Special Opener For Queens Falcons

Members of the Queens Falcons remember the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks as they open their season last Sunday, 10 years later. When the Queens Falcons began their season last Sunday, Sept. 11 at Juniper Valley Park’s Brennan Field in Middle Village, they took the time to remember one of the men who helped make the program what it was today.

With family members, State Sen. Joseph Addabbo and City Council Member Elizabeth Crowley on hand, the teams dedicated their games last Sunday to Stephen G. Hoffman, a broker at Cantor Fitzgerald who died in the World Trade Center attacks 10 years ago.

Hoffman and Tim Cavanaugh were credited by the Falcons’ Connie Partinico as the men who expanded the then-Forest Hills Football League into a boroughwide organization in 1985.

It now runs a six-team program (three in-house and three travel teams) with approximately 200 children between the ages of 7 and 19 years old participating.

Falcons players and coaches remember Stephen Hoffman, who co-founded the Falcons’ Run to Daylight program and was one of the two men responsible for the program’s expansion. (photos: Nicholas Biondo) In addition, Hoffman and Cavanaugh co-founded the Falcons’ Run to Daylight program in 1997, which provides financial support to student-athletes on the Falcons so they can go on to higher education.

Partinico, who did not know Hoffman personally, said she learned through friends that “he always had a smile on his face, no matter what.”

After each game, the teams dedicated a trophy to Hoffman, and listened as his twin brother, Gregory Hoffman, and Falcons President Neil O’Donnell spoke to the players about what last Sunday meant to them.

Partinico noted that some of the players were not even born before the terror attacks; “they learned of the significance of the event.”

“It really turned a somber event into a really nice event,” she added.

This fits into Partinico’s description of the Falcons as “a very wellrun, very generous organization.”

“They teach young boys how to be good boys,” she stated; “they teach young men how to be good men.”

To join the Queens Falcons or for more information, contact O’Donnell at 1-718-639-6370 or visit www.queensfalcons.net.