Mazzulla celebrates opening of Indoor Recreation Center

It is seldom, if ever, that when a coach and former athlete breaks into tears that the room where he or she is speaking fills up with a thunderous round of applause.

However, that happened Saturday – a day Dan Mazzulla called “a truly great and historic day in Johnston” – when the long-serving Parks and Recreation director became emotional during the official Grand Opening dedication of the town’s $3.5 million Johnston Indoor Recreation Center facility.

“They say athletes don’t cry,” Mazzulla told upwards of 1,000 people as he remembered his early years playing basketball on the once concrete surface at ageless Rainone Gym back when his late father Daniel E. Mazzulla headed the town’s recreation office and programs. “Please look around, our town has come a long, long way since those times in the early 1960s.”

So much so, in fact, few towns and cities in Rhode Island have an indoor facility that can match the JIRC that is up and running and the new home of the recreation basketball program that plays Sunday mornings.

Mazzulla, who once starred at JHS and later Bryant College and still coaches in the high school programs today, couldn’t hide his emotions and said: “We can’t forget the current and past volunteers and recreation professionals who worked hard to keep kids involved in youth activities through all the years.”

He also cited what he called “two recreation professionals who made a great impact on recreation in the town, one being my dad – Daniel E. Mazzulla Sr. – who served as the town’s first fulltime recreation director and the former recreation director Vincent LaFazia; these two men live and love their profession.”

Now, Mazzulla Jr. is charged with carrying out those legacies and has a new 26,000-square foot state of the art facility to further expand Johnston’s always-active sports and recreation scene.

“In addition to our town-sponsored programs for the youth, the new center will offer JHS and FMS sports teams, school organizations, cheerleaders, band and students the opportunity for after school use,” Mazzulla said. “This is just the tip of the iceberg.”

Mazzulla then thanked “our elected officials and Mayor (Joseph) Polisena for their continued support of creation in the town. Over the past number of years, the Mayor and elected officials have supported such new facilities as the athletic turf field at JHS, supported the renovation of the Engineers/Babe Ruth Field in Johnston War Memorial Park and of course, the gem of all gems, this new facility.”

The new facility, which features a rubberized, artificial surface and three regulation basketball courts, will serve a wide range of age groups as well as support programs for various sports and recreation relation activities.

Mazzulla said all three courts can be set up for volleyball and tennis and this weekend will host the first-ever basketball tournament entitled “Commotion by the Ocean” that annually features some of the top youth players from all over the region.

“Once again,” Mazzulla said in closing his remarks Saturday, “Thank you, Mayor Polisena and our elected officials for this wonderful facility.”

He also urged all Johnstonians to tour the facility and visit Johnstonrec.com for hours of operation and additional rental and use information.