Floral Park has purple-out charity game for coach MaryJane Morra

Purple reigned again at Floral Park in honor of MaryJane Morra.

She has been a physical education teacher at the school. She formerly coached cross country and girls lacrosse there. But her ties run even deeper.

"She grew up in Floral Park," said Sean Boyle, the varsity boys basketball coach. "She went to Floral Park. She taught at Floral Park. And then she got sick."

Morra was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2020.

Boyle said senior captain Jason Kozak came to him at the beginning of this season and said, "We’d like to do a purple-out game" in her honor. It had been done in other sports at Floral Park, and purple is the official pancreatic cancer color.

"The students, the community, they love her," Boyle said.

So the color purple reigned on Jan. 19 when Floral Park hosted Lynbrook.

"The building was bleeding purple," Boyle said. "It was a great sight to see."

Besides the fans and coaches who wore purple, the players wore purple warm-up T-shirts over their jerseys before the game. The T-shirts featured a white ribbon emblazoned on the front with "MJSTRONG" above it and "FLORAL PARK BASKETBALL" below it.

"We try and raise money for the family," Boyle said of these events. "The basketball game brought in close to $500."

That came from ticket, shirt and purple heart sales. The students, fans and faculty wrote heartfelt messages on those hearts and placed them on the "MJstrong" wall outside the gym.

"I think it’s pretty cool what they are doing to support me," Morra said, as related by Boyle. "And the fact that it brings awareness to pancreatic cancer is a huge plus as well."

The packed house saw Floral Park win, 53-52.

"The kids played with ‘MJstrong’ pride," Boyle said. "It was a victory for Floral Park in honor of MJ."