Community rallies for fallen halfback

The football field at Pal’s Oval in Ozone Park came to life Sunday, October 21, as hundreds from the southern Queens community showed up to lend support to one of their own.
The family of Vinny Nollman, a 17-year-old halfback for the LynVet Gladiators who was paralyzed during a scrimmage Sunday, September 9, held a fundraiser to help pay for Nollman’s recovery - a recovery that, if you ask Nollman, has already begun.
“I’m doing good, and all the love I’m getting from the community keeps [my spirits] up,” he said, adding that he has “no doubt” he will one day walk again.
The fundraiser, featuring raffles, football-shaped lollipops and autographs by former NFL defensive tackle Tyree Allison, spanned the Pal’s Oval field at 88th Street and North Conduit Avenue during a game between the Gladiators and Knights.
The Knights - the same team the Gladiators had played that fateful September Sunday - joined Nollman and his teammates at midfield before opening kick-off for a prayer.
“My nerves are very shot,” admitted Rosemarie Asselta, Vinny’s mother. But, she added, her son is doing well, all things considered.
“His spirits are very high,” said Asselta.
“He’s doing a lot better than we are,” said father Mark Nollman. “I think I feel sorry for myself more than he feels sorry for himself.”
It was a play most viewers called routine that rendered Nollman paralyzed from the chest down. Running downfield to throw a block, he was hit by multiple opponents, fracturing his C-4 and C-5 vertebrae.
“We were shocked,” said grandfather Vinnie Nollman. “Devastated. We’re saying a lot of prayers…this community turnout is something phenomenal.”
The Gladiators lost the game, 26-16, but as Coach Felix Pagan noted, the score wasn’t important.
“My head wasn’t in the game,” said Pagan. “The day was just so overwhelming.”
The game’s turnout included hundreds of community members, as well as civic groups like New World Order, a collection of motorcyclists who lend support to community initiatives and those in need. The Ozone Park Kiwanis Club was also on hand.
“We made a $500 donation,” said Kiwanis member Jonah Cohen, representing the club. Cohen, perhaps better known as Chief of the West Hamilton Beach Volunteer Fire Department, said he wasn’t sure how the money would be used.
“Whatever his family feels necessary,” said Cohen.
“All the money we make today goes to whatever Vinny needs,” said Asselta. “Ramps, bathrooms, medication … I just had to move out of my apartment because I live on the second floor.”
Asselta’s forced relocation illuminates just how deeply Nollman’s injury has affected his family. Still, everyone in attendance seemed able to appreciate the overwhelming support and widespread cooperation borne out of the tragedy.
“Everything but Vinny is forgotten about,” said grandmother Barbara Nollman, visiting from her home in Florida, where she lives with her husband, Vinnie. “We’ve run into a lot of good Samaritans. Everyone wants to help.”
Nollman’s injury has also focused attention to the growing debate on whether teams in the LynVet football league - a non-school-based league for high-school-aged players - receive adequate equipment.
Tyree Allison, whose playing career ended in 2001, said the LynVet league provides a window to a college education. For that window to be forced closed by a preventable injury, he said, would be devastating.
“Hopefully, one or two of these guys gets a break and plays college ball,” said Allison, now a math teacher at Christ the King High School in Middle Village.
Maria Casiano, sister of Pagan, is starting a petition to get city politicians to allot more funding to safety equipment.
“These are future NFL players,” she said. “Why wait until they get hurt to do something to protect them?”
Her case was reinforced late in the game, when Gladiator Nick Navero suffered a sprained knee after ending up at the bottom of a pile-up. He was taken to the hospital but released the same day.
“There’s no doubt in my mind,” said Mark Nollman. “They need neck braces out there.”
But as severe as Nollman’s injury is, one woman in attendance served as living proof that hope remains for the young halfback.
Ilyse D’Amico, 25, from Howard Beach, was paralyzed three years ago during a car accident. Now on her feet again, she said she has done her best to reassure Nollman, a longtime family friend.
“He’s gotta push hard,” said D’Amico. “You can never give up. I know what he’s going through. But he’s got so many people praying for him, and I believe he can do this.”
For Vinny, such support makes all the difference.
“Ilyse helps me because she knows what I’m going through,” he said. “She tells me her story, tells me to stay strong, and it’s easy to keep a good attitude.”
If you would like to help Vincent Nollman visit www.vincentnollman.com or call Coach Felix Pagan at 917-496-3446.