Special to the Beacon

What Makes a Community Champion?

Meet Edward Fracassa. This Warwick resident is the epitome of a community champion. Despite facing early challenges with his father’s passing during his childhood, he entered the United States Marine Corps during his high school years. There he played football and became a skilled javelin thrower.

Returning from the Marines, Fracassa finished high school and headed off to the University of Rhode Island to study and play football. An All-New England and All-Conference football and track athlete at URI, Ed taught physical education in Warwick for 27 years.

In 1973, he took over as head football coach at Bishop Hendricken, transforming the struggling Class B program into a Class A powerhouse. As a member of the RI Football Coaches Hall of Fame, he led the Hawks to multiple championships with many successful seasons before retiring and enjoying time with his family.

Through the years, Coach Fracassa has mentored many young athletes. Whether guiding young adults to stay in school, coaching or advising them on different career paths, he can still be spotted throughout the state cheering on his past students as they now share his love of coaching.

Coach Fracassa continues to make an impact on many young athletes, such as volunteering his time coaching the javelin at Hendricken. Most of all, he has found new opportunities to coach 5 special young athletes in sports that he has never been involved with before. From Flag Football to Irish Dance; lacrosse to basketball; tennis to squash, this proud grandfather rarely misses a game. Thanks Papa for teaching us the value of family and community. Happy Birthday!

Here is a Q&A with Fracassa:

BT: Looking back, what advice would you give your younger self?

EF: Sports provided me an opportunity to be part of a group and meet people from all different types of backgrounds. Teamwork and competition emulates life in many aspects. You can work hard and give it all you get, yet despite this effort sometimes you fall short. My advice to myself and all athletes is to remember that sports do not define you. What defines you is the work you put in, whether it be the classroom or on the field.

BT: Beyond your achievement in sports, what inspires you to give back to your community as well as encourage others to do the same?

EF: One of the responsibilities is to have empathy, To realize where you came from and use those experiences to realize what you achieved and use those tools to help the younger generation to succeed.

BT: You, as an athlete, continue to be a positive influence.  What are some examples of the contributions made or causes that you support?

EF: During my time as the head coach of the Bishop Hendricken football team I made sure that the players and staff knew that being on the team meant more than playing the sport. It meant that we had to take on the role of being role models to the people in the community. During the 1978 season I learned about the country of Haiti and the extreme poverty its citizens were enduring.  A local organization, Team Providence Haiti, approached me about organizing a trip to provide help and assistance to the Haitian people. As a result of this partnership the Hendricken football team participated in a mission trip to help the people of Haiti.

This past year I volunteered to help coach the javelin throwers for the Hendricken outdoor track team. All of the throwers beat their personal records and one athlete qualified for the Rhode Island state meet.