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After arson destroyed the fieldhouse at Notre Dame-Bishop Gibbons School in Schenectady last week, the outpouring of support from the community overwhelmed school officials and athletes alike.

ND-BG principal Peter Fusco told The Evangelist that the building was home to more than $80,000 of equipment that must now be replaced. He later said that, including rebuilding the fieldhouse, the repairs will cost around $500,000.

Although the fire affected the entire ND-BG community, it hit especially close to home for the members of the Holy Trinity football team, which is composed of students from ND-BG and Catholic Central High School in Troy. (The "Holy Trinity" name came from the team's initial inclusion of Saratoga Central Catholic High School, which didn't have any students join the team this year.)

The Holy Trinity team was scheduled to play their first-ever playoff game Oct. 22, the day after the fire. The game against Hoosick Valley did happen, with the Holy Trinity players wearing borrowed pads and jerseys on loan from The University at Albany.

Despair to hope
The team had all of their equipment stored in the fieldhouse, including lockers made by coach John Barber. After waking up the morning of Oct. 21 to the news that the fire had destroyed everything, the team members were devastated. Hours later, donations of money and equipment were already pouring in from the community.

After the creation of a GoFundMe page -- a popular crowd-funding outlet -- $22,175 had been donated by Oct. 27 to help rebuild the fieldhouse and buy new equipment for the team. Local high schools, colleges and individuals donated gear for team members.

Still, the fact that the fire was being investigated as arson was a shock.

"I couldn't believe that there was so much evil right in our backyard," said Sam Locke, an ND-BG junior on the team and a parishioner of St. Clare's Church in Colonie. "But people drove over and just dropped off four or five bucks" to help.

Some of his teammates said they saw an elementary-aged student stop by and hand over just a dollar or two of his own money for the team.

First day
"I woke up early in the morning that day," said Jake Marrone, a junior at ND-BG who attends St. Mary's parish in Amsterdam. When his dad told him the news, he thought it was a joke at first.

After the ND-BG students got to school the day of the fire, they met in the gymnasium for morning prayer. They prayed that whoever committed the crime would find help.

The football team went into an empty classroom and just spent time together during the day. All the while, donations were rolling in.

"It was an amazing feeling to know that the community is behind us," said Dion Sexton, a junior at ND-BG.

Jake said that, as the day progressed, the team started to see the situation as a blessing in disguise: They didn't know that the community cared so much.

David Quell, a senior captain at Catholic High and a parishioner of St. Pius X in Loudonville, said the day was hard. His initial reaction was to jump in his car, head over to ND-BG and spend time with his coach and teammates. Instead, he went through his regular classes, along with his CCHS teammates.

Doug Combs, another senior captain from Catholic High and a parishioner of St. Augustine's in Troy, said that the team basically lived at the fieldhouse all summer, working out in the team weight room there.

Still in play
When the school day was over Oct. 21 and the team was able to be together, they were able to have a normal practice.

Jordan Mettler, a junior at ND-BG on the team, said that the break from the chaos was nice.

Holy Trinity members were especially surprised when an alum of ND-BG gave the team a blank check to get new cleats. After practice that day, they took a bus to Dick's Sporting Goods store, where they were able to pick out their new shoes. The store gave them free mouth guards and water bottles for their game the next day.

Despite almost no sleep because of the excitement the day before, the team was still able to compete in the playoff game. In freezing weather and in the presence of hundreds of fans, Holy Trinity brought its best to the field, falling short with a score of 46-12.

Although upset by the loss, all the team members said they will carry their love for the game into next year's season. "It made us stronger as one," Dion said. "We're not going to fall because of this."

"We're blessed with playing the game of football," Jordan told The Evangelist. He sees it as the best way to get out his anger.

If there was one thing the team could agree on, though, it was that they have already forgiven whoever committed the crime.

"Whoever did this needs help," Sam told The Evangelist. The team just hopes that whoever did this confesses soon.[[In-content Ad]]

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