This year, the Catholic Athletic League has begun a new tradition of dedicating the annual basketball tournament to players, coaches, or volunteers who were involved with the league and have died during the year.
This season's tournament is dedicated to two former coaches and one former player, all three of whom made a big impact on basketball in the diocese. What follows are some snapshots from their lives as coaches and players and the lasting impact they made on CAL basketball.
Corrina Cole
WARWICK – In the world of basketball it pays to be tall. But for one St. Kevin player, it paid even more to have heart. Corrina Cole was not even five feet tall, but despite that seeming disadvantage she shone as a CAL basketball player in elementary school and a star volleyball player in high school.
Her basketball coach, David Curran, remembers a fierce little player who didn't let her stature get her down. "Kids used to laugh at her when we walked into the gym, and then she'd just tear them apart [during the game]," he said. "She was absolutely fearless, she was strong, she was fast, she was probably the most determined person I've ever met."
Curran coached Cole at St. Kevin for about five years, from the time that she was in 3rd grade until she was in 8th grade. In that time, he said, she was the ultimate team player, often sacrificing shots to pass to teammates. "It was all about team with her," Curran said. He also remembers an incredibly gracious young girl who thanked him after each and every practice and game, even going so far as to come back if she had left and forgotten.
Cole's memory – the athlete, the honor student, the altar server and volunteer, the young pillar of a community – will be honored at this year's tournament. Cole, a 17-year-old high school senior, died in a car accident on March 16, 2007, only five days before she was to turn 18. Cole was a beloved member of the Warwick Veterans high school community and St. Kevin parish. "It was a great loss for the community; everybody knew her," Curran said.
So he contacted the CAL and suggested that they honor her memory with this year's tournament. That idea was quickly seized upon by Jerry Dandeneau, the administrator of CAL, and turned into what will be an annual tradition.
Curran hopes people remember the girl that he knew: "She was a great student, a great athlete, she was the whole package."
Life after her death has been difficult for the entire community. "It's been terrible for everybody; it's been so hard on her family," Curran said. He continues to coach CAL basketball with Cole's father. "We do it together as therapy," he said.
The CAL tournament memorial means a lot to the people who knew Cole. “There is a gigantic hole in our community, left by a very small girl,” Curran said.
Al Santie
RIVERSIDE – Al Santie, known to most people as "Big Al," died unexpectedly on October 8, 2007. He was the coach of St. Brendan's CAL basketball teams for more than 20 years. But, he was known for much more than that around Riverside, where he grew up and lived his entire life. Santie, it seemed, was the face of every youth sport. He coached town Little League and youth football in addition to all of his years of basketball coaching.
His devotion to children and sports even led St. Brendan school to create a position exclusively for him: Captain of the schoolyard. Santie was a daily presence at the school during recess doing what he loved best – encouraging kids to play sports.
Father John E. Unsworth, pastor of St. Brendan Church, remembers Santie fondly. "He's a legend here in the city of East Providence," he said. Father Unsworth said Santie's disability, which forced his early retirement, did not dampen the spirit of the lovable coach. "Rather than just sit around, he dedicated his whole life to kids," he said.
One of Santie's greatest achievements, Father Unsworth recalls, was in joining the community with the church: "He was one person who was able to make our parish part of the whole Riverside community."
This season of CAL basketball at St. Brendan was particularly difficult because Santie passed away unexpectedly just as the basketball season he had been coaching for more than 20 years was starting up. "It was difficult because everyone just relied on him and then suddenly right at the beginning of the season, he was gone," Father Unsworth said. "It was very hard for many of the kids, who really looked up to him as a model for what they wanted to be in life."
But, Father Unsworth and the rest of the parish consider Santie's unexpected passing to be one of his final challenges to his players and friends. "Al left everyone here with a challenge to pick up the ball and try to be like he was and give these kids some people who will guide them and care for them and show them the way," he said.
Donald Bohac
CUMBERLAND – In recent years, CAL basketball at St. Joan of Arc parish has made a comeback, and much of that can be credited to Donald Bohac. After the basketball program fell by the wayside for many years, three years ago Steven Nolan and several other former players and parishioners decided to follow in the footsteps of their former coach, Bohac, and reintroduce basketball to St. Joan of Arc.
Bohac, Nolan said, "had a lasting influence" on the parish's basketball. "Really and truly, he started it and he inspired us."
When Bohac died on August 1, 2007, his funeral and wake were filled with former players from his 20 years of coaching. "He was Mr. Basketball at St. Joan's for many, many years," Nolan said.
When Nolan played for Bohac in the late 1970s, his team won the state championship for two of the three years he played. Nolan remembers his coach as "intense" and "fair with the kids. He was a good coach... he made sure all the kids got to get in and play a lot," Nolan said.
Now that Nolan and others have restarted the parish basketball league, it seems that many of the St. Joan of Arc parishioners had missed it. "I've had a bunch of people thank me on his behalf," Nolan said.
Bohac's wife, Margaret, remembers his years coaching fondly. "He put a lot of time in for the children... they all liked him and they did well with him and he enjoyed was he was doing," she said.
Often, she said, one of their five sons was involved in the games that Bohac was coaching and St. Joan of Arc basketball turned into a family affair. "He put a lot of time into it... he enjoyed doing that," she said.
