Retiring Honeoye Falls-Lima Athletic Director Brian Donohue. Sentinel Photo.
Just two months into his tenure as Honeoye Falls-Lima’s Athletic Director, Brian Donohue was at the New York State Public High School Athletic Association Girls Basketball Tournament at Hudson Valley Community College in March 2005 watching as the Lady Cougars hoisted the program’s only state championship trophy. It was the third state championship that a Cougar team had won in those two months, following state title wins by the both the HF-L boys and girls Nordic Ski teams. It was an incredible way to welcome the new AD.
“I still remember watching that state championship game in 2005, sitting courtside and hearing the chants of ‘HF-L, HF-L’ go through the crowd,” said Donohue during an interview last Friday (August 22), “That was my introduction to the HF-L community and the huge support the community gives to the students. The chant just resounded through HVCC’s gymnasium. It was my first taste of Cougar Pride.”
Donohue will complete his two decades as HF-L’s Athletic Director when he retires on August 29.
Born and raised in LeRoy, Donohue never guessed that one day he would be the AD at a former rival Livingston County League school. The LeRoy graduate had a different dream job in mind.
“I never thought I would leave LeRoy,” Donohue said. “My dream was to be LeRoy’s head football coach as I had played football when I was in high school.”
It’s funny how things work out.
Donohue’s first teaching job was in the Rochester City School District where he also did some coaching. About seven or eight years into his teaching career, the principal at the school Donohue was teaching at suggested he go through the Educational Administrative program at St. John Fisher College (now University). He knew he did not want to become an assistant principal, but after getting the administrative credentials, he applied for and got the job of Athletic Director at Rochester’s School of the Arts.
“The school didn’t have any athletic field, so it was managing 15 or 16 busses for team practices and games,” Donohue said. “When the AD’s job here at HF-L opened up, I did not apply for it originally. I loved being at SOTA but as I got to thinking about it, I wanted to be a part of a community. I was familiar with HF-L as HF-L and LeRoy were both part of the Livingston County League when I was growing up and I had played here as a student athlete. I was not only familiar with HF-L’s athletic reputation but its academic reputation. I applied for the job and was fortunate enough to get it.”
Longtime HF-L girls varsity basketball coach Steve Willoughby recalled Donohue’s first couple of months as AD as the Lady Cougars made that run to the state title in 2005.
“We had a great team that year when we went to the state tournament and I think he was kind of in awe at the community’s huge support of us,” Willoughby said in a phone interview. “When we went to the War Memorial for our Section V Tournament championship game, I had to give the security people there a list of people, such as Athletic Director, Athletic Trainer, ball boy, assistant coaches, to allow in the back door. I accidently, on purpose, listed Brian as the ball boy for a laugh. Brian got there and told security that he was the AD and security told him that he was listed as the ball boy. I never would’ve done it if I hadn’t known he would be okay about it. To this day, Brian still recalls that and we have a good chuckle over it.”
While Donohue was one of the first people to congratulate Willoughby and the players after their state title win in 2005, he was also the first person to console the team three years later when the Lady Cougars lost the state championship game by one point.
“In my opinion, Brian was and is a ‘coaches AD’ and by that I mean that he understood what coaches go through and what we face,” Willoughby said. “I credit him with how I have come to coach over the last 8-10 years; calming me down and not focusing so much on the wins and losses. He was an administrator but we could sit down and have a laugh. It was a great relationship and he also has a lot of respect from the coaches that we play against.”
For retired HF-L girls and boys varsity swim coach Norm Schueckler, what stood out about Donohue was how supportive he was of all the teams.
“The thing that impressed me the most about Brian was that he was a total department Athletic Director,” said Schueckler during a phone interview. “He supported all the programs on an equal basis. He was proud of and supportive of all the athletic teams. When he came into the pool area before a meet, he knew who was doing well and would congratulate them. His door was always open and he was good to talk with and it was easy to talk to him.”
While there have been a lot of great times and memories, one of the most difficult times came when the COVID pandemic hit in 2020 and cancelled the spring sports season. Donohue gathered the spring sports coaches together and they brainstormed how to keep connected to the kids and the kids connected to each other. He supported the coaches as they held virtual practices and he also kept in contact with the student athletes. Donohue even made sure that the achievements of the sports program and student athletes in the 2019-2020 season were celebrated with the annual Athletic Awards ceremony, holding it virtually with him hosting it live being the only one in the District Auditorium. The idea of having an awards ceremony originated with him a few years earlier.
“I always prepared an end-of-year report with the accomplishments of the teams and student athletes, on and off the field,” Donohue said. “One year, I thought why am I the only one looking at this and reporting it only to the Board of Education. An awards ceremony would be a way for all the student athletes to support each other and hear and see what their fellow classmates are achieving in other sports and a way for the community to hear publicly what the kids accomplished; creating not only pride but a sense of accomplishment.”
COVID also sharpened Donohue’s focus on the mental health of the student athletes. He is a strong supporter of the “It’s Okay Not To Be Okay” program that lets students know that it is okay for them to ask for help when they need it and that the athletic department stands ready to support them.
Donohue also was a big proponent of the athletic teams giving back to the community and having a community service project. It is something that he makes sure is highlighted during the Athletic Awards ceremony, saying it is important for the student athletes to give back to a community whose residents support them so strongly and for community residents to see the kids as more than just student athletes.
Another program that Donohue is proud that he helped bring to HF-L is the Unified Basketball program, an inclusive initiative that allows students with challenges to play the sport alongside those students (known as partners) who do not have challenges. Along with other athletic directors, he was introduced to the program by leaders at the New York Public High School Athletic Association and its partner in the initiative, Special Olympics, during a conference. A Section V committee led by Denny Fries looked into bringing the program to the Section and Donohue was one of the early champions of it, to the point that HF-L has two Unified Varsity Basketball teams and one modified team, unusual for a district of HF-L’s size.
“I really credit our entire physical education staff, from the elementary level to the high school level, for it and the original varsity coaches, Jim Arrigenna and Cory Quinter,” Donohue said. “It is one of the best things we do; it’s connecting more students to the school and giving them the opportunity to don an HF-L jersey the same as their peers. Watching the kids and their families during a game is fantastic; it is the look of pure joy of competing on the kids’ faces. I am very proud of that and helping to bring the program to HF-L and Section V.”
Donohue acknowledges there are many challenges facing high school sports today, from finding coaches to finding officials to the growth of club sports teams and their emphasis on students specializing in one sport and the resulting decline of multi-sport athletes.
“With these club teams, kids have the opportunity to play one sport almost year-round,” he said. “The kids are being told they are elite, even at a young age, but there is no elite 10-year-old playing any sport. The kids are being told at a young age ‘stick to this one sport and you’ll get a scholarship’ but the reality is very few kids will get a college scholarship. But, if students play for their high school team, they have that pride of putting on that HF-L jersey, maybe bringing home a championship and making great memories with their classmates.”
Donohue said that in many ways growing up in LeRoy and being the AD at HF-L have been complementary, stating that both school communities have great pride and history and celebrate that history. He noted that one of the affirmations of that at HF-L is how many students have come back to the community and are raising their children in the HF-L district.
Asked what his plans are for the next chapter in his life, Donohue said spending time with his wife, who retired from her career last year, along with some traveling and volunteering. They plan to continue residing in the HF-L community.
Donohue did get a bit emotional when asked about what he will miss after his retirement.
“The biggest thing is the relationships,” he said. “I have been fortunate to be here with people who inspire me – kids, families, coaches, athletic trainers and other teaching and administrative colleagues. Over the last two decades there have been some great moments on the field, but watching kids reach for their goals has been just as important. The tasks of the administrative side of being an AD are the tasks, but the hardest part about leaving is the people. At HF-L, I have been part of a great place and I will miss not coming to a place that I absolutely love. I am grateful to Gene (HF-L School Superintendent Mancuso), the members of the Board of Education, the community and current and former coaches. I credit former Athletic Director Tom Flood who was my predecessor. He built a great program and I inherited it and some great coaches. I also want to thank the secretaries I have had in the athletic office, Joy Jennejohn and now Hannah Dineen. I could not ask for better people to work with in the office; I have been blessed to work with them.”
