Scholarship established in honor of Holley soccer player known for intensity on field

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 3 June 2019 at 1:20 pm

‘He stayed close with everybody. He was a social butterfly. Floyd was the center of everybody’s social circle.’

Floyd Hanes

HOLLEY – Floyd Hanes was a key player in Holley’s state championship boys soccer teams in 1990 and 1991. He was intense, and wasn’t afraid to mix it up with the other team.

Off the field, he was a different person, with a quick smile and many friends.

Hanes died unexpectedly at age 43 on May 24. Many of his grieving friends and family have raised more than $4,000 for a memorial scholarship in his name.

Hanes wore number 12 for Holley as the team’s right wing and striker. His friend Ben Schiavone urged people to donate $12 in honor of Hanes for the scholarship. Many gave $12. Some gave $48, to represent $12 multiplied by the four years he played on varsity.

Others gave $112 with one donor at $512. The school district will award two scholarships at the June 29 graduation. The scholarships re $512 each and will go to graduating seniors who played soccer in a manner like Hanes, a fast and ferocious style of play.

“He played so hard,” said Schiavone, his Holley teammate for two seasons. “He was the enemy of the other team. He was so intense.”

Hanes played soccer for two seasons after Holley at Monroe Community College. He continued to play in soccer leagues and also for a semi=pro football team in Florida.

After about seven years in Florida, he moved back to Holley to be closer to his family.

“He stayed close with everybody,” Schiavone said today. “He was a social butterfly. Floyd was the center of everybody’s social circle.”

Sam Zelent, a school social worker, graduated in 1993, a year before Hanes did from Holley. They remained friends after school. She has been helping to collect the money for Hanes’ scholarship

“I have been getting money from people that I have not heard from in over 20 years, but were impacted by Floyd’s death,” Zelent said. “Floyd was truly one of a kind. He was so incredibly sweet and he loved soccer.”

The scholarship donations continue to climb, with Zelent providing updates on her Facebook page

“That is amazing to me, and a testimony to the generosity of those who loved him,” she said about the donations. “Floyd was loved by so many. This is so noticeable with the amazing amount of money collected for the scholarship in his name.”

The description of the new Floyd Hanes Scholarship says it was created in loving memory by friends and family of Floyd, a 1994 Holley Graduate who proudly wore number 12 on the Soccer Field. “It will be awarded to the senior who best represent all aspects of Floyd: his loving and caring nature towards others and his intensity and fire on the soccer field.”

To donate to the scholarship even at $12, checks to the scholarship can be mailed to Penny Cole, Holley Central School, 3800 North Main St., Holley NY 14470 or to Jeana Hayes at 16480 Telegraph Rd., Holley NY 14470, through Venmo @samantha-zelent, or PayPal at Szelent@holleycsd.org.

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