State colleagues honor Island School athletic director

“I didn’t even know I’d been nominated,” the Todd Gulluscio said, referring to receiving the New York State Athletic Administrator’s Association Apple Appreciation Award at last week’s conference in Saratoga Springs.

Shelter Island’s athletic director was chosen for the honor by his colleagues, athletic directors from around the state in Section XI schools.

The prestigious award is given to a person who has increased the quality of athletics in the state and the loyalty and extra effort that person has give to the State Athletic Administrator’s Association.

“I am humbled and honored to have received the Apple Award,” he told his colleagues at the presentation ceremony last Friday. “It is an honor and a pleasure to be a part of this journey with all of you.”

In an interview on Shelter Island Monday morning, Mr. Gulluscio said the athletic directors of all the schools in Section XI have worked cooperatively with one another to assist wherever possible. They may be competitor’s on the field or in the gym, but behind the scenes, all are dedicated to providing the best experiences they can for students and encouraging character building among their athletes.

Four qualities inform his approach to the athletic program he said: citizenship, scholarship, sportsmanship and championships. If the first three qualities are instilled in the student athletes, championships will follow, he said. It may not happen every year, but it will happen, he added.

As proud as the educator is of the banners teams and individuals have won during his four years at Shelter Island, Mr. Gulluscio is also pleased that the school district is in line to be named a “School of Distinction” for the third straight year and equally proud that students are consistently being named

“Scholar Athletes” for maintaining high grades while participating in sports.

Prior to being appointed to the Shelter Island staff, he worked in the Greenport and Sag Harbor school districts. Since coming here, he has implemented a system for electronic tracking of individual and team athletes and assisted colleagues in other Section XI districts to follow his lead.

He has also expanded the athletic program on Shelter Island and currently has 83 percent of the district’s students participating in organized sports.

“Everything’s going the way I envisioned it,” Mr. Gulluscio said about the sports program on Shelter Island. He doesn’t take all the credit for that, but is quick to compliment the Board of Education and administrators with whom he has worked for helping him achieve his goals.

“The best is yet to come” he said. “We are never, ever done.”