January 11, 2002

Dave Troiano - CAL Sportsperson of the Year

By TOM WILLIAMS
Sports Columnist

In the mid-1990s, the selection of an annual Cape-Atlantic League Sportsperson of the Year began.

Previous choices have included Pleasantville basketball coach Ken Leary, Absegami wrestling coach Gene Barber, Mainland football coach Bob Coffey, retired Absegami athletic director Harry Ackerman and Ocean City football coach Gary Degenhardt.

Add another distinguished name to that list – Wildwood girls basketball coach Dave Troiano.

Troiano would be a good choice just on the strength of his success in girls basketball. His teams have won more games for him (412) than any coach in CAL history. He has won three state titles and is a favorite to add a fourth in March. And, on Monday night, his team became No. 1 in South Jersey for the first time in history.

But Troiano’s contributions are greater.

He has coached the school’s softball team successfully the past few years. He fought hard for what was best for Wildwood’s athletes – at first, to stay in the CAL, then to leave and play a schedule of schools in the Tri-County Conference with similar enrollments.

And, along with a handful of other distinguished citizens, he has also been a driving force in combining two nice holiday basketball tournaments – one at Wildwood and the other at Wildwood Catholic – into the Boardwalk Basketball Classic, one of the biggest and most successful tournaments in the state.

Troiano is more than just the talented players – like Monica Johnson and Teresa Polini – who have worn the maroon and white. His value is more than wins and losses.

He has brought pride to the Cape-Atlantic League, not only for his victories and championships, but because of the grace he displays under pressure and the stylish way he deals with the ups and downs of high school sports.

Dave Troiano is the 2001 CAL Sportsperson of the Year. Sadly, after June, he will no longer be part of the league.

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As the calendar year comes to an end, it is always a good time to look back on the top area sports stories of 2001. As is our custom, here are the ten sports stories that seemed to generate the most interest among Cape-Atlantic League fans:

1. The approved transfer of Wildwood, a Cape-Atlantic League member since the league was formed in 1949, to the Tri-County Conference starting in September.

2. Absegami’s march to the top of New Jersey wrestling.

3. Monica Johnson’s all-time CAL scoring record and her part in a second straight state championship team.

4. The approval of the referendum to construct a new high school in Ocean City. Though the building will provide all students and faculty with the facility they deserve, it will especially allow the basketball and wrestling programs to finally have an adequate gymnasium.

5. South Jersey boys basketball championships by St. Augustine Prep and Pleasantville.

6. All-American seasons by Ocean City golfer Jeff Michner and Holy Spirit swimmer Jon Stinson.

7. A fourth state field hockey championship in five years by the Ocean City field hockey team.

8. A state championship and near-perfect season for the Mainland boys cross country team, which has every runner returning for 2002.

9. A second coaching change in two years for the successful girls basketball program at Middle Township.

10. A championship season by the well-balanced Mainland golf team and the selection of its coach, Whitey Haak, as New Jersey’s top high school golf coach.


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