Chornomorska Sitch sports club elects new governing board (06/10/01)

Chornomorska Sitch sports club elects new governing board

by Dr. Orest Popovych

NEWARK, N.J. - At the general meeting of the Ukrainian American sports and educational association Chornomorska Sitch on April 28 at the Sitch home in Newark, N.J., members voted in a new slate of officers. The most important change came at the top, where the vice-president and press officer Omelan Twardowsky replaced Myron Stebelsky, the Sitch president for the preceding 30 years.

Mr. Stebelsky had resigned earlier due to health problems and was not a candidate for the presidency. However, he was elected honorary president as well as a member-at-large of the new governing board, which has the following members: Alexander Napora, first vice-president and treasurer; Volodymyr Rudakewych, second vice-president and volleyball manager; Joseph Trush, secretary; Bill Vincent, financial secretary; Andre J. Worobec, English-language press officer; Roman Pyndus, public relations; Dmytro Khlibkevych, manager of the Sitch home; Vasyl Ciurpita, member-at-large; Yaroslav Twardowsky, soccer coach; and Greg Serheev, assistant soccer coach. Elected as managers were: Volodymyr Rudakewych, women's volleyball; Dr. Orest Popovych, chess; Marika Bokalo, swimming; and Lubomyr Olesnycky, tennis. The Auditing Committee comprises: Osyp Stashkiw, chair; and Luba Lapychak-Lesko and Yevhen Brenych, members.

The meeting was opened by Mr. Twardowsky, who called for a moment of silence in honor of recently departed members Dmytro Bobelak, Ivan Hamulak, Kost Hrechak and Yaroslav Turiansky. Then a presidium consisting of Mr. Worobec, chairman, and Dr. Popovych, secretary, took over the meeting. A nominating committee composed of Mr. Napora, chair, and Messrs. Rudakewych and Twardowsky was elected unanimously. The minutes of the previous general meeting were read by its secretary, Mr. Rudakewych. After the minutes were accepted, there followed reports by the outgoing officers on their activities in the past three years.

Mr. Twardowsky presented the highlights of the Sitch sports activity, pointing out that for more detail one could consult the 1999, 2000 and 2001 issues of Sitch's annual magazine Our Sport.

In the 1997-1998 and the 1998-1999 seasons, the men's soccer team competed in the Garden State Soccer League with rather poor results. However, it did win an indoor tournament as well as the anniversary tournament of the Ukrainian Sports Club of New York. The 1999-2000 season saw some improvement, due in part to the influx of new players, recently arrived from Ukraine. The team was coached by Dusan Sokolak and managed by Yaroslav Twardowsky. At the Ukrainian Diaspora Olympiad 2000 the Sitch team won a bronze medal. The women's soccer team was more successful, but it was disbanded after the 1998-1999 season.

In volleyball, both a men's team, with manager-coach Michael Zawadisky, and a women's team, run by Mr. Rudakewych, were active in official USVBA tournaments, finishing in third and fourth places in 1997-1999. In the 1998-1999 season, the men's team, run by manager-coach Hena Shevchenko, was runner-up in one official tournament. The women's team became inactive, but has been revived in the 1999-2000 season thanks to coach Eugene Chyzowych and manager Mr. Rudakewych.

Under the leadership of Marika Bokalo, Sitch swimmers have consistently excelled at the national championships of the Ukrainian Sports Federation of the U.S.A. and Canada. As a club, they won second place in 1998 and 1999, and became the champions in 2000.

The tennis section has been dormant, with the one bright spot being the gold medal earned at the Ukrainian Diaspora Olympiad 2000 by Iryna Matviychuk. As a visitor from Ukraine, however, she was only an accidental representative of Sitch.

In 1999 Sitch celebrated its 75th anniversary by publishing a bilingual book on its history authored by Messrs. Twardowsky (Ukrainian text) and Popovych (English). This hard-covered tome of 413 pages presents in great detail the facts and figures that trace the activities of Sitch from its inception in 1924 to 1999, illustrated by historical photographs. The book has received favorable reviews in Kyiv and Symferopol, as have issues of Sitch's magazine.

Finally, Mr. Twardowsky spoke about the significant contribution of Sitch members to the success of the Ukrainian Diaspora Olympiad. Messrs. Stebelsky, Twardowsky, Popovych, Rudakewych and Pyndus, as well as Ms. Bokalo, participated in organizing and running the Olympiad. Sitch representatives brought home 12 Olympic medals, finishing in second place among the 12 competing clubs. Newark Sitch is the only Ukrainian American sports club to have participated in all three Ukrainian Olympiads in the Philadelphia area in the years 1936, 1988 and 2000.

Dr. Popovych reported on the activities of Sitch chess players. Both in the 1999 and the 2000 USCAK championships, first and second places, respectively, were captured by Sitch chess masters Peter Radomskyj and Steve Stoyko. As the 2000 championship was part of the Olympiad, they won, respectively, the gold and silver medals. Dr. Popovych directed the USCAK tournaments in 1998, 1999 and 2000 (the Olympic event).

In 1999 Dr. Popovych represented the Ukrainian diaspora at the international chess tournament in Lviv dedicated to the memory of Stepan Popel. Sitch masters have also been successful in mainstream American events. Mr. Radomskyj won a number of local tournaments and club championships in New Jersey. In 1998 Mr. Stoyko won the New Jersey crown in fast chess. In 2000 Dr. Popovych set an all-time record by winning the New Jersey state title in chess for the fourth time in his career. He was honored by having his picture published on the cover of the magazine "Atlantic Chess News," with his invited article inside.

Mr. Trush reported on his work as secretary, noting that 73 meetings of the executive board had taken place since April 1998. The financial statement for the year 2000, read by Mr. Vincent, financial secretary, assured those present that Sitch is indeed well entrenched in the black.

Concluding remarks were delivered by Mr. Stebelsky, the outgoing president. He noted that the report period Sitch participated in such unique occasions as the 75th anniversary of Sitch and the Ukrainian Diaspora Olympiad. Another success story has been the Sitch Sports School at Verkhovyna, even though in the summer of 2000 it had to be cut short due to problems beyond the organizers' control.

In August of last year, Mr. Stebelsky suffered a mild stroke and, although he has gone a long way towards rehabilitation, he felt that it would be impossible for him to continue as an effective president of Sitch. Therefore, on October 15, 2000, with a heavy heart, Mr. Stebelsky tendered his resignation, after more than 30 years of service. With visible emotion, Mr. Stebelsky thanked all the members of the governing boards who served during his tenure for their loyalty and cooperation. He saved his special thanks for his friend and co-worker, the vice-president, director of sports activity and press officer of Sitch, as well as editor of Our Sport, Mr. Twardowsky.

After the reports were heard, the auditing committee recommended their acceptance, which was approved unanimously. The new slate of officers presented by the nominating committee was elected unanimously. Lengthy discussions followed, after which the meeting was adjourned in favor of a social hour.

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