Broga, Fisk Inducted Into Gateway Hall Of Fame

Huntington – Kathleen Broga and Brad Fisk were inducted into the Gateway Regional High School Athletic Hall of Fame, at the annual Sports Banquet on Monday, May 22nd at the Clarion Hotel in Northampton.

Kathy Broga, who currently lives in Chelmsford, graduated from Gateway Regional High School in 1979.  Kathy was a member of the softball and basketball teams all four years, and a three-year member of the field hockey team.  While at Gateway, she was All Bi-County League in softball and basketball, batting .520 with 33 stolen bases her senior year in softball.  Broga attended Westfield State College, where she played four years on the softball team, was an All New England player in her junior and senior years, and was named an All American her senior year.  For several years, she held New England and school records for stolen bases (33 of 33 attempts in one season, 108 for her college career).  In 1982 and 1983, she was the NCAA Division 3 National Stolen Base Leader, and once stole six bases in a single game.

In her acceptance speech, Broga shared the impact her coaches had on her high school life. “In 1976, the only girls fall sport was watching the boys play soccer,” recalled Broga. She credited Coach Michelle Lawler for starting up a girls’ field hockey team. She credited basketball Coach John Korzenecki with teaching her that being ‘good’ wasn’t good enough.  And she thanked Jean Garriepy for giving her a ‘come to Jesus’ talk, encouraging her to straighten out and work hard so she could make it into college.

Attending with Kathy were her father; her four sisters: Andrea, Pam (with husband Mark), Sue (with husband Mark) and Linda; her brother Bob and his wife Debbie; and her graduating niece, Jen Beneway.

Brad Fisk, the second inductee, graduated from Gateway in 1984.  Brad was a 3-sport athlete in each of his four years at Gateway—playing the position of soccer goalie and baseball catcher in those sports.  He served as co-captain of all three teams his junior and senior years, and was an All Western Mass selection in baseball and soccer his junior year.  In 1984, Brad led the team with 24 hits, 12 of them for extra bases.  That same year, he set a school batting record of .545, which may still stand today.  From Gateway, Fisk went to AIC to major in criminal justice.  He captained his college baseball team in his junior and senior years, and was named to the All New England 2nd team in both of those years.  He holds the record for the most home runs scored in one season at AIC (10) and was awarded the Butova Award, given to the athlete who has done the most for athletics at the college. After college, Fisk played baseball in the summer Tri-County League for 8 years, and received a major league try-out in Florida one of those seasons.

In his acceptance, Fisk urged the many current athletes in attendance to “hold yourself to a higher standard because you’re from Gateway.”

Fisk lives in Middlefield with his wife Staci, son Roy, and daughter Ashley.  He attended with his parents Brad Sr. and Judy; Staci’s grandmother, Theresa; his sister Shari; and a good friend, Babe Smith.

The Gateway Athletic Hall of Fame started in 2002 to recognize and honor former students or coaches who have made significant contributions to GHS through their participation in, or association with, athletics at Gateway.  Athletes must have graduated and coaches must have retired from coaching for at least 5 years in order to be eligible.

Gifts of appreciation were also given to Ed and Joanne Kosiorek, who are leaving the organization after many active years of participation; to Linda Koske for her work producing the athletic videos over the past two years; and to Ken Barrows, who again emceed the evening. 

The annual booster club banquet was very well attended, and included a presentation of the new 2006 video “Gateway Sports Rule”, recognition of all current athletes and coaches, announcements of League and All-Western Massachusetts Honors, recognition of senior athletes, and Booster Club Scholarships.  The boosters also sponsored a raffle for the student athletes.

The Gateway Athletic Booster Club is a nonprofit group dedicated to supporting all sports at the high school.  Through fundraisers, the club provides scholarships, purchases team equipment, awards jackets to championship teams, undertakes numerous projects, sponsors the Gateway Athletic Hall of Fame, and hosts special events like the annual banquet.  One of its shining achievements was creating Booster Field, complete with full lighting for evening soccer games.

The boosters meet at 7 p.m. at Stanton Hall in Huntington on the first Sunday of every month.  New members are always welcome.