Chornomorska Sitch of Newark marks 75 years of service to the Ukrainian community (05/30/99)

Chornomorska Sitch of Newark marks 75 years of service to the Ukrainian community

by Dr. Orest Popovych

NEWARK, N.J. - On December 21, 1924, in this city, a group of 12 Ukrainian immigrants founded the local branch of the nationwide Sitch organization. They elected Ivan Hrynyk, a veteran of the Ukrainian war of liberation, as their president and Lev Mular, as the secretary. The Newark branch was named in military terms "The Third Company," because the first two companies of Sitch had been founded earlier in New York City and Jersey City.

The early Sitch societies in the U.S. had a military structure; their members wore military uniforms and participated in a program of physical exercise and paramilitary training. This reflected the view of many in the Sitch leadership at the time: their members should be readied for a possible armed struggle for the liberation of Ukraine.

The founders of the Newark Sitch, however, envisioned their role in the Ukrainian American community in much broader and more realistic terms. They aimed to unite all Ukrainians without regard to their religious or political affiliation; to raise Ukrainian national consciousness among its members and the community as a whole by promoting educational, cultural and charitable activities; to care for sick and unemployed members; and to encourage physical exercise and sports.

Sitch meetings were conducted only in Ukrainian and the members sang patriotic Ukrainian songs. The club subscribed to several Ukrainian periodicals and hosted lectures by prominent Ukrainian political and military figures. Eventually, Sitch formed its own choir, band and drama circle, which performed on festive occasions, including celebrations of Ukrainian national holidays, Sitch conventions and picnics. Affiliated with Sitch was a Ukrainian-American Political Club, whose objective was to inform America about Ukrainian problems and to engage in political action on behalf of Ukraine. In the 1930s, the club staged protests against Polish repression and violence against the Ukrainian population in western Ukraine and supported the short-lived independent Carpatho-Ukraine both financially and politically. After World War II, Sitch participated in anti-Soviet demonstrations, in activities commemorating the centennial of the death of Taras Shevchenko in 1961, and in the campaign to have the U.S. Congress declare a "Captive Nations Week." Later it interceded in Washington on behalf of Ukrainian political prisoners in the USSR.

On the charitable front, Newark Sitch provided financial assistance to local Ukrainian churches of all denominations and funded a variety of charitable and educational causes in western Ukraine. The contributions were derived from annual fund-raising drives conducted within the local Ukrainian community.

In the early 1930s, Sitch activity expanded into the area of competitive sports, first baseball, then basketball and bowling, with some excursions into swimming and wrestling. Ukrainian name recognition received a boost when thousands of spectators throughout New Jersey watched the baseball games of the Sitch team which had "Ukrainians" emblazoned on their uniforms. More importantly, by trading its rifles and military uniforms for baseball bats and sports jerseys, Newark Sitch assured its long-term survival as an athletic association, while other Sitch branches, which failed to adapt to changing political conditions, had ceased to exist.

By the mid-1930s a combination of internecine struggles and external pressures brought about the demise of Sitch as a nationwide organization. Newark Sitch survived by becoming incorporated as an independent sports organization in the state of New Jersey, officially registered in 1935 under the name "Ukrainian Athletic Association Chornomorska Sitch Inc." In 1932, Chornomorska Sitch had reached a membership of about 500, becoming the largest Ukrainian organization in Newark at the time.

Immediately after World War II, Newark Sitch formed a relief committee that collected food, clothing and money for Ukrainian displaced persons in Europe. Soon thousands of these refugees from communism arrived in Newark and the surrounding areas. Although acceptance of the new immigrants into the ranks of the Newark Sitch was neither immediate nor automatic, the doors to membership were opened wide in 1956, thanks to the wisdom and foresight of Sitch President Ivan Atamanec.

New immigrants could now join Sitch as members of its newly created Sports Section. This subdivision was conceived by a group of sports enthusiasts among the new immigrants, namely Paul Babiak, Lev Blonarovych, Julian Helbig, Lev Holinaty, Bohdan Huralechko, Peter Kozyra, Jaroslaw Kryshtalsky, Lubomyr Rudzinsky and Omelan Twardowsky. Dr. Volodymyr Huk was elected the first president of the Sports Section.

Thus, the year 1956 became a watershed in the history of Newark Sitch. The range of sports activities available to its members broadened to include soccer, volleyball, tennis, swimming, table tennis and chess, with bridge, hockey, skiing and golf. The resulting increase in membership, combined with energetic and selfless efforts on the part of Sitch officials, coaches and players, plus support from the local Ukrainian community, led to an unprecedented period of growth at Chornomorska Sitch, which became one of the leading Ukrainian sports clubs in North America.

Individuals and teams representing Sitch have competed regularly in Ukrainian championships in the Eastern U.S. (SUAST-East, later USCAK-East), as well as in the rest of the U.S. and Canada (USCAK - Ukrainian Sports Federation of the U.S.A. and Canada). (The complete record of the countless Ukrainian American championships won by Sitch members will be published soon in a bilingual history of Chornomorska Sitch.)

Significant contributions have been made by Sitch members to mainstream American sports as well, particularly in soccer, volleyball and chess. Its soccer and volleyball teams have been playing in New Jersey state and regional leagues under the name "Ukrainian Sitch." In soccer, both men's and women's teams have won New Jersey state titles. In volleyball, the men's and the women's teams have captured the New Jersey championship four times each, while the men have also won the Eastern states crown.

Sitch soccer stars Zenon Snylyk and Walter Chyzowych were selected to U.S. Olympic and National teams a number of times, while Volodymyr Kazdoba and Myron Worobec made it once. Mr. Chyzowych also became the coach of the U.S. National Team. Dr. Taras Hunczak, a Sitch volleyball star, was elected volleyball commissioner for the Eastern U.S. In chess, four Sitch members - Mr. Blonarovych, Mr. Popovych, Peter Radomskyj and Steven Stoyko - were awarded the title of chess master by the U.S. Chess Federation, with Messrs. Popovych and Stoyko also achieving the highest U.S. rank - that of senior master and the title of FIDE master from the International Chess Federation. Messrs. Blonarovych, Popovych and Stoyko won the New Jersey state title in chess a combined total of seven times.

Chornomorska Sitch created two remarkable institutions that are unique in the Ukrainian diaspora:

1) An annual bilingual magazine, "Our Sport," published since 1964 and edited by Mr. Twardowsky. It provides a detailed account of the sports activity at Sitch, with some reports on Ukrainian sports in general.
2) Since 1969, Sitch has been running a Sports School for four weeks each summer at the Ukrainian Fraternal Association's Verkhovyna Resort in Glen Spey, N.Y. Hundreds of Ukrainian youngsters attend the school each year, coming from all over North America, and recently from Ukraine as well. High-quality instruction in soccer, volleyball, tennis and swimming, has been provided in the school by professional instructors, many of whom are guests from Ukraine. Ukrainian language and national consciousness are also cultivated at the school through lectures, films, songs and poetry.

For 30 years the school has been run jointly by its founders, Sitch Vice-President Twardowsky and President Myron Stebelsky. They have been assisted by scores of dedicated activists, among them the steady corps of counselors: Volodymyr and Yaroslava Wasylak, Christine Prociuk, and Marika and Lida Bokalo.

For decades now, Chornomorska Sitch has played a leading role in organized Ukrainian sports in North America because its officers occupy identical posts at Sitch and in the Ukrainian Sports Federation of the U.S.A. and Canada: Mr. Stebelsky (president), Mr. Twardowsky (vice-president and press officer), Alexander Napora (financial officer), divisional directors Dr. Popovych (chess), Michael Palivoda (soccer), Marika Bokalo (swimming) and Volodymyr Rudakewycz (volleyball); Stephanie Brenych (member of the auditing committee).

Since Ukraine's independence in 1991, Sitch executives, in their role as USCAK officers, have been coordinating both financial and organizational assistance for sports in Ukraine. Fund-raising drives conducted by Sitch executives in the Ukrainian American community have raised about $300,000, which was used primarily to pay for international membership fees for Ukraine's 38 sports federations and to cover part of the expenses of Ukraine's teams competing in the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, and in the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta.

As we stand at the threshold of the 75th anniversary of Chornomorska Sitch in Newark, it is fitting to recall the acknowledgments and congratulations received by Sitch from American political figures on the organization's 60th and 70th anniversaries. In 1984 greetings came from U.S. President Ronald Reagan and New Jersey Gov. Thomas H. Kean. In 1994 Sitch was honored by U.S. President Bill Clinton, U.S. Vice-President Al Gore, New Jersey Gov. Christine Todd Whitman, U.S. Sens. Bill Bradley and Frank R. Lautenberg, U.S. Rep. Herb Klein, Newark Mayor Sharpe James and Essex County Democratic Committee Chairman Thomas P. Giblin. The well-wishers recognized Sitch for its outstanding services to the community in the areas of sports, culture and politics, and in the preservation of Ukrainian pride and unity.

Will Newark Sitch be able to continue its mission in the next century? Its success thus far was based on the harmonious interplay of three indispensable factors: an energetic and able leadership willing to devote its time and energy to Ukrainian youth and sports; a pool of Ukrainian youngsters continuously replenishing the ranks of its athletes; and the support of parents, relatives and other sports enthusiasts.

If the succeeding generations of Sitch activists, athletes and supporters bring with them the same quality of commitment as did their predecessors, Newark Sitch can look forward to further achievements between now and its centennial in 2024, as well as beyond.

In accordance with an announcement by USCAK, all Ukrainian sports competition in North America in the year 1999 will be dedicated to celebrations of the 75th anniversary of Chornomorska Sitch Newark. These include the following events scheduled to date: the USCAK championships in chess on June 12 at Verkhovyna, the swim meet and tennis tournament during Labor Day weekend at Soyuzivka, and a soccer tournament on July 3-4 at Verkhovyna.

Dr. Orest Popovytch is chess director for Sitch and USCAK.

Sitch Sports School marks 30th anniversary

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