Huntington Booster Club to Honor Hutch VanderSchuyt
Hutch VanderSchuyt, one of the most beloved members of the Huntington Blue Devil athletic family will be honored by the Huntington Booster Club at the group’s annual golf outing on Oct. 15 at Crab Meadow Golf Club in Northport.
VanderSchuyt has been involved with the Huntington athletic program for more than four decades as a player and volunteer coach. A 1965 graduate of Huntington High School, he won All-County honors twice while playing for the Blue Devils. A third generation Huntingtonian, he earned All-American honors in 1965, the year Huntington won the Long Island lacrosse championship.
“Hutch has been an integral part of the Huntington lacrosse program as a player, coach and parent,” said Paul McDermott, Huntington head coach. “He is very enthusiastic about kids excelling at sports at Huntington High School.”
The Booster Club’s golf outing will begin with registration, lunch and driving range practice from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. followed by a shotgun start. Dinner and awards will conclude the day’s activities. The fee for golf, lunch and dinner is $200. Those wishing to attend the celebratory dinner at the course at 6:30 p.m. can do so for $100. All proceeds will benefit the Booster Club’s initiatives on behalf of the Huntington athletic program. For more information about the golf outing, contact MaryAnne Hicks at 631-338-6976 or mbh501@aol.com.
“This whole thing is just starting to sink in,” VanderSchuyt said about the golf outing and dinner in his honor. Expressing how he feels about the recognition is not an easy thing to do. “It is something difficult to put on paper because the years have been many, the cast of characters too tremendous and the good times incredible,” he said. “I have been fortunate enough to take a kid's game through a bunch of different levels.”
Following his high school graduation, VanderSchuyt accepted a scholarship to attend the University of Maryland where he was a three-time All-American as a goalie. At Maryland, he was a two-time recipient of the prestigious Powell Lacrosse Award for his “great contributions” to the Maryland lacrosse program. His remarkable career has included playing 30 years of club lacrosse.
Huntington’s proud lacrosse tradition was further enhanced when VanderSchuyt, a 1970 Maryland graduate with a degree in marketing and finance, started an annual alumni lacrosse reunion and game each spring. He’s trained Blue Devil goalies for several decades and worked extensively with players on the junior varsity level for decades. Eric Triolo, an assistant varsity lacrosse coach at Huntington, said that VanderSchuyt is “a dedicated hard worker who does so much for the kids and our lacrosse program.”
In addition to his work with the Huntington program, VanderSchuyt has served on the board of directors of the Long Island Metropolitan Lacrosse Foundation and the Huntington Village Lacrosse Club, where he coaches an eighth grade level team. The Suffolk County Lacrosse Coaches Association honored him in 2005 with a Service Award.
“Hutch is what helps make Huntington a special place,” said Richard McGrath, a member of the Huntington School Board who is also active with the HVLC. “He’s a former player who returned from a great college career and has never stopped giving back to the community since. There is probably not a day between March through June that you won’t see Hutch out on the high school fields working with kids. Why? Because that’s what Hutch is all about: community and kids.”
VanderSchuyt produced a 12-volume videotape library for National Lacrosse Productions, an arm of US Lacrosse, the national governing body for the sport in the United States. Now retired after a 34 career as a union electrician, he is more involved with the Blue Devil program than ever.
VanderSchuyt and his wife of 35 years, Irene, are the parents of a son, John, who is an eighth grader at J. Taylor Finley Middle School. “He is a big part of the Huntington Lacrosse Alumni Association, which keeps alumni up-to-date on all sports at Huntington,” McDermott said. “I applaud the Booster Club’s recognition of Hutch. He is a person who always has a positive attitude and instills that in everyone he meets.”
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