Junior/Senior High School Religious Retreat Days:
October 13--7th Grade
October 21-- 9th Grade
October 26--8th Grade
November 9--10th Grade
November 16--11th Grade
Parents: Please note that the retreat permission slips that were mailed out this week are due to the High School office at least one school day before the retreat. Students without permission slips will be remaining at the high school. Seventh graders must hand their permission slips in tomorrow (10-9-09).
Yearbook Photos:
Digital photos are needed from anyone who may have pictures of the Junior/Senior HS campus students participating in fall sports and activities for possible use in the 2009-10 yearbook. You may email photos to
lwinter@sjnra.org, or send them in on a disc or SD card, with your identification on it so that we may return it to you. If you only have a hard copy of a photo(s), please send them in to Mrs. Lisa Winter at the HS Campus. Unfortunately, actual photos will not be returned.
SJNRA Sports News:
The next NPAA meeting is on Tuesday, October 13 at 7 pm in the HS Library. All are welcome!
From the Office of the SJNRA Athletic Director:
All of our Fall sports (Golf, Girls Tennis, Jr. High Softball and Boys & Girls Soccer) programs are almost finished and within a few weeks we will starting our basketball programs with the 7th & 8th Grade Girls team as they play their first game on 2 November and then the Boys and Girls Varsity start the first week of December and the Boys 7th & 8th Grade Boys starting the end of December.
Our Fall sports teams have had some rough times and had difficulty getting into the Win column. Many of the girls and boys soccer games were close, but we just did not have enough offensive punch to score those needed goals. The inexperienced girls tennis team have been improving and won their first match up at Elkland and all the girls are looking forward to next year as they feel they will be more competitive. The Golf team is finished for the year and did well, and there is a lot of young talent that will be returning next year. The Jr. High girls softball team played extremely well all season and had a 4 game winning streak, but then cooled off the last few games, but had some very close games. There is a lot of talent with this group and they will be the nucleus of future girls sports teams here at Neumann.
1. GIRLS 7/8th GRADE BASKETBALL TEAM: The Jr. High Girls Basketball team will play their first game on Monday, 2 November at Warrior Run at 5:30 PM. In the meantime, they will start their first practice on Monday, 12 October from 4:30 to 6:00 PM in the school gym. Practice sessions will run Monday thru Friday from 4:30 to 6:00 PM. Any girls interested in playing need to sign up with Mr. Lupacchino in the Athletic Office. Mr. David Lechniak and Matt Henderson will again be coaching the girls this year. If you need to contact the coaches, you can reach Mr. Lechniak at his home 322-0444 and Mr. Henderson on his cell at 244-1128.
2. BASKETBALL OPEN GYM: In order to get some of the players in shape early and to transition from the other sports they may be playing, there will be open gym for any students in grades 7 to 12 every Tuesday and Thursday during October from 6:00 to 7:30 PM. The open gym is restricted to current or former Neumann students and even parents or relatives are welcome to attend to keep in shape.
3. NEXT NEUMANN PARENTS ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION (NPAA). The next meeting of the Neumann Parents Athletic Association will be held on Tuesday, 13 October 09 at 7:00 PM in the school Library. Any interested parents, relatives or former students are welcome to attend these meetings and are encouraged to get involved with our school athletic support group. This group is the backbone that provides the financial support for all our athletic teams. The NPAA is currently providing the support to purchase new home uniforms for the Girls Jr. High Basketball team and also new uniforms for the Girls Varsity Softball team.
4. LAST SPECIAL SALE ON BASKETBALL SEASON TICKETS: Once again we will have a special sale on season tickets for any of our basketball games. This sale will run only through 31 October and will cost $20.00 for Adults and $5.00 for Students and entitles you to any 10 regular season home games for the Boys or Girls Varsity and Jr. High basketball games. The normal season ticket prices are $25.00 for Adults and $8.00 for Students. This is an excellent item to give as a Christmas gift to family and friends. If you desire tickets, just stop into the Athletic Office or send a check and the names of the individuals you desire on the tickets and we will mail it back to you. Make your check payable to St. John Neumann and mail to: Frank Lupacchino, St. John Neumann H.S., 901 Penn St., Williamsport, PA 17701. If you have any questions, contact Mr. Lupacchino at 323-9953, ext 217.
5. UP TO DATE SPORTS SCHEDULES: As you are aware, we currently have a printed pocket size master schedule of all our sports teams for the 2009-10 school year. But as normally occurs, there are constant changes to all the schedules and therefore in order to get accurate and up-to-date information on team schedules, please go to the following website: "highschoolsports.net" and click onto the state and then our school and then you are into all our sports information and you can pull up any details that you need. You can even get the schedules of any other schools. Do not rely on the Williamsport Sun-Gazette newspaper for accurate information.
6. ATHLETIC PARTICIPATION FEE: Since we are coming into our Winter sports programs, we would like to again remind all parents that each student that participates on a sports team or cheerleading, that they must pay a $30.00 fee for EACH SPORT or CHEERLEADING that they participate in during the school year. There is no discount for two or more sports or for two or more family members. The fee should be paid in the Athletic Office or at the Main School Office and vouchers can be used for payment. If any family feels they are unable to pay the fee, then they can discuss their situation with the Principal or the Athletic Director. Team uniforms will not be issued to the players until the fee is paid.
7. SPECTATOR SPORTSMANSHIP: Since Basketball is the sport in which spectator sportsmanship always becomes an issue, we again want to remind everybody that there will be some very close and competitive games throughout the season and this is when the parents and spectators all of a sudden become experts in officiating and coaching and therefore get all tense and worked up with inappropriate comments and remarks directed at the officials, coaches, players and opposing spectators. This certainly is not acceptable from any representative of our school and will not be tolerated. As mentioned previously, St. John Neumann has been known for high levels of sportsmanship and courtesy to our visiting teams, spectators and officials and we certainly will continue this tradition. Therefore, we expect all individuals to control their emotions and behavior while attending any of our sporting events, BOTH HERE AT HOME AND AT AWAY GAMES. Any inappropriate actions by players, coaches, parents or spectators may result in being removed from the team, being immediately removed from the area as a spectator and could result in being restricted from watching any future sporting event. There are certain restrictions that the PIAA can and will impose, as well as any conditions that our school would chose to use.
We all know that parents and spectators know more than the coaches or can make better calls than the officials, but if you are sitting in the bleachers, then you are NOT A PLAYER, COACH OR AN OFFICIAL and therefore are only there to cheer on your team and not to shout criticism towards anybody. Again, if you get out of hand, we will not hesitate in having you leave the gym or playing area. Also, if you are ejected or removed from any game at any other school, that also may have an effect on your status to allow you as a spectator at our home games, regardless if your son or daughter is on a team. In a few short words, just behave yourself and control your language or comments at the game and just cheer for our Neumann teams.
8. CHEERLEADING PRACTICE: The cheerleading squad is looking for additional girls that are interested in joining the team. They are currently starting practice for the upcoming basketball season. Any girls interested in participating, please contact the Coach, Miss Heather Walker at 321-5810 or sign up in
the Athletic Office.
9. UPGRADE & REPLACE TROPHY CASES: We are still looking for individuals that are willing to build or donate funds to replace the four trophy cases that we have on the first floor in the front entrance area of the school. We currently have old trophy cases of various sizes and they are all full and we have extra trophies/awards with no place to display them. We would like to have longer and higher cases that will be able to hold our current awards and any future awards. In addition, it will vastly improve the appearance of the entrance area of the school and make a more attractive visual display of all our awards from he sports teams, cheerleading and the Odyssey of the Mind teams. If anybody is interested in this project, please contact Mr. Lupacchino at 323-9953, ext 217.
10. BOYS VARSITY BASKETBALL COACH RESIGNS: Mr. Larry Foust has submitted his resignation as Head Coach of the Boys Varsity Basketball Team effective 25 September 2009. Mr. Foust has been a dedicated coach at our school and was involved with our Varsity team as the JV and Assistant Varsity Coach for two years and then assumed the head coaching position last year. We extend our appreciation for all the personal time and effort he put into the program and he certainly raised our basketball standards to a much higher level during his tenure. He has spent many hours away from his family to devote to our program and we are extremely appreciative of his efforts. We wish him the best in his future endeavors and I'm sure he will be at some of the games to see how the team is doing.
Mr. Paul Petcavage, who was the Assistant Varsity Coach last year has accepted the position as Head Coach to replace Mr. Foust. Mr. Petcavage is grateful to be assuming the head coaching position and I'm sure he will continue with the high competitive standards that our teams have enjoyed over the years.
11. FOOD AT THE CONCESSION STAND: Since we will be into the basketball season in a couple of weeks, we hope the parents will start practicing on making those excellent homemade soaps, apple fritters, spaghetti and all that other good food that they expect to bring in to sell at the games. Since our Concession Stand received the Pillsbury 5 Star Gold Seal of Excellence as the Number # 1 rated Concession Stand in the area, we hope the parents will continue the tradition with the excellent homemade goodies that they make and bring in.
