Plymouth Athletic Hall of Fame member Cabby Brini is part of what makes the Plymouth sports community special.

Growing up as the youngest of seven children to a single mother, things weren’t always easy for Cabby Brini. But the three-sport captain and Plymouth Athletic Hall of Fame member always had high school sports to fill his time and keep him on the straight and narrow path.

“Playing sports was everything to me back in high school, and there’s no doubt that sports kept me out of some trouble that I could have found,” Brini said. “Thank God my mom, Nancy Brini, was always there to do all that she could for me. To this day she is still such a positive influence on me.”

“There are so many other people, whether they were teammates, coaches or teachers, who reached out to help me in one way or another when I was in high school. Whether it was a kind word when I needed it or a ride home from practice, someone was always there to help me,” said Brini 52, owner of the popular waterfront restaurant The Cabbyshack. “Now that I’m in a position where I can help others who might need a hand, I’m there to do what I can. I’m just trying to repay all the helping hands that I was offered when I was growing up.”

The Plymouth-Carver Class of 1986 graduate backs up his words with actions that include the donation of a scoreboard for the old Plymouth North gymnasium. Many other generous donations have gone under the radar over the years at his request, and he’s also offered his restaurant for countless fundraising events, including the annual Sam Fry 5K that’s raised scholarship money over the years for student-athletes at both Plymouth North and Plymouth South.

“Nobody knows the half of what Cabby’s done for sports at all levels in this town for many years now,” said his former high school football teammate Scott Fry. “Cabby’s always been incredibly generous with both his time as well as his resources. He’s done an incredible amount of great things for the town of Plymouth and he’s always been there for anyone who has ever needed his help.”

Brini was captain of the football, basketball and baseball teams while with the Blue Eagles. Childhood friend A.J. Butters said Brini brought the same kind of intensity and tenacity to all three of those sports as he has to building his restaurant business.

“I’ve known him almost my entire life, and he really has never changed. Cabby’s always given 100 percent to whatever he’s done for as long as I’ve known him and he has always had a generous heart. He didn’t have a lot growing up, and I think he wants to help out wherever he can now that he has the means to do so,” said Butters. “I’d say he was a scrapper as an athlete. He was a good athlete, but he was able to add on to that because he always worked his butt off when he was on the field.”

Fry added, “To this day Cabby is one of most competitive people that you will ever come across. He’s been that way for as long as I’ve known him, so his success hasn’t changed him at all. Cabby’s the same big-hearted person that I knew when we were growing up in Plymouth.”

Fry and Brini were teammates on Plymouth-Carver’s 1984 state champion football team. It’s a season that neither of them will soon forget.

“I was a junior playing defensive back as well as some slot receiver. I was still cutting my teeth at the start of the year,” Brini said. “We’d just missed going to the Super Bowl in 1983 because of a tie during the regular season, so the veterans who were returning on the 1984 team came in with the attitude that nothing was going to stop them from taking that final step and winning the state title.

“That was an incredible team. The captains – Paul Shea, Dave Enos and Shawn Stanghellini – were incredible football players as well as leaders,” Brini remembered. “We weren’t the biggest players or the best players, but it worked because of the heart that all of us put into every game. The players on that team still have a great bond from what we were able to do together during that special season.”

Brini said his high school days will always hold special memories because of all the people who volunteered their time to help the players. Among those who influenced him the most back in those days were coaches Dennis Borsari, Bob Murphy and Paul Coffin.

“Dennis kind of followed me all the way up the ladder. He coached me as an 8-year-old in youth football and then was an assistant coach with the high school football program,” said Brini. “Bob Murphy was actually a Silver Lake graduate who came over and coached at the high school. He was a great athlete who played basketball at UMass with Julius Erving. You always knew where you stood with Bob, and for some reason he took a liking to me.”

And then there was Paul Coffin.

“Nobody has ever touched the lives of more kids in this town than Paul Coffin did from his work as a teacher and a coach for so many years in Plymouth. I think he coached everyone, and he was an absolutely incredible human being,” Brini said. “He taught me so much about never making excuses when you made a mistake and learning from all of them.”

Brini attended UMass Amherst for a year after high school but quickly realized that “college wasn’t for me. I’ve always been the type of a person who learned better from doing something.” He got a taste of the restaurant business working for George Marinos Sr. at The Colonial restaurant and it sparked something in Cabby.

“I learned so much from George about the way you need to treat people,” Cabby said. “He was a huge influence on me.”

In 1998 he became a part-owner of Cornerstones in Carver and eventually opened The Cabbyshack on the town wharf in 2003 in the old Souza’s Seafood building.

“It’s a perfect location for this type of a restaurant,” Brini said. “We took a chance in 2003 when we opened and fortunately it has paid off. I’ve had the chance to work with so many great people over the years.”

Brini has also enjoyed success coaching two Plymouth Youth Baseball and Softball Cal Ripken summer all-star teams to New England Championships. His sons Niko and Enzo were both a part of those title runs in 2013 and 2015.

“My boys mean everything to me and being able to share those memories with them is unbelievable,” Brini said. “I was very fortunate to be a part of those teams. The kids and their families were so incredible during that time and those summers really turned into a family event for everyone involved with the program.

“Both title runs were such great rides, and the best thing about those teams is you couldn’t pick out the superstars on the team. Everyone on the roster was a talented baseball player and all of them did their part to help us win.”