HB Hurricanes Storm the Rockaways with Basketball Training

By Katie McFadden

The HB Hurricanes are storming the peninsula with something positive for local youth. The organization is now offering a skills development program in basketball locally, taking kids from never having picked up a basketball to playing on local teams.

HB Hurricanes, run by Greg Costigliola and Erick Drouillard, started out in Howard Beach in 2022. Both teachers who also coach basketball, Costigliola and Drouillard saw a need in Howard Beach for basketball training. “Greg and I are both teaching at the same school, and we got an opportunity to coach the school’s basketball team and we felt we did a really good job, so we said let’s take this show on the road and we did just that. We found kids willing to learn the game of basketball and we took it from there and have been relatively successful for the last three years,” Drouillard said.

Recruiting kids from ages 3 to 14, the men started their program outdoors at P.S. 207, but as Costigliola was coaching CYO for St. Helen’s in Howard Beach, he was able to bring their program indoors at the gym there, and the last two years, they’ve been operating out of Our Lady of Grace in Howard Beach. As opposed to focusing on full games, HB Hurricanes’ focus is brushing kids up on their skills or introducing them to the game itself. “We do a lot of skills development drills and being that Erick has a background in physical education, we bring the physical fitness and education aspect to that program. That’s what our program really focuses on,” Costilgliola said.

After three years of success, they felt the time was right to expand. “We always talked about expanding our program and I’ve always been fond of the Rockaways. There’s a lot of potential there and a lot of kids that play sports and the community is warm and enriching,” Costigliola said. And Drouillard has a personal connection to the area as his uncle is Senator James Sanders, who oversees the area, and his family is from Rockaway. “My mother grew up in the Hammels. Now we’ve brought our program across the street from the Hammels. It’s a joyous occasion for her to see us bring our program out here. There’s a lot of kids who eat, breathe and sleep basketball here and we’re providing a safe place for them to come and practice their skills and take themselves to the next level or play for the first time where nobody is judging and they can explore the game and one day hopefully love the game,” Drouillard said.

That location is St. Rose of Lima’s gym. Through mutual friends, Costigliola was able to meet Kami-Leigh Agard of The Rockaway Times and Rockaway Beach Autism Families, who introduced him to Father James Rodriguez of St. Rose. “St. Rose happened to be the place that welcomed us. We met with the principal there, who is a very lovely woman, about three weeks ago and we fell in love with the place because they were so welcoming. We knew St. Rose would be where we would bring our training program,” Costigliola said.

Since Sunday, June 8, HB Hurricanes has been hosting their program for local kids from ages 5 to 15 on Sunday mornings. They host three sessions, for kids ages 5-7, 8-10 and 11-15, so kids are on the relatively same level and aren’t intimidated. “We’ve seen programs where they’ll pair 12-year-olds with 6-year-olds, so we keep the age groups close together so the kids don’t feel intimidated. We’re giving more attention to kids on the same age level,” Costigliola said.

They also work with about five or six coaches and keep sessions to 20 kids, so kids can get even more personal training. “We make sure every kid feels seen with small group instruction. It’s been proven to facilitate better learning. We assess each kid as we do in school and divide them by skill level, so each coach knows what they’re going to do with them and the kids get the attention they need,” Drouillard said.

During a session, kids will have time to shoot around or chat with other kids. Then they have a group warm up, sometimes with some cardio exercise such as running or motions, then coaches work with them on skills in small groups.

With the first local session in the books, they say Rockaway has been a good fit so far. “The first day, we had a great turnout and we’re excited,” Costigliola said. “A couple parents were looking out for our program to come to Rockaway, and they were happy to hear HB Hurricanes was coming here. We’ve talked to a lot of parents and have gotten positive feedback.”

And they’ve already gotten to see some of the fruits of their labor from past years as they make the trip out to Rockaway. “We had kids that never picked up a basketball before and right now, they’re playing for the BCAC Summer Shootout in Broad Channel. “They fell in love with our program and still train with us to keep improving. They saw me at BCAC and had smiles all over their faces,” Costigliola said. “That’s what we emphasize. The focus is on development over winning. While winning is part of the sport, the development aspect is what’s very important to us.”

HB Hurricanes will continue their indoor summer program on Sundays through July 6. Although the program has started, it isn’t too late to register, and parents will be charged only for the sessions their kids attend. There are also discounts for siblings and returning members. They also plan on continuing their program with more sessions in Rockaway in the future. They also plan on working with RBAF to offer a free program for children with autism.

To register, reach out to the HB Hurricanes at hbhurricanesbball@gmail.com or on Instagram @hbhurricanesbasketball, where you can see videos from their training programs.