Georgianna Diopoulos spoke to the athletes next, pointing out that being part of any team requires trust. She used her own team of trusted associate principals as an example.

“Ms. Hill-Lewis, Mr. Fiorentino, and Mr. Emanuele, we’re a team. We have to trust each other, just like you have to trust your teammates, and trust your coaches,” said Principal Diopoulos. She added that, like all four PACT qualities, becoming trusting and trustworthy will only serve to help them in myriad life situations. “You’re going to be on teams the rest of your life — not necessarily a sports team — but you’re going to be on a team with people that you work with.”

Principal Diopoulous went on to explain that the school administration and school community must be able to trust that Wildcats will represent Warwick in a positive manner. She reiterated Coach Sirico’s message that every Wildcat is part of a rich legacy that the district trusts every generation of competitors to uphold in a positive way.

“This whole idea of PACT — pride, accountability, commitment, trust — when you go out on the field, when you are at another school, when you are in the locker room, you are representing the history of Warwick,” said Principal Diopoulos. “It’s really important that I can trust you, that Coach Sirico can trust you, and that your coaches can trust you to make the good decisions, even when it’s hard.”

Finally, Superintendent of Schools Dr. David Leach spoke to the student-athletes about their responsibility as Wildcats. He let the students know that if they intend to wear a Wildcat uniform, that expectations are high.

“I’m not talking about winning a Section IX title, a state football title or a girls’ soccer title, that’s not what I’m talking about,” said Superintendent Leach. “The expectations are high that you are going to represent Warwick Valley at the highest level.”

Superintendent Leach then encouraged the student-athletes to always dream and plan big, to maintain high aspirations, and to always go for it.

“Whether it’s on the field or off the field,” he said. “Whatever you’re practicing on the field with your coaches and teammates, all the hundreds, maybe even thousands, of hours you will have spent getting ready for the season, it is all these small steps you take that make you who you are today. That’s a lesson that you can apply to any discipline for the rest of your life.”

Coach Sirico wrapped up the assembly by sharing how impressed he always is by the number of Wildcats who show up at athletics events outside their own sport to support one another, and how that reflects on the strength of spirit and tradition in Wildcat country.

“There’s no better Friday Night Lights type of town town than our town, none,” said Coach Sirico.

The 2024 Fall Athletic Season kicks off next week. Go, Wildcats!