Category Archives: Town Common

January 11, 2009 · 9:59 pm

MVPs At All Newburyport High School Home Basketball Games

Paul Coleman, Peter Murray, Pete Carlson, and Tom O'Brien pose before another NHS home basketball game.

Paul Coleman, Peter Murray, Pete Carlson, and Tom O'Brien pose before another NHS home basketball game.

They are easy to miss, but if you go to enough Newburyport High School home basketball games, for either boys or girls, you will soon figure out that a certain four gentlemen were there every time you went.

The men I am referring to are; Paul Coleman, Pete Carlson, Peter Murray, and Tom O’Brien.

Paul takes care of the ticket sales at the home games while Pete, Peter, and Tom make up the stat crew.

“They’re invaluable to me,” said NHS athletic director John Daileanes in reference to the four of them, when I spoke with him during the recent home NHS/Masco junior varsity game.  “They have always been reliable and they know what they’re doing. They also have great personalities.”

Paul Coleman coached football and taught at NHS for many years. He became involved with ticket sales during that time.  “I have probably been doing this for 25 years,” he said.  “I heard that they needed someone back then so I volunteered.”

His job at the games is probably not one that most folks would enjoy.  “I spend the first half with my back to the game,” he explained.   “Sometimes I’ll sneak a peek at what’s going on.  I usually get to see the second half.”  Paul is retired but finds time to substitute teach at NHS.

The other three men are at the scorer’s table with arguably the best view in the house.  It is a place, however, where drawing attention is not usually a good thing. 

“People who have never done stat work don’t realize that it can be nerve-wracking,” added AD Daileanes.  “Like an official, you’re only noticed if something is wrong.”

All three stat men started doing their jobs at the Nock Gym. 

“I was a spectator at a lot of the games there when the AD then, Jim Stehlin, asked me to do the scorebook,” recalled Pete Carlson.  “For a while I took care of the book home and away.  I’ve been part of the stat crew for about twenty years.”  His specific jobs now are the possession arrow and the 35-second clock.

Peter Murray is the rookie of the group.  “It’s been sixteen years for me,” he said.  “I take care of the game clock.” 

“You get a different perspective of the kids from where I’m seating at the scorer’s table than you do in the classroom and I like that,” added the fifth-year NHS wellness teacher and girl’s softball coach

The dean of the group is Tom O’Brien.  Known to almost everyone in Newburyport as City Councilor Tom O’Brien, his connection to athletics at NHS is a lengthy one.  “I sold tickets for 21 years and during the last nine years I’ve been keeping the scorebook,” he told me. 

When asked to compare keeping the scorebook with being a city councilor he smiled and said, “This is exciting but nothing is as exciting as the city council.  There’s a thrill a minute there.  It’s relaxing here.”

There is some financial compensation but the draw for the men is being among friends.  “We have a good time together,” was how Peter Murray put it. 

(Prepared for The Town Common and should appear in that weekly on January 21st.)

Leave a comment

Filed under Newburyport, NHS MVPs, Town Common

January 5, 2009 · 5:33 pm

Bridge Reopens – Area Rejoices

Barriers get pushed back as Parker River Bridge reopens on January 5th.

Barriers get pushed back as Parker River Bridge reopens on January 5th.

First built in 1758, famous folks including; Benedict Arnold, George Washington, James Monroe, and Lafayette have used the bridge over the Parker River to get from one side to the other.

However, since September of 2007, only MassHighway and S&R Corporation employees have been in the bridge area on Route 1A in Newbury since its closure due to its unsafe condition.

To the surprise of many, the rebuilding process was finished months earlier than expected and the bridge reopened on Monday afternoon (January 5th) in a ribbon-cutting ceremony.

One of the speakers at the ceremony, MassHighway Commissioner Luisa Paiewonsky, praised the project as, “a model for other projects we do,” and, “the one we’ll refer to often in the future.” 

Many who drove over it regularly did not easily accept the idea that the Parker River Bridge even needed repair.  Those who had seen it from below knew differently.

“We weren’t surprised when they said that the bridge needed repairs,” said Barbara Page a resident just up High Road from the bridge who was on hand for the ceremony.  “My husband (Arthur) and I are boaters and when we went underneath the bridge we could see the terrible condition it was in.  You’d swear that you’d never go over the top of it once you saw underneath.”

Another speaker, Representative Harriett Stanley (D-West Newbury), became a convert to the need to repair the bridge in 1997.  She informed me that she “crawled down the rock embankment that year after being told about the problem and took some pictures of the underside of the bridge.” 

Convinced by what she saw, she jokingly described herself from that time on as the, “chief knee breaker,” and, “arm twister,” to see that steps were taken to make the bridge safe.  “I have a MassHighway file on this bridge that is about a foot thick,” she recalled. “That is why having the bridge fixed and reopened makes this a very exciting day for me.”

The other area representative (State Senator Bruce Tarr) was equally pleased.  “This is a time when for once it worked out right and we’re all the better for it.  Everyone who got involved made a difference.”

The general contractor, S&R Corporation of Lowell, received compliments from every speaker.  Their willingness to work extra hours, Saturdays, and in poor weather took months away from the projected reopening in mid-2010. 

S&R project manager Russ Burnham shrugged off the congratulations with, “We did it in less time than usual because we had cooperation from everybody.” 

Russ told me that the work wasn’t completely finished yet.  “We’ve got to put the top down on the road and replace the temporary sidewalks with concrete ones.  We will do the work in the spring and will not need to close the bridge to do it.  We may take a lane but it should be fairly uneventful.”

Newbury assistant harbormaster Terry O’Malley was the first to drive his car over the bridge from the north side once the barriers were removed.  Anticipating some sort of historical explanation for his positioning himself at the head of the line, I asked him about it.  “I just want to get home,” he said smiling.  No more ten mile round-about routes home or to work in his future and thankfully for many others in the area as well.

(To appear in The Town Common on January 14th)

Leave a comment

Filed under 1A Bridge, Bruce Tarr, Harriett Stanley, Luisa Paiewonsky, Newbury, Parker River Bridge, Town Common

Tagged as , , , , , , , , ,

November 19, 2008 · 2:26 pm

Seniors Lead Strong Amesbury Football Team

Kyle Mroz,Kevin Johnston,Coach Thom Connors,Jared Flannigan,Steven Serwon

Kyle Mroz,Kevin Johnston,Coach Thom Connors,Jared Flannigan,Steven Serwon

Amesbury head football coach Thom Connors watched his current senior-laden team play on an undefeated freshmen team.

“After the freshman pulled out a couple of close games late I started to think that they might be something special,” recalled Coach Connors.

One play in particular really got Thom’s attention.  “I saw Jared Flannigan punt the ball, beat everyone else down the field, pick up a fumble, and go in for a score.  I couldn’t help but say, “Wow, we’ve got something here,” after that.”

The leaders of that freshman team moved up to the varsity the next year and some have been two-way starters since.  The wins have followed at the varsity level and the Indians sport a 9-1 record going into the Thanksgiving game with Newburyport.  If they can overcome the Clippers and survive the resulting tiebreaker, they will return to the playoffs.  This time it would be Whittier Tech on Tuesday December 2nd.

Coach Connors commended his senior leaders collectively.  “Right after the season ended last year they were in the weight room. (No easy feat since the Amesbury High facilities were unavailable because of construction.) They got many other players involved.  The key to it all was the numbers that were doing it and the togetherness.”

“I heard all off-season long that the kids were working out at Latitude’s and Nock’s,” said the 1982 Bridgewater State graduate.

Coach Connors told me a little bit about the four seniors pictured above.

“Kyle Mroz (6’1”- 235) plays left tackle and defensive end.  On offense, we’re a left-handed team because of him.  On defense, he not only can jam the inside but also contain on the perimeter.  He is a good student and does have plans to play in college.”

“Kevin Johnston (5’7” – 165) is the Cape Ann League sprint champion and if he gets outside he can really take off.  He has scored many touchdowns.  For an undersized kid he runs well inside.  On defense, he’s in the secondary and probably is the best man-to-man coverage player I’ve ever coached.”

“Jared Flannigan (5’7” – 165) is our quarterback.  One of our favorite plays is the waggle in which he has the option to pass or run.  He’s good at both.  He makes things happen, so we like having the ball in his hands.  He is also a member of our strong defensive secondary.”

“Steve Serwon (6’2” – 220) is a two-way starter at end and linebacker.  When we split him out teams have to acknowledge him.  When we run our power game, he’ll line up at fullback to do some blocking.  He’s our defensive captain at middle linebacker.  He has intercepted a number of passes during his three seasons as a starter.”

Coach Connors has spent a great deal of time with these senior leaders over the past three years of practices.  However, once a game starts he’s seldom close enough to interact with them.  “They’re hardly ever off the field but that’s okay as far as I’m concerned.”

(Submitted to The Town Common on November 19th)

Leave a comment

Filed under Amesbury, Coach Thom Connors, Town Common

Tagged as , , , , , , , ,

November 11, 2008 · 6:43 pm

Andrew Fecteau Leads Triton Golf to 27 Straight

Triton golf captain Andrew Fecteau

Triton golf captain Andrew Fecteau

His list of golf accomplishments stretches three pages long. 

He’s Andrew Fecteau, senior at Triton.

With Andrew on board, the Triton golf team has absolutely dominated the Cape Ann League rolling to 27 straight league wins, going back 2 ½ years, while being CAL champions the last two seasons.

Triton third year golf coach Rich Dube suspects that Andrew’s temperament is key.  “He not only is talented but he has a calm disposition that helps in golf. He could put a bad shot behind him”

Coach Dube told me that the best round he ever saw Andrew play was recently in the Division 2 North Sectionals at Far Corner when he shot a one under par 71 to finish second.

Andrew claims that he first picked up a club when he was about 1 ½ years old.  “My dad (Michael) cut down normal clubs and put the grips on them because I always broke the plastic ones.”

Andrew’s dad learned how to play golf from his brother Phil who is now the head golf coach at Division 2 Pfeiffer College in North Carolina.

Therefore, as Andrew grew up playing golf at Rowley Country Club with his dad he could watch a good golfer in action.  When Andrew reached high school age, they switched to playing at Ould Newbury because that was where the high school matches were played.

“I played golf for fun when I was younger,” recalled Andrew of his times at RCC.  “I never really practiced at the facilities there.  I would probably be a better golfer now if I’d taken the sport more seriously back then.”

Andrew’s interest and abilities in other sports (basketball and baseball) have kept him active away from golf.  He played basketball as a freshman and sophomore and told me that he may show up for tryouts on December 1st.  He is also solidly entrenched in baseball and returns there as the starting catcher.

Therefore, for him to get “serious” about golf involved extra work in the summer.  “The last two summers I have really worked at golf,” said the Newbury resident.  “I practiced a lot and I lifted weights.  Every day I’d hit balls for probably two hours.  It paid off as I started to hit the ball real well and won a couple of tournaments this past summer.”

Andrew is not sure about his future in golf.  He is certain, however, that he wants to go to college in the South where the weather is warm.  His first choice is Duke and the National Honor Society member has applied for early admission – “I visited there and loved the atmosphere.” 

Golf could well take a backseat at Duke although Andrew expects he will still play a lot privately and possibly try to be a walk-on to the golf team his sophomore year.

Until Andrew heads off to college, his most competitive golf could well be with his father at Ould Newbury.  “I probably should let him win,” joked Andrew, “but I can’t.  It’s very competitive.  Last time I played him was in the club championship (which Andrew won).  I’ve enjoyed being his partner in father/son tournaments.”

( Appeared in The Town Common November 19th )

Leave a comment

Filed under Andrew Fecteau, Cape Ann League, Town Common, Triton

Tagged as , , ,

October 25, 2008 · 1:37 am

Nadjee Harrigan Enjoying Bridgton Academy

Is there life after high school? 

Georgetown High graduate (2008) Nadjee Harrigan pictured here is finding out at Bridgton Academy in North Bridgton, Maine.  He is spending the 2008-09 school year at the post-graduate academy. 

I interviewed him recently about life there and he said that after several months on campus he is pleased with the way things are going both academically and athletically.

Nadjee began high school in Lawrence but switched to Georgetown for three years on the school choice program.  “Georgetown is a smaller school and it’s close knit,” he explained.  The teachers know the students better and there’s help available after school.”

Nadjee starred in football, indoor track, and lacrosse for the Royals and was a Cape Ann League All-Star for them and part of a 4×4 relay team that broke the CAL indoor league record.

Nadjee credits GHS guidance counselor Donna Scott with alerting him to Bridgton Academy.  “I was uncertain about college and she suggested going to a prep school.  She received packets from BA and gave them to me.  After visiting here (Bridgton Academy) I knew it was a good fit for me.”

Academically, the approach has been different from high school.  “Many of the class assignments here are long term but there are a lot of quizzes and assignments along the way so I can’t procrastinate.”  Nadjee added that a school subject that hadn’t been a favorite in high school (history) had become his favorite because of the presentation at BA.

Athletically, Nadjee is currently part of the Wolverine football team.

“Nadjee has done a nice job for us, “explained BA football coach Rick Marcella.  “He’s different from most of our players because he told us up front that he has no plan to play football in college.  Almost everyone else on the team does.  He told me that he just wanted to help the team and he has as a wide receiver.”

The talents of the athletes around him at BA have impressed the, 5’7”-160 pound, Nadjee.  “Everyone here has some sort of all-star athletic past.  You have to prove what you can do here and that has made me work hard.”

Nadjee is not only on the football team but also is practicing with the lacrosse team. (Lacrosse is played in the spring but practiced year round.)  “I practice with the lacrosse team on Mondays and Wednesdays before football practice.  I do the skill work with them but not the running.”

Lacrosse concentration will start when the football season ends.  “I will be taking part in showcases where other colleges can see what I can do and get to know me.”  Nadjee would like to end up playing lacrosse for a major college in either North Carolina or South Carolina.

Nadjee expects to major in journalism in college and would like to write sports or cover sports on radio or television when college is over. 

He has won awards for his writing already and did an interview with Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick at Regis College.

“I still have a lot of contact with friends at GHS,” said Nadjee.  “I went home and saw the football team (his brother Tyran is a two-way starter) defeat Murdock.”

Currently, he covers football on the BA athletic website.  Check it out.

(Appeared in the Nov5-Nov11 issue of The Town Common)

Leave a comment

Filed under Bridgton Academy, Nadjee Harrigan, Town Common

Tagged as , , ,

June 10, 2008 · 1:34 am

Athletic Director Dave Dempsey Talks About Triton Athletics

Lack of experience did not prevent Triton High School from hiring Dave Dempsey (pictured above) two years ago to be the special education coordinator or from hiring him last year to be the school’s athletic director.

One of the numerous side effects of tight budgets is the necessity of adding staff that comes cheaply and spreading the staff around that already is in place.

“I interviewed at Triton two years ago wanting to move to the administrative level in special ed after 25 year of being in the trenches with some of the most difficult population in Lynn and Peabody,” explained the 55-year-old Boxford resident in a recent conversation I had with him in his office.

One year later the Triton administration decided to spread Dave a little bit thinner by offering him the athletic director’s job.  By itself, not so bad, but combined with the special ed job not so easy. 

In our interview, Dave spoke often of the need for athletes and coaches to be willing to give more than what is expected of them.  By taking the AD job he set a fine example in that regard.  His willingness to add the AD job to his workload enabled the Triton district to hire a full-time physical education teacher instead of just a part-time one.  That hiring allowed juniors and seniors to have physical education instead of being housed in 50-60 student study halls in the library and cafeteria. 

“Taking on both positions certainly has been a challenge to say the least both time-wise and management-wise,” explained Dave.  He mentioned that in this year alone he had gone through a schedule of 158 special ed meetings. 

Becoming AD at Triton had challenge written all over it.  All you need to know is that last year there was no athletic department or director at Triton.  High user’s fees and significant donations from Viking Heroes paid the bills and the coaches took care of their teams the way they wanted to.

This year there’s a budget of over $400,000 so the money part is less of an issue.  How the programs are run, well that’s Dave’s issue.  He knew right away that organizational concerns would be a priority.  He also knew that his being a newcomer, and there being no department last year, might be problems.  “Change is difficult for everybody,” he understated.

When the changes involved coaches, things turned bitter among some in the Triton community.  “I do not hire and fire coaches,” he added referring to the departures of the football, hockey, and cheerleading coaches.  “Many of our coaches have been here for a long time.”

Dave has a background in coaching.  He coached football, track, and girls’ basketball during a combination of 20+ years at Lynn Classical and Peabody.  “I wasn’t an administrator but I saw what it takes to make athletics function.”

Some of the changes he’s made at Triton include; (1) bringing athletes, coaches and parents together before each season to hear the academic and athletic expectations from the principal, athletic director and coach, (2) advertising coaching positions two seasons ahead of schedule, and (3) bringing players and coaches together for group pictures the Saturday before the season starts.

Close to completion, and subject to school committee approval, is; (1) a handbook for coaches and (2) an evaluation tool for evaluating coaching performance.

A bumper sticker at Triton reads, “Winning takes place in the off-season.”  With that in mind, the remodeled weight room should be a busy place this summer.  “We expect to have it reopened on July 7th and with some new equipment,” said Dave.  “The new football and hockey coaches are putting together a summer workout program for all athletes.  The weight room will be available for eight weeks on Monday through Thursday for two hours each day.”

Dave also has plans for next school year.  Some of these plans include; (1) setting up a Homework Club at the middle school that would involve academic assistance as well as supervised physical activity, (2) evening study halls for freshman athletes several nights each week, and (3) ten to twelve athletes in uniform traveling monthly to the three elementary schools in the district to read to kids there and talk about sports.

As Dave described the dual role he has at Triton, it was easy to see how overwhelming it could be.  He insisted on telling me how important his secretaries, Karen Atherton (athletics) and Sandy Soucy (special ed) are.  “They really keep things running,” he explained.  “They both handle the paperwork.  They care tremendously about Triton and people need to know how valuable they are.  I couldn’t function without them.”

 ( Produced for The Town Common for publication on June 18th )

 

Leave a comment

Filed under Town Common, Triton

Tagged as , ,

June 2, 2008 · 1:28 am

Georgetown High School Seniors Discuss Sports

Jay Nemeroff and Katherine Falzareno (pictured above) have both been very active high school athletes at Georgetown High School.

Jay played four years of football, three years of wrestling, and two seasons of lacrosse.  Katherine did four years of soccer, two seasons of basketball, and three years of lacrosse.

 “My dad played baseball in high school and rugby in college,” explained Jay.  “He encouraged me at a young age to get involved in sports.”

Katherine’s mother saw the social advantages of sports.  “My mom thought that being in sports would be an easy way for me to meet friends,” said Katherine. 

Katherine made friends and those friendships continued even into her high school summers.  “Team members usually went together to soccer, basketball, or lacrosse camps.”

Jay spent his high school summers working at Camp Rotary in Boxford.  “That kept me from going to any of the football workouts but I stayed in shape at camp.”

Neither found it easy being a student and an athlete in high school.  “It was tough sometimes especially during wrestling season because practices were later,” said Jay.  “You really had to have time management to get schoolwork done.”

Katherine also struggled getting schoolwork completed when practices/games were in the evening.  “I realized that it was important for me to get work done in school before practice.  I sometimes did work during lunch.”

Jay was comfortable relying on his good memory when it came to academic assignments and sports schedules.  “I’m not a big fan of writing things down,” he explained.  He did admit to me that even though he always knew when the bus would leave to go to an away game he wasn’t always aware of the Royals’ opponent until someone on the bus told him.

Katherine believed that there was a pattern to schedules and assignments.  “It is kind of like second nature to remember what needs doing because I’ve been doing it for so long. I did have my own assignment book that I used at times.”

Jay begins at the University of Vermont in the fall and will be majoring in psychology.  Besides the academic opportunities, Jay added that the good skiing at UVM was an influence.  “Skiing wasn’t the deciding factor, I don’t want my parents to get mad at me, but it definitely helped my decision.”

Katherine opted for a small college (Division 3), in a warmer climate, where she could continue with sports – Guilford College in Greensboro, North Carolina.  “I have been in contact with the soccer and lacrosse coaches there.  They know I’m interested.  I hope to play both sports.  I like the structure that sports give me so I hope to continue playing in college.”

Jay did not plan to try out for any Vermont college teams but expected to stay active.  “It will be kind of weird having a lot of free time.  I expect to get involved in intramurals.  I’ll have to come up with my own structure now.”

(Prepared for The Town Common and likely to appear in that weekly publication in late June or early July.)

Leave a comment

Filed under Georgetown, Town Common

Tagged as , , ,

June 2, 2008 · 1:20 am

Triton Regional High School Seniors Discuss Sports

(Triton Regional High School seniors Amanda Desjardins and Kyle Devenish)

Kyle Devenish grew up playing whatever sport was going on in the neighborhood at the time.  Soccer was especially big,” he recalled.  “I was always part of youth leagues in elementary and middle school.”

On the other hand, Amanda Desjardins ended up playing field hockey and lacrosse by chance.  “An indoor field hockey league needed an extra player so out of the blue I joined as an 8th grader and it became my favorite sport,” said Amanda.  “I got into lacrosse because my mum told me when I was a freshman to pick a spring sport and I chose lacrosse.”

Amanda played four years of field hockey and lacrosse.  For Kyle it was four years of soccer, basketball, and track.

Kyle admitted that sports forced structure on him that helped academically.  “I managed my time better in season.  I would do all of my homework in school, if possible, in studies because I knew that my time would be limited after a practice or a game.  When I was in between seasons, I sometimes put the schoolwork off figuring that I would get the it done at home.  That didn’t always work out.”

Amanda found the in school studies valuable as well.  “It is tough to find time at home after night or away games.  The hardest time I had academically was my freshman year.  We had projects with partners and because of my sports schedule it was difficult to get together with a partner.”

Kyle credits his mother for helping him organize his practice/game sports schedule.  “My mum has a big calendar on the wall which is color coded.  My things are in green.  My brother Shawn (sophomore) does football and track and his sports events are on there in a different color.”

Both seniors said that they made use of the school assignment book.  They also mentioned that they have cell phones with calendars. 

Kyle will be going to UNH and expects to study civil or environmental engineering.  “I hope to become a professional engineer.”

Amanda, also attending UNH, is looking to get a degree in medical laboratory science.  “I could start out doing volunteer work in city hospitals before moving into paid employment.”

Amanda realizes that athletics will be a lot different for her in college.  “I won’t be trying out for any of the teams there.  I do expect to go to the gym a lot and I plan to stay with running.  I may try club sports.  I will definitely miss the structure of high school sports.”

Kyle’s athletic career may continue at UNH.  The skilled triple jumper could perform for the Wildcats in track.  “(Triton track) Coach Colbert is going to contact the UNH coach.  I have signed up with the NCAA clearinghouse.” 

Even if Kyle doesn’t make the track team, he plans to take part in soccer and basketball intramurals.  “I’d go crazy if I sat around too much.”

(Prepared for The Town Common and likely to appear in that weekly publication in late June or early July.)

Leave a comment

Filed under Town Common, Triton

Tagged as , ,

May 27, 2008 · 1:03 am

Amesbury High School Seniors Discuss Sports

(Mollie Sydlowski and Katie Hathaway of Amesbury High School)

Mollie Sydlowski and Katie Hathaway have been three-sport varsity members for all four years at Amesbury High School. Mollie played soccer, basketball, and tennis while Katie did field hockey, basketball, and softball.

Both girls credited teammates early in their varsity careers for setting good examples.  “I played with a lot of excellent players,” explained Mollie.  “I watched them and saw how they managed sports and academics.”

“Upper classmen took us under their wings,” added Katie.  “The routine was school, practice, home, and homework.”

The girls were into sports long before high school.  “I began playing basketball in first grade and softball in third,” said Katie.  “I never played field hockey until my freshman year but loved it right away.”

Sports were a neighborhood thing for Katie early on.  “My parents didn’t play sports but it was the thing to do in our neighborhood.  Most of the neighborhood kids were boys but I played sports against them.”

Mollie started soccer and basketball in the early grades too.  “I played tennis in first and second grade but took it on as an organized sport when I was a freshman.”

Mollie’s dad got her interested in sports at that early age.  “He coached me in soccer and basketball through seventh grade.”

“I love playing sports,” says Katie, “but there have been times when I have wanted to be off doing other things.  My concern now is how I will handle not having sports.”

Mollie has similar feelings.  “I used to look up into the stands when I was playing basketball and think of how nice it must be to be a spectator.  But once the season ended I wished that I could still be on the court.”

Both girls use planners to keep their busy athletic/academic schedules under control.

“I can’t go anywhere without mine,” said Mollie.  “It has everything I have to do and where things are happening.”  When asked when she started using a planner she sheepishly admitted, “fifth grade.”

Katie got into the planner routine a little later.  “I started my sophomore year.  The key for me is to focus on what I’m doing at the time whether it is practice or schoolwork.”

Mollie moves on the Holy Cross in September.  She expects to major in biology and pre-med.  If things go well there she hopes to go to medical school and become a doctor.

Academics will take precedence at Holy Cross.  “I expect the curriculum to be very rigorous but I still hope to play intramurals or club sports.”

Katie will be going to Norwich University in Vermont.  She hopes that the education she gets there will enable her to serve as an officer in the Coast Guard.

“I want to play softball and I want to play basketball,” said Katie.  “There will be a lot to handle at first.  I will have to see how it goes.”

(Written for The Town Common and will probably be published in that weekly publication in late June)

Leave a comment

Filed under Amesbury, Cape Ann League, Town Common

Tagged as , , ,

May 26, 2008 · 10:15 pm

Ipswich High School Senior Athletes Discuss Sports

(Ipswich High School senior athletes Tess Falabella and Jon Loeb)

“I just can’t imagine not doing sports,” explained recent IHS graduate Tess Falabella. “I just love being active.”

For classmate Jon Loeb the sentiments were similar, “I always found some sports activity to do even if it wasn’t an organized sport.”

Tess was involved with soccer, basketball, and outdoor track at IHS.  Jon did indoor track and tennis for four years and soccer for three years and cross-country this year.

Tess played on boys’ teams during her elementary school days.  “In some places coaches don’t allow girls to be on boy’s teams but that was not my experience in Ipswich.”

Both athletes were coached early on by their fathers.  “My father was usually the coach for soccer,” explained Jon. 

“My dad coached me in basketball when I was little,” recalled Tess.  “I was the only girl on the team. I also played soccer with Jon’s dad as the coach and enjoyed it a lot.”

Both athletes were able to handle the combined demands of sports and academics.  “There were plenty of late nights especially during basketball season,” said Tess.  “Time management was huge.  I loved sports enough so that I made it work.”

Besides sports, Jon took part in school productions, band, and worked on weekends.  “You just work on schoolwork afterwards and get as much as you can done.”

Jon is going to go to Tulane and Tess to Clemson.  They are both realistic enough to know that playing sports for either of those Division 1 schools is unlikely.

“I’ll stay active with the intramural club sports,” said Jon.  “I’m hoping that I’ll have more time to focus on academics my freshman year.  I’ll be preparing for the rest of my life.”

Tess is ready to try a new sport at Clemson as well as continue to be active in a familiar one.  “I have been in contact with the rowing coach,” she said.  “I may be able to row for a novice team my freshman year and maybe that will develop into something.  I will definitely be trying out for club soccer.”

Playing soccer in Ipswich was special for Tess.  “Ending was hard,” she explained.  “There were eight seniors on the team and we had played together for 12 years.  We were a close-knit group and had special t-shirts made.”

Jon made mention of his enjoyment in being on the tennis team.  “The coach (Tony Moschetto) is a standup comedian in real life and practiced his material on us.  We may not have been the best team around but we probably had more fun than any other team.”

“There was great community support for the athletic teams in Ipswich, maybe more so than in other towns,” said Tess.  “A lot of people attended the games and followed how we were doing.  At school, many teachers would ask how things were going and knew about the teams.” 

(Written for The Town Common and likely to appear in that weekly paper in late June or early July)

 

 

Leave a comment

Filed under Ipswich, Town Common

Tagged as ,