FACULTY SPOTLIGHT
THE BRONX IS IN HIS BLOOD .
Febles won Mike Byrnes Coach of the Year in 2020 at the New Balance National Indoor Track and Field Championship at the Armory . The award honors Febles longtime coaching career during which he has had an enduring effect both on Fordham Prep and the high school track and field community .
After living in Mount Vernon for three years with his wife , Nelsie , Febles made his return to the Bronx ( Riverdale ) in around 1995 .
“ It was always about finding a nice place to live ,” Febles said . “ We were kind of committed in that we didn ’ t want to live far away from the city ,” he continued , noting that he and his wife also didn ’ t want to live too far away from their family members in Manhattan and Yonkers .
As luck would have it , the Febles ended up finding their house through a photographer that took pictures for the track meets he attended with his team . Febles and his wife saw the house that the photographer ’ s parents were selling and ended up falling in love with it . They took a liking to the Country
Club neighborhood , and the home fit their criteria as far as
being close to work and their families .
When it comes to teaching and coaching at Fordham Prep , Febles claims that it was never the plan . “ It ’ s in my blood ,” he laughed , stating that
his father was a coach at Xavier and Regis — two other Jesuit
high schools in New York City . After graduating from Fordham University with a degree in Political Science , Febles taught and coached at what was formerly Aquinas High School ( now closed ), an all-girls school in the Bronx . He joined the faculty and coaching staff at Fordham Prep at the recommendation of former Coach Joe Fox , and the rest , as they say , is history .
George Febles P ’ 15 , ’ 22 is a long-time and beloved member of the school ’ s Social Studies department . He is also well known , both at the Prep and around the nation , for his outstanding track record as a cross-country and track and field coach . His extraordinary service to the Fordham Prep community both inside and outside of the classroom was recognized on Friday , November 18th , 2022 at the New York Botanical Garden when he was inducted into the school ’ s Hall of Honor .
Febles grew up nearby Rose Hill on Sedgwick Avenue and West Fordham Road in the late ’ 60s and early ’ 70s . He was baptized at St . Nicholas of Tolentine Church , also nearby Rose Hill , and attended St . Simon Stock – St . Joseph Church on Valentine Avenue as a child . At around age seven , he and his family moved a few miles north to Yonkers , but Febles migrated closer to the Bronx ( Mount Vernon ) after college .
Febles poses with student-athletes on the Cross-Country team in Van Cortlandt Park after winning the CHSAA Championship in the fall of 2022 .
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FORDHAM PREP RAMVIEW