Former longtime Sachem Athletic Director Tom Sabatelle will have the gymnasium at Sachem High School North named in his honor next month.
This is one of the highest honors bestowed upon any individual, as the gym will forever be named the Thomas J. Sabatelle Alumni Gymnasium.
The name unveiling will take place on Tuesday, January 6 at 5:45 p.m. at Sachem North. This is the same night that Sachem North and Sachem East play one another in boys basketball.
Sabatelle, who graduated from Sachem in 1960, was a teacher, coach and eventually longtime athletic director in the Sachem Central School District. He worked in Sachem for 34 years. A former three-sport athlete in high school on some of Sachem’s first varsity teams, Sabatelle is also one of the first alums to be hired by the district as a teacher in the 1960s.
He was inducted to the Suffolk County Sports Hall of Fame in 2014.
-Words by Chris R. Vaccaro