The Hauppauge High School girls volleyball team participated in the third annual Team Mackenzie Volleyball Tournament on Sunday, September 8, which they hosted as well. Commack Girls Volleyball may have taken first place in the tournament, but Angela’s House was the real winner—as Hauppauge played in support of the well-renowned local non-profit, which holds sites in Smithtown, Stony Brook and East Moriches.
All proceeds from T-shirt sales, raffles, food concessions and registration fees from this latest success in athletics-based community service benefited the organization’s mission to help medically fragile children and their families.
The iLady Eagles will next partake in Angela’s House’s Annual Walk on Sunday, October 6. The tournament is named in honor of Mackenzie, the late daughter of Tracy Borchers, a physician education teacher and former volleyball coach in the Hauppauge School District.
“Born with a congenital heart defect (Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome), she was a brave fighter who defied all odds,” McCourt and Trudden Funeral Home of Farmingdale wrote in their obituary for Mackenzie when she passed on February 8, 2017, at just 9 years old.
“She was her mother’s everything and daddy’s little girl. Mackenzie was beautiful, funny, smart, resilient and adored by all.”
Despite many hospital stays and medical challenges, Mackenzie always showed incredible strength and perseverance," the Hauppauge School District wrote. “Though Mackenzie is no longer with us, this tournament helps the Hauppauge community celebrate her legacy while contributing to the vital work of Angela’s House.”
The event was created in Mackenzie’s memory to continue raising awareness and support for Angela’s House—itself formed in 1992 in honor of founders Bob and Angie Policastro’s second child, who passed away at a little over a year old due to brain damage suffered from birth.
“I told the athletes who played [on September 8], that it was playing high school and college ball that gave me the work ethic, gave me the skills. If I didn’t have that tenacity… that’s where I got that effort, the 10 years it took to get that first home,” Policastro shared with The South Shore Press. “It wasn’t instant gratification; it was grueling.”
Policastro elaborated further: “It’s the best part of sports, and it’s kind of underrated. That’s what helps people in relationships, in work.
In everything they do in their life. Sometimes, the blinders are on: ‘It’s just that volleyball tournament…’ or ‘Oh, that baseball game.’ But it’s more than that. It’s just who you become.”
Angela’s House’s October 6 walk will take place at the Holtsville Wildlife & Ecology Center (249 Buckley Rd), where families on hand can enjoy food and character performances, and spend time with the animals that populate the park’s preserve. Their annual banquet dinner will take place at AG Brazilian Steakhouse in Westbury on Thursday, October 24.
“Nobody ever wants to talk about the passing of a child; but, as a parent, when you lose a child, it’s a gift to see the memory of their child live on,” said Policastro. “The fact that the school did the fundraiser; I’m honored. To help create this volleyball tournament for Mackenzie, knowing how admired Tracy is… it’s just a gift beyond gifts.”
Visit angelashouse.org for more information on how to get involved.