Yorktown's Girls Tennis Team Gets a Special Treat

, the owner of the Yorktown Heights eatery , grew up in Yorktown and he is part of the community here.

Now, he has thought of a new way to give back and honor the high school students who deserve to be recognized for their accomplishments. His project involves hosting a dinner at his restaurant to honor Yorktown's hard working student-athletes who have excelled on and off the field this past season.

"Part of being a business owner, in my opinion, is being part of the community," Cuomo said. "The idea started first by wanting to do the football team dinners at the restaurant since I played at Yorktown. I felt that that would've singled out one sport so decided to rethink the idea. Then I thought of rewarding the student athletes in general because I know how hard it is to balance sports, school and a social life."

Monday night will be the start of a new tradition. 

In conjunction with the district's athletic director Fio Nardone, the 's girls varsity tennis team was chosen as the team of the fall season. All 14 girls on the squad have excelled on the court and in the classroom.   

The team and their coach Roger Dayer will have dinner at  together to celebrate their accomplishments. Going forward, Cuomo's idea is to do a monthly award for the best individual (that individual and his or her family will get dinner at the restaurant) and a seasonal award for the best overall team, which will be chosen at the end of each season.

"The athletes represent the school and community every time they compete," Cuomo said. "When they also excel in the classroom in addition to the athletic field it's just that much better."

Cuomo, who graduated from in 1997, was also an athlete during his high school career. He played football all four years and baseball during his freshman, sophomore and junior year. He went on to play football at Division 3 at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y.

"We are trying to be involved in anyway possible with the athletics program," he said adding that he recently donated trays of sausage and peppers to be sold at the wrestling tournament to help raise money for the program.

Here are the names of the 14 girls on the YHS's girls varsity team who have excelled on the court and in the classroom:

Tanvi Tiwari

Jacqueline Beechert

Deanna Drenga

Catherine Chung

Jennifer Shkolnik

Justine Rosenblat

Meryem Katircioglu

Hailey Rosenberg

Caroline Viret

Megha Bhambri

Jessica Kuhr

Melissa Marullo

Katherine Hebard

Brittany Cohan