![\"Sunday](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/VLRXFFHFMJB63DAXH37IYUH5Q4.jpg\"\/)
The Integrated Athletic Initiative Sunday Sports Series Championship Day, at Moore HS, on Sunday Oct. 26, 2025. (Kara Buzga for the Advance\/SILive).<\/p>\nSTATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — There were plenty of smiles to go around Sunday at Moore Catholic\u2019s athletic field as dozens of kids got their kicks in the last of the six-week Sunday Morning Sports Series soccer league.<\/p>\n
It was all part of the Integrated Athletic Initiative, a nonprofit organization providing free sports instruction, teams, events, and leagues for youth of all abilities, including underprivileged and special needs participants. Its mission is to build athletic skills, confidence, self-esteem and sportsmanship in a supportive, inclusive environment.<\/p>\n
About 12 years ago, co-presidents Sal Fabozzi and Anthony Passalacqua recognized a need for a league that welcomed children who might struggle to compete in sports, or compete at a high level. Their vision led to the creation of a program open to all children, regardless of ability, encouraging participation and enjoyment in sports.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is our fourth soccer season,\u201d Fabozzi shared on Sunday — Championship Day — \u201cwhich was inspired by Giuseppe Deserio, Chief of Staff to Councilman David Carr.\u201d <\/p>\n
The Integrated Athletic Initiative Sunday Sports Series Championship Day, at Moore HS, on Sunday Oct. 26, 2025. (Kara Buzga for the Advance\/SILive).<\/p>\n
The league is completely free and funded by Carr\u2019s office, with volunteer support from Moore Catholic High School (which also donated space), Moore\u2019s athletic program, the Staten Island Advance, Mike Neely and the Catholic Youth Organization, Mark\u2019s Bake Shop, along with major sponsors like Nike and the DSNY. Additional support has come from South Shore Kiwanis, Mack Electric, EEP Law, and Nick\u2019s Lobster House. Combined these businesses and organizations have contributed money, volunteers, equipment and instructor donations.<\/p>\n
Fabozzi explained, \u201cKids as young as 10 \u2014or even younger \u2014start to realize they may not be able to compete in sports at a high level. This league gives them an outlet, starting around age 4.\u201d <\/p>\n
Passalacqua added, \u201cFor Sal and me, bridging the gap in sports between mainstream, special needs and underserved youth has always been a priority.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Sunday Morning Sports Series was created to offer families a welcoming, nonjudgmental space to enjoy sports together. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe want to see kids smiling and having fun,\u201d said Fabozzi. \u201cWe offer basketball, soccer, track, softball, baseball, bowling and flag football \u2014 and we\u2019re planning to add golf next spring.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve had incredible support from volunteers, parents, and paras,\u201d Passalacqua noted. \u201cThis is a safe space for kids. Since day one, we\u2019ve welcomed around 125 children into this program. We start with basic instruction and finish with game play. Today is our Championship Day!\u201d<\/p>\n
Passalacqua concluded, \u201cIt\u2019s a blessing to work with the community to make events like this possible.\u201d All children ages 3 to 10 are encouraged to sign up, and families can call (347) 232-7067 or email info@theintegratedathleticinitiative.org<\/a> for more information.<\/p>\n If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement<\/a> and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and\/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — There were plenty of smiles to go around Sunday at Moore Catholic\u2019s athletic field…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":21292,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[9,24,63,134,136,135],"class_list":["post-21291","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-staten-island","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-staten-island","tag-staten-island-headlines","tag-staten-island-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21291","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21291"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21291\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21292"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21291"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21291"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21291"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}