August 2007

CCRI announces the inaugural season of the Women’s Tennis team. Women have participated in the past on the co-ed tennis team that has existed at CCRI for over 30 years but the 2007-08 season marks the first time in school history that the Women will participate in NJCAA Division III athletics as their own entity. Coming off the success of the women last year at the Women’s National Tournament in Tucson, Arizona, the school has formed a separate team for Women’s Tennis. Last season’s highlights included four Lady Knights making it to the Final Four at the Division III Women’s Tennis Nationals led by Second Team All-American Joana Augustine (Providence, RI via Leer, Niedersachen, Germany). Signups will be held the first week of classes, starting September 5th. Practice will also start that week for all eligible athletes. The season will feature a tournament trip to Maryland hosted at Harford Community College and a weekend trip to upstate New York with stops in Cobleskill and Syracuse (Onandaga CC). The team looks forward to again participating in the Division III Women’s National tournament in Arizona in May.

Interested parties should contact Head coach Debbie Panzica via e-mail: tennis@ccri.edu or Assistant Coach John Panzica by telephone at 825-2117 or e-mail: jpanzica@ccri.edu for eligibility information and further details.

Additionally, CCRI will host the second annual Alumni/CCRI Tennis Tournament on October 6th and 7th at Broad Rock Middle School in Wakefield, RI. Interested individuals may contact John or Debbie Panzica at tennis@ccri.edu or 825-2117.

Go Lady Knights!!!

CCRI women's soccer announces 2007 captains

Dennis Grassini, Head Women’s Soccer Coach at the Community College of Rhode Island has announced that Jill DeLuca of West Warwick, and Stephanie Grassini of Warwick have been named co-captains for the 2007 season. Both individuals played an integral part in helping the 2006 team to obtain a final national ranking of 14th in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America’s (NSCAA) national poll.

Both Jill DeLuca and Stephanie Grassini are very talented, hard working, and versatile players who can play both offense and defense. They are both excellent students academically and possess strong leadership qualities. The coaching staff is very confident that Jill and Stephanie will lead their teammates by example both on and off the field of play!Jill volunteers her time teaching the game of soccer to Special Olympians and has participated in various indoor and outdoor soccer leagues throughout Rhode Island. Stephanie has just completed her tenure with the Nova Premier Girls Soccer Club out of Mansfield, Massachusetts this past spring where she has traveled and participated in tournaments in Italy, Alabama, Georgia, Maryland, Connecticut, New Hampshire, and New Jersey. She also participated in various indoor leagues throughout Rhode Island and Massachusetts.Both Jill and Stephanie were 2006 NJCAA Region XXI All-New England selections while Stephanie was also selected 2006 NSCAA First Team All-Northeast Region and 2006 NSCAA Second Team All-America.

Cross Country Tryouts

Men and Women Cross Country Team sign ups will be held Monday 8/27-Friday 8/30 at 5pm each day in the Lincoln Campus Fieldhouse.

Runners of all ability are encouraged to sign up. There is no formal tryouts. All interested runners who meet the CCRI athletic department criteria make this team. For more information contact Coach Cornell by e-mail gcornell@ccri.edu

CCRI men’s Soccer Team announces Gabriel Toro as Assistant Men’s Soccer Coach

Gabriel Toro was born in Medellin, Colombia. In high school Toro played soccer for Tolman High School in Pawtucket. Toro was part of the first Boys' State Championship for Tolman in 1994 during an undefeated season. Toro received a Nine Varsity Letters including soccer, basketball, and track and field. Gabriel received First Team All-State All-New England honors for his efforts in soccer as a senior. Toro graduated from Tolman and attended URI. He was part of the Rams team ranked #3 in the nation with a record of 19-1-3 in Division I Men's Soccer. Toro’s URI team won two Atlantic-10 Championship Titles in 95' and 96'. In 1998 Toro received the Bob Butler Sportsmanship Award at URI. Senior year he was scouted during the Atlantic-10 Tournament by Ed Puskarich of the MLS (Major League Soccer) and was invited to attend the Dallas Burn training camp.

After graduating from URI with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, Toro signed contract with RI Stingrays where he played for three years. Between 2001 and 2004 he was invited to tryout for USL Teams El Paso Patriots in Texas and Charleston Battery in South Carolina. During all this time he coached several clinics and camps in the areas where he played, including URI and Stingray soccer camps. In 2001 Toro returned to coach his high school Alma Mater and brought Tolman High School Boys' to the State Final where they finished second. For the last three years Toro has played for the Lusitana Portuguese Club in Cumberland, RI a semi-pro league. While playing Toro has organized and coached clinics in the RI and MA areas for boys and girls of all ages, focusing on technical weaknesses and enhancing existing players’ strengths to improve their confidence and technical skills. Toro is very excited about his new position saying "This is my first year that Toro has moved his focus completely to coaching and I am looking forward to using my playing experiences and knowledge of the game to raise the level of play and create an atmosphere of growth at CCRI."

Head men’s soccer coach Victor Gaspar had this to say about Gabriel: "The fact that Gabe stayed in Rhode Island and went on to play at URI, a notoriously good soccer program over the years, is quite interesting to me. I pretty much had the same experience 25 years earlier. Our program has always relied heavily on in-state talent and Gabe knows RI kids and is still playing locally; always nice to have a coach with Division I playing experience. I'm sure Gabe will help the program continue to produce excellent student athletes. He will be an excellent addition."

Joe Pavone selected as interim director of Athletics at CCRI

Joe Pavone of Cranston has been selected as interim director of athletics at the Community College of Rhode Island. Pavone has served in multiple capacities in the athletic department since 1981. Pavone takes over for Louis A. Pullano who will now serve as interim associate vice president for Enrollment Management, where he will oversee the Office of Enrollment Services and overseeing the offices of Admissions, Financial Aid, Records and Athletics.

A Providence native, Pavone is a 1970 graduate of Mt. Pleasant High School where he played baseball. He earned an associate degree in general studies in 1972 from CCRI, then called Rhode Island Junior College. Later at Rhode Island College he earned dual certification with B.S. degrees in health and physical education. Three years later, also at RIC, he completed a Master’s in Health Education. Pavone has continued post-graduate course work in administration and education.

At CCRI, Pavone has moved up the ranks in the athletic department holding positions in every facet during his 26 year career. Most recently he held the position of Associate Athletic Director, responsible for the day-to-day functions of both physical education and athletics on the Lincoln and Warwick campuses.

As tennis coach from 2000-2003, Pavone led teams to win three New England Championships and attend four national tournaments, ranking as high as ninth nationally in Division III junior college competition. Pavone credits his parents, CCRI colleagues Lou Pullano and Joe DiMaria, and the present administration for "having the confidence in me for the Director’s position."

August 2007

08.31.07

08.09.07

08.08.07

08.08.07

08.01.07