Photo courtesy of Jo Ann Ferrarini
By Jo Jo Ferrarini
September 18, 2013
As summer is in full force but winding down, an important and fun part of summer 2013 was caused by Dominican’s very own student of Political Science with a concentration in Pre-Law, Annette Carrabotta.
Ms. Carrabotta, a long-time Niles resident, worked over the last eight years as an athletic instructor for the athletic department of The Niles Park District. With all this knowledge and skill, Annette took on the challenge of assembling and serving as the captain of the “Mee Maw’s Moon Pies Volleyball Team”.
This team played in the Chicago Sports Social – North Avenue Beach League. Side by side with long time Niles resident and Co-Captain Barbara Galassi, an aspiring Athletic Physical Therapist student at Northeastern Illinois University, they trained and coached this team past twenty plus other teams to take first place this season.
The Mee Maw power came forth from team players Becky and Jackie Bartnicki of Chicago, Ms. Carrabotta’s younger brother Carl, now a student at Western Michigan University, Alex Darville of Skokie, Jeremy Palcan of Park Ridge and Kyle Christoffel of DesPlaines.
The team was proudly sponsored by Dan Sakolsky of New Sky Remodeling in Skokie, George Alpogianis of Kappy’s Restaurant in Morton Grove, and David Carrabotta of the Law Offices of David A. Carrabotta. Annette stressed that it was these sponsors that were responsible for getting the team off the sidelines and into play. While 2013 was the team’s first “official” year of playing together as the Mee Maw’s Moon Pies, Annette has also been a team player for the “Rowdy Ramblers”, another local volleyball team for 4 years.
Each year, as the summer season opens in Mid-June, this group of 20-somethings invade North Avenue Beach as young adults using their skills at volleyball and team work while providing competitive entertainment for those looking on; and, in the end, forming friendships that may last them a lifetime as Annette is repeatedly heard calling out “… play smarter, not harder” . Participating in events such as these also has an element of “kismet”. Without consciously trying, they are strengthening skills that will most definitely parlay into their pending professional lives. The ability to work as a team.
In this way, her own way, Annette used her leisure time this summer fostering the Dominican mission of “pursuing truth, giving compassionate service and participating in the creation of a more just and humane world.”
Volleyball Blurb:
2012 Dominican graduate Annette Carrabotta goes up for a kill for her Mee Maw’s Moon Pies volleyball team. A political science major at DU, Carrabotta helped create the team that plays in the Chicago Sports Social league at North Avenue beach. This is the first year the Moon Pies were officially allowed to play in the summer league featuring Carrabotta, her co-captain Barbara Galassi and several other players