LYNN — Longtime Lynn TV-15 sports announcer John Hoffman has a front-row ticket to the city’s high school sports games. From the annual Classical-English Thanksgiving football game to state tournament tilts and more, Hoffman chronicles Lynn high school sports behind the mic and takes pride in it.
Once a year, Hoffman gets the chance to pay it back. He helps organize an annual Lynn all-star party and this year’s event, in its 12th running, will take place Sunday night (6) at Classical High’s auditorium.
“We try to reward the kids because win lose or draw, the kids are there giving their 110 percent,” Hoffman said. “They give it their best all year. We call it an all-star party but were not saying they’re exceptional athletes. They’re kids who deserve recognition for their efforts and beyond. For me, it’s been a whirlwind the past 37 years. I got together with Taso Nikolakopoulos and he came up with this idea 12 years ago.
“It’s been a magical ride watching these kids,” Hoffman said. “It’s not a job, really. When you do what I do, you go in and you don’t know if it’s going to be 2-1, or 22-1. You don’t know if someone’s going to make the final shot at the buzzer or a goalie’s going to save a penalty shot to win a game. You don’t know what’s going to happen. I’ve seen it all from blowouts to tournament games. The takeaway is the time and effort the kids are putting in, and the time and effort the coaches are putting in. They’re a big part of it as well.”
Friends, family members and parishioners are invited to attend. Sponsoring this year’s event are John’s Roast Beef, Harrington Trophy, Wayne Alarm, Salem Five and Lazy Dog. Plaques for the event were donated by Kevin Harrington and John’s Roast Beef will cater a post-ceremony meal.
A group of 140 student-athletes will be recognized Sunday.
“It has kept expanding,” Hoffman said. “It’s like the Agganis Games. It started with football and added other sports. Without Taso at John’s Roast Beef and Kevin Harrington at Harrington Trophy, this wouldn’t come about. We get help from the city as well. This year, superintendent Patrick Tutweiler is going to be there to help out.
“The city came together so we could get Classical on a Sunday, so more people could be there,” Hoffman said. “Without everybody’s help this wouldn’t take place. The athletic directors have put an awful lot of work in. The coaches as well, they’ve been great. It’s a huge effort by an awful lot of people that make it happen.”
The list of student-athletes that’ll be honored Sunday is as follows: Keith Ridley, Chase Buono, Nashaun Butler, Marcus Tucker, Maurice Sequeira (Classical football); Matt Severance, Matthias Fowler, Tahj Purter, Alex Brenes, Thomas Gaylord, Ryan Dewan (English football); Jack Maguire, DJ DiCenso, George Freeman, Connor Donohue, Matthias Haley, Derek O’Leary (St. Mary’s football); David Barrios, Chance Buono, Emerson Ramirez, Giuliani Daniels, Noah Thurston, Brandon Tuoy (Tech football); Dyrrell Rucker, Jeff Hill, Jr. (Classical boys basketball); Jarnel Guzman, Alonzo Linton, Mason Jean-Baptiste, Jack Rodriguez, Justin Fitzpatrick (English boys basketball); Jalen Echevarria, Ademide Badmus (St. Mary’s boys basketball); Rob Wallace, Amari Gaston (Tech boys basketball); Jazzmine Masse, Skyler Crayton (Classical girls basketball); Juliana Perry, Jessica Ruiz (English girls basketball); Pamela Gonzalez, Olivia Matela, Nicolette D’Itria (St. Mary’s girls basketball); Arianna Anaya, Michayla Lawrence (Tech girls basketball); Brian Clougherty, John DiFilippo, Andrew Patrie, Jack Gallant (Lynn Jets hockey); Colin Reddy, Kyle Ouellette (St. Mary’s boys hockey); Abby Stafford, Kayla Morrill (Classical/Winthrop co-op girls hockey); Lauren Vaccaro, Mady Hentosh, Codi Butt (St. Mary’s girls hockey); Daniel Corte, Alexi Ixlaj (Classical boys soccer); Julio Cora, Alexis Castaneda (English boys soccer); Joseph Thongsythavong, Nolan Perez (St. Mary’s boys soccer); Maynor Ramirez, Daniel Zacarias (Tech boys soccer); Julia Jordan, Olivia Pedro (Classical girls soccer); Melissa Zayas, Ravyn Rapley (English girls soccer); Jenna Foley, Joselyn Deschenes (St. Mary’s girls soccer); Sandy Garcia, Carolyn Pojoy (Tech girls soccer); Dayshon Anderson, Aidan Dow (Classical baseball); Jomar Moreta, Juan Subervi (English baseball); Bobby Alcock, Lee Pacheco (St. Mary’s baseball); Jhoan Ortega, Kenny Moore (Tech baseball); Brooke Warren, Rebecca Walker (Classical softball); Julia Chen, Gealina Chicon (English softball); Jordan Sullivan, Taylor Sullivan (St. Mary’s softball); Theresa Mastropietro, Adrianna Torres (Tech softball); Junior Mejia (Classical boys track); Adnan Jalal (English boys track); Taban Maynok, Michael Carroll (St. Mary’s boys track); Alvin Gonzalez, Kengeraliz Carrasquillo (Tech boys track); Rachel Brennan, Miriam Bamaca, Slanny Portorreal (Classical girls track); Kaylee Smith-Whelton (English girls track); Lily Newhall, Juliana Taborda (St. Mary’s girls track); Nayelis Diaz (Tech girls track); Jacob Lang, Carly Mendonca (Classical swimming); Peter Phelan, Hannah Trahant (English swimming); Gabi Marchese, Thiago Pieria (St. Mary’s swimming), Dustin Bloom, Liam Donovan (Tech swimming); Amber Crayton, Maggie McHale (Classical volleyball); Julia Somaiy, Merily Folestal (English volleyball); Alyssa Grossi, Dorothy Carroll (St. Mary’s volleyball); Shyla Jackson, Jafernee Cruz (Tech volleyball); Sam Ennis (Lynn Jets lacrosse); Damon Maribito, Kaden Quirk (St. Mary’s boys lacrosse); Daphne Pineda, Anh Nguyen (Classical girls tennis); Brady Ryan (St. Mary’s boys tennis); Brendan Lannon, Brett Bucklin (Classical golf); Logan Petros, Paul Pappageorgiou (English golf); Christian Emmerich, Aidan Emmerich (St. Mary’s golf).