LEO CANCELLARE MEMORIAL DOCUMENTARY

Описание: Of the thousands of men who have walked the hollowed halls of Cathedral High School in Downtown during its 87 years as the city's only all-boys parochial school, the late Principal Leo Cancellare is a giant not only for what he taught his beloved students and swimmers, but also for what he taught an entire community.

El Paso has its share of athletic pillars who have influenced the country and who have made their city proud; in the pool, it's Cancellare, called by some the father of swimming in El Paso.
Without a doubt, Cancellare is the most respected swim coach in city history. Cancellare had 80 swimmers attend college on swimming scholarships and in his 20 years of coaching, he produced 79 high-school All-Americans and five members of Olympic teams, including former Cathedral standout Urbano Zea, a member of the 1988 Mexico Olympic Team. He and Gus and Goldie swim program co-founder William W. Cowan are members of the El Paso Athletic Hall of Fame, where their plaques hang proudly in the Don Haskins Center at UTEP.

Cancellare, who died of cancer in April 1999, was honored at a fundraising dinner Oct. 13, 2012 at the Cathedral High School multipurpose building. The evening raised money for the Leo Cancellare Scholarship for economically disadvantaged students at the school.

"This will be a way to pay homage to the life of Leo Cancellare while also reliving those great memories and moments from his many years at the school," said Brother Nick Gonzalez, principal of Cathedral High School.

Cancellare came to the school in 1987 and immediately created an atmosphere of learning, motivation and a cannot-fail-in-life attitude that fired up the student body, faculty and staff.

Cancellare was the driving force for more than 20 years behind the success of the El Paso Aqua Posse swim club and the Cathedral High School swim team.
He possessed all of the qualities a human being should have, and everyone just loved him. "It was amazing how many lives he touched while on this earth," said Joe Fan, a teacher at the school from 1994 to 2003, who choked back emotion when talking about his friend and colleague.

Cancellare was part of two powerful and impactful events in his last days. Instead of shying away from people because of his cancer, in Leo fashion, he was brave and upfront about what was going on with his body.

He gave a stirring and emotional television interview with former KVIA-TV Sports Director Lou Romano, detailing his battle with cancer. Cancellare had been a stocky, athletically built man, but in that five-minute interview, he was frail and his voice was raspy. However, the fight, energy and determination of Cancellare were still evident.

Through he graduated from Irvin High School, his heart and soul was Fighting Irish. In his last months, during an epic high-school basketball game in February 1999 between the No. 1 Bel Air Highlanders and No. 2 Cathedral, Cancellare's will to win rubbed off on the basketball team. In what many El Paso high-school sports fans still consider one of the greatest high-school basketball games ever played here, Cancellare inspired the homestanding Irish to an improbably victory. Cathedral's gymnasium was overflowing before halftime of the junior varsity game when the fire marshal determined that the gym was packed to capacity, leaving many fans outside straining to catch a glimpse of the private vs. public school basketball game.
The Highlanders looked like the No. 1 team in the city early as they scored at will inside as they moved to what many felt was an insurmountable lead by the end of the third quarter.
The Bel Air High School scorekeeper for the game was Jesse Perales, now the outstanding football coach at Del Valle High School.
"I could not believe the size of the crowd and the noise level inside the gym," he said. "I still have never seen anything like it."
When Cathedral was down in the fourth quarter (by as many as 20 at one time), the Irish called a time out.
From nowhere, magic happened. Irish pride came to the forefront as Cancellare led the student body (called the Zoo for its wild antics) in the Irish cheer. The basketball team, huddled around coach Sam Govea, looked on as Cancellare, who was barely able to walk or talk, brought the crowd to its feet. His sheer spirit lifted the Irish and star point guard Omar Duran to a come-from-behind victory.

Two months later, on April 2, 1999, Leo Cancellare died.
His son, Vito Cancellare, is now director of admissions at Cathedral.
"Cathedral has always been a special place to me, and while walking the halls it feels like my dad's spirit is with me everywhere," he said. "Brother Nick is now here. and he continues my dad's vision for making this a great school."

Article by Wayne Thornton (El Paso Times)

Video by Gilbert Jorgenson, Leo Marketing - An advertising agency and video production company in El Paso, TX