The Sanderson team rallies before entering the field against Southeast Raleigh on Aug. 29, 2009.
Aug 10, 2010
The Wake County Board of Education unanimously approved a proposal on Tuesday to rename the football field at Sanderson High School to "Catapano Field," honoring the longtime athletic director who retired in June.
The proposal was brought to the Board of Education by faculty at Sanderson, the athletic booster club and the Parent-Teacher Association.
Tony Lewis, head football coach and new athletic director at Sanderson, could not be immediately reached for comment on Tuesday.
Born in Glen Rock, N.J., Catapano played soccer at N.C. State where he was a four-year starter for the Wolfpack. Catapano started his career with Wake County Public Schools after graduation with a four year stint at Martin Middle School before moving to Sanderson High School.
At Sanderson, Catapano built one of the state's most successful soccer programs.
Catapano was the head soccer coach for the Spartans for 20 years, and in that time his teams won 17 conference championships. He compiled a 363-44-21 record, and set a then-national record of 103 consecutive games without a loss. The record spanned five seasons.
For the last 28 years, Catapano has been the athletic director at Sanderson. Last week, the N.C. High School Athletic Association announced Catapano would be inducted into the Association's Hall of Fame. He was inducted into the N.C. Athletic Directors Association Hall of Fame last year, ten years after being inducted into the N.C. Soccer Hall of Fame in 1999.
Over the course of his career, Catapano was a member of the NCHSAA's Realignment Committee, sat on the National Federation soccer rules committee, and was an instructor for the National Federation's Fundamentals of Coaching program.
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