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| Even if you Were Not a Player (2010 Softball)
Grayson Keith
Gulotta- Topics D
Sports Moment
My sports moment happened just
recently. It started early on Monday morning at 6:30am. I remember setting five
alarms before going to sleep the night prior and snoozing through three of them
until I finally mustered the strength to lift myself out of bed. I took a
freezing cold shower to wake myself up and was quickly on my way over to the
Jack. I arrived 15 minutes early because I knew I would need to mentally
prepare for what I was about to do, as well as warm my body up for the beating
it was about to take. Mr. Lewton was in waiting for me when I got there, along
with Arwen, John and Josiah. I remember thinking that this little crew we had
was small in numbers but rich in spirit. As 6:30 crept closer and closer I
actually became more calm and anxious to get started. I set my watch, took a
quick sip of water, nodded to my three companions, and we were off.
Running
a marathon was something I never thought I would do. It never crossed my mind to
put my body through a grueling test like that, especially because I was never
excited about running anything over 100 yards. This was my mindset up until Mr.
Lewton announced the Remembrance Run at meeting two weeks earlier. As he
explained the challenge and the reason he was running so far, I knew I needed
to be a part of it. The run was in remembrance of Sargent First Class Andrew
Weathers and the Boston Marathon bombings. Honoring a fallen hero and suffering
myself for those in Boston two years ago that fell victim to terrorist acts was
an easy choice for me. I made the decision that morning to join Mr. Lewton in
his effort to not only raise money, but also make a personal sacrifice out of
respect for those who lost their lives.
I didn’t
prepare at all for the marathon. Reflecting back on it now, that may not have
been the best approach, but I wasn’t going to let that hold me back from
completing this challenge. In the week leading up to the 26.2 miles, I ran a
mere 6 miles. Although a daunting thought I still managed to click START on my
watch and get my legs moving. Campus loop after campus loop went by and the
miles started accumulating. I began to feel confidence fill my heart, body,
lungs and thankfully my legs. By 8am we had run 9 miles together as a group. We
kept track of this by drawing a tick mark on our arms every lap. This visual
representation of my progress gave me a sense of motivation I later would be
very thankful for. By 8am I felt great, I had 9 miles under my belt…but I had
to go to class. I ran up the stairs of Math Science to my Psychology classroom
and paced around the classroom with adrenaline. Sitting down was the hardest
part. All I could think about was running another lap, cramping up, being out
there with Mr. Lewton running. Luckily my teacher noticed my anxiousness and
allowed me to leave if I answered a question. I made sure I answered thoroughly
and made my way down the stairs to cram a few more laps in before I had to sit
down again for Monday meeting. I squeezed two more miles in before finding my
seat in Allen Theater. Once again the anxiousness kicked in. Thoughts of being
out on the road tempted me, but I pushed through. Despite the rainy weather, It
was Mountain Day and my excitement grew to a whole new level. This pleasant
announcement allotted me the time and freedom I needed to finish this
challenge.
I booked
it out the side door of Allen and was back running within seconds of meeting
ending. The next three hours were a gut check for me. I had never pushed my
body and mind as far as I did during those 15 remaining miles. Thankfully the
people around me were going through a similar struggle, and for Josiah the
exact struggle. Every two miles we would stop at the “Hydration Station” where
Mrs. Lewton would meet us with Skittles, water and other little snacks to keep
our bodies working. As she cheered us on to the next mile we immediately
thought about the next quick stop at the “Hydration Station”. As the miles
wound down, our bodies did too. I knew that my mind would soon have to take
over control to keep me going. Every miles I would think ahead and visualize
the stretch of road I would be encountering. Each hill, turn, flat and decline
were ingrained in my brain. I would look forward 100 yards and say to myself “OK,
make it too the tree and go from there”. Each checkpoint I set it my head was
reason for celebration. It helped shrink the size of the mile loop down. At
this point I had 6.2 miles left. Mr. Lewton had already finished and Josiah and
I were on our own. Thoughts of Andrew Weathers, fallen heros and the events of
the Boston Marathon bombing rushed into my head every time I felt doubt. Every
time I felt like quitting I thought about Mr. Lewton who was waiting at the
finish line for me, and I could always look to me left and see Josiah, going
through the same struggle as me. As I curved the corner of Stanley Dorm and the
“Hydration Station” my legs took off. The .2 miles of jogging I had left
quickly turned into a sprint. I was filled with life as the finish line came
into my sight. Sprinting fast across the finish line I was overwhelmed with
joy. Joy because I didn’t have to run another mile, joy because I had finished
something that seemed so impossible, joy because of the reasons I ran the
marathon and joy because I pushed my body to a place it never had been and set
a new bar for y mental toughness. It left me feeling like I could now do
anything, no matter how impossible it may seem. Running this marathon was a
defining moment for me, through the painful aftermath of sore muscles and
blistered feet, I still felt joy because I had learned so much about myself in
the process.
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Sometimes the right combination of players and coaches are assembled to become a team: A group of people who are on the same page and pursue excellence by pushing to reach their potential in a worth while endeavor. This year’s softball team had a great time laughing at every practice, and occasionally we even laughed during games. My advisee Arianna Daemi was at the plate, and she hit a pop-up off a fastball in a game against Stoneleigh Burnham. She ran towards first not knowing where the yellow sphere was: The ball came down directly on her head halfway up the baseline and I almost p’ed my pants with unabashed laughter. While enjoying ourselves, through out the season we out scored the opposition by a total of 100 runs in a mere 11 games. We are the Western New England Champions and it is so cool. Thanks girls: Thanks parents: Thanks fans: Thanks Berkshire: As I said in my last write-up of the season, “Educators are in the Business of making memories: Mission Accomplished:”
ReplyDeleteA couple weeks after the passing of my father in 2009, my family and friends had a funeral service in memory of my fathers well lived life. A challenging day in which I needed to put on mask to help show strength and resilient to help motivate and comfort my mother and sister. The service was on a Sunday and I was indeed going to miss my soccer match in order to attend my fathers service. Throughout the whole process of my father dying, I remember soccer being my outlet. My outlet to let free of my bonged up emotions and to let go. It was hard to miss the game but I felt it was necessary to be there for my mother and sister. Mid way through the mass, the doors in the back of the church creaked open and in walked about 18 players all dressed up in their uniforms. I did not cry much in the beginning of the ceremony, but as soon as I saw those blue uniforms and the faces of my teammates, tears of comfort and gratitude came down the side of my face. After finishing up their game they came to support one of their teammates, one who needed them to pick him up and dust off the dirt of his back. After the service was over and as we brought the casket outside to put in the car, my teammate were lined up on both sides of the door, awaiting for my father's casket to pass. Some were crying while others smiled in remembrance of the great memories they shared with my father. As I got in the car with the tears still running down my face, both players and coaches waited until everyone else left and waited until I left. I had played with that team for 10 years now, and we have no said a word about that day. Maybe out of respect or in honor of my father, or because we all know that no matter what happens we are a team and that a team has ever players back. Fortunately my team had my back when I needed them, when the time class for me to return the favor, I will do so with gratitude and thankfulness.
ReplyDeleteJames Coyle
D Period
Loondy Lopez
ReplyDeleteMr.Gullota
Topics in American History
April 22,2015
In the split of a second things could change and one o your worst nightmares could come to a reality. It was the football's team first time on the field against an opponent. The football jamboree at the Gunnery school and Coach Quinn looks down the sideline and says "Loondy you're in, right tackle!” I ran on the field, excited because I was finally going to get to exert all my energy on to someone else and hit him as hard as I can. The first play I did just that and blew by the kid who was guarding me. The second time wasn't as lucky atlas for me, the center hiked the ball and I shoot out my three-point stance and engaged with the kid in front of me. I overpowered him off the stance and pushed him about three yards back and he ripped down. As I'm falling I can't exactly remember if it was just the way I fell or if a second kid hit the side of my knee as he was falling as well. All I can remember is hearing three pops and yelling " F____ my knee!!!” I got up and limped off the field not thinking much of it because the pain was not excruciating so I just thought it was a hyperextension or anything less severe. Turns out, that flash of a second put me on the baseball bench for a whole year.
At the age of six, I was an aspiring right-winger on Skaneateles’s all boys Mite A hockey team. Being a small town of approximately 2,000 people, we often had to travel to play games, going to Syracuse or Binghamton on a weekly basis. One particularly memorable game day, my mother and I found ourselves in Syracuse early prior to the game. We decided to stop at Dick’s Sporting Goods to stall, at which point I found myself face to face with an amazing new creation: Heelys. Sprinting over to my mom with the incredible product clutched in my hand, I begged her to buy them for me. Initially, she said that she would buy them and I would get them for my birthday-in approximately two months; this was not good enough for me, so we struck a deal: if I scored in the game, I would be able to take home the Heelys. It is important to note that I was yet to score my first goal, making this an unlikely victory for me.
ReplyDeleteAs the game rolled around, I found myself in the third period having not scored a single goal. Constantly looking in the stands at my mom for motivation, I had come up empty handed: until I found myself in front of the net with the puck on my stick. I was so overcome with excitement that rather than aiming for the goal and shooting, I wheeled around to show my mom. Subsequently, my stick spun with me, and the puck blasted off its curved edge and into the goal. Appalled and triumphant, I skated straight for the boards, towards my mom, and screamed “HEELYS!” at the top of my voice.
I ended up being awarded not only the joy my first goal and the Heelys, but also the decision that I was going to transition to playing goalie which I ended up played for the following 10 years.
Julia Allyn
I have had many great sports moments throughout my life, but one particular moment stands out from the rest. It was the Semi-Final game of New England's and my teammates and I were set to play against our biggest rival, the Hotchkiss bearcats, or whatever they are. Earlier in the season we had beaten them 4-2 at their home field, which was a very big win for us and now playing them for a second time everyone on the team knew it was going to be an even bigger challenge. Everyone was watching the game from Berkshire and Hotchkiss and the environment was crazy. The game was fast paced and back and forth with both teams having very good chances as the game progressed. I had a chance to score on a near post header which just went wide and I felt that that one opportunity was not the only chance I would get that game. During the second half, Justin Donawa scored to put us up with I believe a little less than half an hour to go. But his goal was soon cancelled out by a rather lucky shot from the Hotchkiss right back from around 25 yards to tie it up sending the game into overtime.
ReplyDeleteOvertime was the same back and forth with numerous chances to seal a victory with a goal. As time began to wind down we had a series of two corner kicks which the ball hit off the back of one of the Hotchkiss players sending us to take another corner with less than ten seconds left. As Mutaya jogged to get the ball he quickly placed it for the corner and then sent a cross into the box. I remember calling off Tanner Tomasi'14, who was our captain that year, and hitting the ball as hard as I could back across to the other side of the goal where the ball went into the net and the horn sounded. I can hardly remember what happened after because of how tired and excited I was at the same time running around the field not knowing what to do as the Berkshire fan section of students came storming onto the field. This was a great moment for me because it sent my team to the final for our attempt at a second New England Championship in a row and it was also my only goal of the season. This moment taught me about how amazing moments can occur in the blink of an eye, and to never stop trying to make a difference no matter how many times you fail.
Stephen "Coobe" DePietto
Growing up all of my friends who played soccer watched the game, supported teams, and wore the uniforms. I had never had the channels to watch the games and I found more pleasure in playing outside and practicing as opposed to watching people play on television.
ReplyDeleteIn the past, because of the teams I played against and the kids who were hailed to be the best, I had come to understand that soccer was more about the being the best athlete. The tallest and fastest kids tended to be the ones that coaches wanted the most. However, as time went on the game began to change and when I had been introduced to Barcelona F.C, a Spanish club, my opinion on soccer had changed completely. I saw the game in a different way. Barcelona was, and is to this day comprised of players who have a high level of technical ability. I saw the likes of Lionel Messi, Andres Iniesta, and Xavi Hernandez all of which stand at 5’7 and dominate the game.
Seeing players with the same stature and body type as me at the highest level of soccer was a game-changer. I had always heard I was too short to play or not strong enough to have an impact. These players quickly became my role models and watching their playing style and their positive influence in a game was inspirational. I wanted to implement every aspect of the way they played into the way I played.
To this day I am still an avid Barcelona fan and I throughout the years watching them play and influence the sport with their system known as “Tiki Taka” has positively influenced not only the way I play but my love for the game.
-Komar Paiz
Growing up all of my friends who played soccer watched the game, supported teams, and wore the uniforms. I had never had the channels to watch the games and I found more pleasure in playing outside and practicing as opposed to watching people play on television.
DeleteIn the past, because of the teams I played against and the kids who were hailed to be the best, I had come to understand that soccer was about being the best athlete. The tallest and fastest kids tended to be the ones that coaches wanted the most. However, as time went on the game began to change and when I had been introduced to Barcelona F.C, a Spanish club, my opinion on soccer changed completely. I saw the game in a different way. Barcelona was, and is to this day comprised of players who have a high level of technical ability. I saw the likes of Lionel Messi, Andres Iniesta, and Xavi Hernandez all of which stand at 5’7 and dominate the game.
Seeing players with the same stature and body type as me at the highest level of soccer was a game-changer. I had always heard I was too short to play or not strong enough to have an impact. These players quickly became my role models and watching their playing style and their positive influence in a game was inspirational. I wanted to implement every aspect of the way they played into the way I played.
To this day I am still an avid Barcelona fan and I throughout the years watching them play and influence the sport with their system known as “Tiki Taka” has positively influenced not only the way I play but my love for the game.
-Komar Paiz
One of my greatest sports moments was scoring my 1000th point at the Pomfret holiday tournament over winter break. We were playing Deerfield, who we ended up beating by about 40 points. During the second half of the game, I was more focused on sharing the ball and helping to set up my teammates considering the lead we had and I had completely forgot that I was so close to scoring 1000 points. During one dead ball, Coach Smith called me over and said something along the lines of, “Kris… you only need five more points to get to 1000, what are you doing?” I laughed and promised him that I would get it done. During our next couple of possessions, I managed to finally hit a three after watching three or four roll around and out of the basket slowly. I only needed two more points and they happened over the course of the next 30 seconds after that. I managed to get a steal off of a pass and a Deerfield player chased me up the left side of the court. A quick crossover to the right helped distance myself from her and I had a clear lane to the basket. I managed to flip it up off the backboard for two points. The whistle blew and my teammates rushed the floor. I had finally scored my 1,000 points.I remember hugging Coach Smith and laughing about what he had said just a couple of minutes ago.
ReplyDeleteWe went on to win the tournament, a task that seemed impossible during my last three seasons. We beat Pomfret first round, Deerfield second, and went on to defeat Marianapolis in the championship. We had finally done it and Coach Smith couldn't be more proud.
Kristalyn Baisden
My greatest sports moment came early this winter in Washington, Ct on the campus of the Gunnery school. Expectations for Berkshire hockey this year were low for most. We were not ranked in the top 15 in New England in many of the most well regarded hockey journals in the country. Graduating 15 seniors the previous year we were very young, but talented, and most have not experienced the intensity and level of play that New England prep hockey offers year in year out. We started the year extremely well, beating a tough Albany Academy team, then playing a very competitive Taft squad, which we lost a tight 2-1 game to. Our 3rd contest would be at Gunnery. Gunnery is regarded as one of top high school hockey programs in the country, and going to their extremely hostile rink is a very difficult task. Our goal for this game was to play exceptional defense and essentially pack it in to counter their high powered forward group. We did exactly that. The game was an absolute war. In the 1st period we were outshot 13-2, playing a majority in our own end. Gunnery came out flying but we were able to contain them and leave the period tied at 0. The 2nd was the same way, guys just sacrificing the body to block a shot or make a hit in our end to get the puck out of the zone. The 3rd period is were the game would be decided. We stuck with the same defensive mindset and tried to contain them as well as we could. Eventually the bears would break through, as Barclay Gammill was able to beat the NHL prospect gunnery goalie, Trevin Kozlowski, with 5 minutes left in the game. This moment was absolutely incredible, the whole team celebrated and we now had a chance at taking down Gunnery. The last five minutes were chaotic, as were in our zone for practically the whole time. Guys were just blocking shot after shot just doing anything humanly possible to win a game. With 2 minutes left Gunnery NHL prospect, McKay Flananga, had a golden chase to level the score. I don’t think I will ever forget this save in my whole life. As a Gunnery forward shot it off my far bad from the faceoff dot, I could not control the rebound and it bounced strait to there defensemen ready to unload a 90 MPH one-timer from the other faceoff dot. I was able to slide across in spilt and snag the puck out of mid air. This was the biggest save of my life, and Id be lucky to have another as good as this one. It was the best moment of my life to this point. On the following in zone face-off Matt Koopman was able to score on the empty Gunnery net from our goal line to seal the win. Its hard to put into the words of feeling stopping all 35 shots I faced and taking down a New England powerhouse when absolutely no one expected you to win. It was just incredible and I wish I could do it again next year more then anything.
ReplyDeleteSpencer Cookson
It was my first year at Berkshire and I was apart of the Varsity cross country team. The fall sports season was coming to a close in a couple weeks and we had one of our last races that saturday. I was in the best shape of the season and was expecting to run one of my best times all year in this race. The Berkshire cross country team as well as three other schools lined up at the starting line in wait for the gunshot to signal the start of the race. Needless to say there were a ton of runners in this race. The grass was slick and muddy from the rain the night before. The person to signal the race raised his hand with the starting gun and spoke the following words, “runners ready?” Before I knew it the gun shot off. BANG. A stampede of runners sprinted across the soaking wet grassy field in hope to be in the front of the pack. I was one the the leading runners for the first 10 seconds of the race until I felt another runners foot clip the back of my shoe, which came flying off. I immediately stopped and searched for my shoe through the stampede but it was nowhere to be found. I froze, not knowing what to do until I looked over to the side to see my dad motioning me to run and forget about the shoe. So I did. I sprinted back up to the front of the pack and began joking with some other runners about my tactic of running with a single shoe. I got countless strange looks by fellow runners and spectators as they saw I had only one shoe on one foot and a soaking wet muddy sock on the other. The adrenaline of running through the muddy, slippery terrain drove me to run one of my best races that day. After 3.1 miles of running with a single shoe I crossed the finish line in disbelief of what I just did. Soon after, I felt immense pain in my lower back from the uneven running surface. I could hardly couple walk due to the pain and limped over to my parents who congratulated me on my fantastic race despite having one shoe on. I will never forget that crazy race I ran that day.
ReplyDelete- James Donovan
During my last year at Fay School, I had the opportunity to play on the Varsity Basketball team as a point guard. One of our very first games I was the starting point guard. I was so excited to be able to play, especially starting point guard. My grandparents were coming to the game to watch me play. They were so proud of me. The day before the big game we had late practice. The team got down to the court and started shooting around and warming up. Ten minutes into practice we started conditioning, and that’s when tragedy stuck. My shoelace was untied and we were running backwards and I tripped on my show lace and landed on my bottom with my hands beside me. Pain shot up my arm. It slowly started to subside. I was fine, just a little shock I thought. So I continued to play and practice. The pain kept getting worse but I kept pushing through it. Eventually my wrist started to swell severely and bruise pretty badly. My coach made me go see the trainer and to no surprise I had to go to the ER to get my wrist x-rayed. The x-rays revealed that I had fractured my wrist in two places and wouldn’t be able to play basketball anytime soon. Darn. My chances of ever starting as point guard were diminished. I went to the game the next day in my jersey ready to cheer on the team with my bright pink cast.
ReplyDelete- Haleigh
Out of all my important and crucial memories from sports, the one that will never forget happened this winter. Wrapping up the end of basketball season, there were only three games left and we were ranked as the number one seed in Class B. The first of the three games left was against Marianapolis Prep who we previously beat in the Pomfret Tournament Championship. We were expecting this to be one of the hardest games of the season, especially after losing Mr. Smith just the day before. Marianapolis was coming for revenge but we have much for then that in our hearts, we were playing for coach. The whistle blows and the ball is up in the air, I beat her to the ball. First possession is Berkshire’s. The first six minutes was a back and forth ball game, filled with great defense and better offense. Just when I started to hit my rhythm about eight minutes in, Jeanna set a screen for me and I cut to the basket with the ball. I planted my right foot in the ground and heard the loudest pop that I will never forget. I let out a scream as I planted my left foot to finish my lay up. Then dropping to the floor in agony, screaming uncontrollably. As an athlete you deal with injuries all the time, but when it’s serious you just know. I was rolling all over the ground as the crowd was watching. I couldn’t breathe because I was in so much pain. I was clenching my knee hard to my stomach, hoping that I never had to move from that very position. My coaches and the trainer ran over to me, and calmed down my breathing. I was just lying on my side with my eyes shut so tight because I didn’t want it to be real. A couple days later I found out that I tore my ACL and partially tore my meniscus. At first I did not understand why all this had to happen to me at once, but now exactly two months after my injury I have realized that this has paved the way for my future. I have learned the true definition of hard work and that you never know what you have until it’s gone. I know when I come back that I will be better than ever from this very experience.
ReplyDelete- Samone DeFreese
One of my most memorable moments as an athlete took place when I was in 8th grade. I played goalie on a select hockey team called Boston Advantage that was compiled of local Boston kids under the age of 14. Each weekend we would travel to various cities such as Detroit, Philadelphia and Toronto to play tournaments. One weekend we traveled to Connecticut to play two exhibition games against a team from Sweden, a game on Friday night and a game Saturday morning. My teammates and I anticipated the team to be a hand picked team from a certain area in Sweden; similar to how our team was made up. Friday night we were in the locker room getting dressed for our first game and our coach walked in. He came in to tell us that the team we were playing was the U16 Swedish National team and that these kids were the best under 16 year old hockey players in all of Sweden. I vividly remember to this day my coach saying sarcastically “Hey, Sweden isn’t that big”. Also, since families in Connecticut were hosting the Swedish kids, we were forced to play by the Swedish rules. The one major rule difference was that off puck moving picks were legal. Which basically meant any man on the ice could be checked even if he didn’t have the puck. About 5 minutes into the first period one of our best players was skating the puck up the wall and was checked over the boards into our bench. Right then I knew that it was going to be a long weekend. Our entire team was extremely frustrated because of the rule adaptation and the lack of respect that the Swedes showed us. The game was incredibly chippy because we were not used to the rule change. With about 3 minutes left in the game a fight broke out in the corner between two kids. A Swedish defenseman came skating in from the point as if he was going to get involved. I skated out of my net and gave him a firm shove. He didn’t see me so he flew up in the air and landed on his back. The referee ejected me from the game even though I was the only goalie that traveled that weekend. After losing 5-2 the first night, spirits were not very high. We knew we would have played them closer if we had used American rules and if the referees called a single call in our favor. The next day we came out eager to beat this team because of the lack of sportsmanship they had shown the night before. 3 periods of hockey later, I had tallied 55 saves and we had won the game 3-2. After shaking hands with the Swedes they all took their gloves off and wiped their hands on the ice as if they were wiping our “American germs” off. I rarely experience the feeling I had after beating this team. My coach played many years in the NHL and after the second game he said, “I wouldn’t doubt that at least half of that team will play in the NHL one day”. The mixture between talent and cockiness of the U16 Swedish National team made winning feel so much sweeter.
ReplyDeleteBrendan Moloy
At the age of six I was recruited to attend a soccer academy, Manchester United, which would not only improve my soccer abilities but also potentially play for the first team one day. As a young lad I did not quite understand the significance of these aspirations. I grew up in the academy not knowing any different than the structured soccer the coaches had trained me. On the positive side, the structured side of the academy developed the technical aspect of my play immensely, however my creativity was being compressed inside and I couldn’t express myself on the pitch. Any soccer player would know that creativity is an important component to the definition of a certain individual. When I came to America this would all change, it gave me a chance to change my style of play and I could be whomever I wanted. The soccer team here at Berkshire helped me to unleash my creativity that had been hidden away for so long. It was hard at first, as I had other aspects that I had to adapt to such as homework, social life and creating a daily routine; however, once I made my way onto the soccer pitch, or field as they like to call it over here, the new me could express whatever I desired. Due to the support of great teammates and a great coach, combined with a competitive schedule and a team spirit like no other, I was able to reveal my true colours through soccer and exploit my soccer abilities. I know that without all of these important pieces, I would not have been able to accomplish what I have today, not just individually, but most importantly, as a team. Although my true family are thousands of miles away across the world, I knew I had been adopted by a new family, a brotherhood that I would feel comfortable in; even as a nervous, chubby fourteen year old alone, in the United States for the first time. Whilst writing this I thought it was important to recognize the family feature of the soccer team, something that has been developed for years now. Personally, I think it has been crucial to the team’s success and something that has especially touched my heart. I have never experienced the family side of any team before, but I now know that it is vital to any team’s success and it is something that will be sorely missed next year.
ReplyDelete- Jack Harrison
Throughout my childhood my parents put me in as many sports as they possibly could, trying to bring out some sort of competitive spirit in me, which still has yet to come out. By far, my favorite sport was cheerleading. When I was ten we moved to Connecticut, cheerleading was not very popular and the nearest training gym was about an hour and a half away from my house. Hoping that I would fall in love with a different sport, that was much closer to my house, my parents decided to sign me up for tennis lessons. I was furious but decided to attend anyways because I thought tennis skirts were cute. When I arrived at my first lesson there was one instructor and five other kids my age. The instructor lined us all up next to each other on one side of the net and then he stood on the other side and tossed balls to us one at a time. When it was my turn to hit the ball, I swung as hard as I could and missed. The racquet flew out of my hands and hit the boy who was standing next to me in the face. I ended up breaking his nose and my parents decided that tennis was not the sport for me. The next day I went to a cheerleading gym and joined the “Twisters” squad. I was sorry for the kid, but thanked him because he was the reason I got to go back to cheerleading.
ReplyDelete- Emily Czajkowski
Being on the Varsity Volleyball team since a freshman developed an emotional attachment to the sport, that I never had before. My freshman year we were beat out in the quarter finals, my sophomore year we didn't make it to New England, and my junior year we lost in the semifinals. My senior year I was ready to win it all. In my opinion, I didn't think it was the strongest nor the most athletic, but it was definitely the most united and spirited team we had. We were underdogs, no one expected our team to make it as far as we did. We were 12-3 at the end of the regular season, and landed the third seed in New Englands. We had never played the team we were against, and didn't know what to expect; we respected all of our opponents equally, and gave each game our all. We beat Newton County Day 3-1, and advanced to the semis. We drove about three hours, basically to Boston, to play Governor's Academy. Upon arrival we saw all these signs saying "Beat Berkshire!" and we were ready to prove them wrong. They were a lot taller than us, but we were better overall, and beat them 3-1 also. Through this victorious season, my important moment came from our falling a little shorter than desired. We lost the first, and won the second, and third. If we won the fourth we would have been champions, but we lost, and the fifth set is only to fifteen points. We lost to Nobles in the fifth set. I remember getting off the bus I wasn’t feeling well, I had a headache and I felt really nauseous, but I fought through it for my team, and in the fifth set I felt as if it was my fault we didn’t pull through, but my important sports moment was when we were awarded our Finals trophy, and Mr. Meade brought the seniors in for a consoling hug, and told us how grateful he was to coach our team, and how successful our season was. He was telling us not to cry and to celebrate our victories, and he made me realize in that moment how much volleyball meant to me. Win or lose we give it our all, and Mr. Meade made sure that we left Wilbraham with our heads high and prouder than ever before.
ReplyDeleteLivi Robinson
Though I have many unforgettable memories playing soccer, and especially in my recent Berkshire years, one of the most amazing moments I had in sports was in the sport of Track and Field. In July of 2013, I flew off to participate in the Biennial World Youth Track and Field Championships in Donetsk, Ukraine. I had represented my country in Track a few times before this competition, but none of those meets were of this caliber. I knew that the opportunity to compete at these games with future Olympians and World Champions was truly once in a lifetime. On the day of the preliminary rounds of the Triple Jump, I knew that I had to bring my A-game in order to make to the final the next day. My coach and I found out that in order for me to make the final I would have to jump 15.30 meters (50ft 2in), which was over a foot further than my personal best at the time of 14.92 meters (48ft 11in), in order to qualify for the final. I remember thinking to myself “Wow Justin, you’re in for it today”. This was only my second time jumping from the Men’s standard board 13 meters away from the pit and on top of that I had to “jump out of my socks” just to be in the final; great. After failing to jump the mark twice with attempts of 15.06 meters and 15.07 meters, it all came down to the last jump. As I got on the runway to do what would be one of the most important jumps I have done to this date, I cleared my head of everything around me; the noise, the atmosphere, even my coach, the only thing that I remember tuning in to was the pit straight ahead of me. After what didn’t feel as my best jump, I immediately hopped out of the pit and looked at the margin between my landing and the meter board; it was very tight. I anxiously waited for the score board in the infield to read my mark, and about 20 seconds after my jump it read “15.31 meters”. The amount of excitement that I felt at that one instant of time, overrides any other good feeling I’ve had before. I did know that the job wasn’t fully over but my personal goals had all been reached in one jump, and for that I was overly pleased with my performance that day. The next day in the final, I went on to set another personal best of 15.65 meters (51ft 4in) which was another foot further than I had jumped the previous day and two feet further than my personal best just before the preliminaries. I ended up placing 7th out of the 8 finalist and with my mark of 15.65meters I had the 8th best triple jump in the world for youth boys in 2013. Through this experience I learned that believing in yourself and being persistent in life is most important in attaining the goals that you set for yourself and overcoming barriers that might seem insurmountable. Through those principles I was able to jump to the best of my ability and in two days go from an average teenage boy from the island of Bermuda, to a Top-10 world ranked youth triple jumper. Impossible is nothing.
ReplyDeleteJustin Donawa
Although I have many great memories playing hockey for the last fifteen years of my life, I would have to say that my best came in the last year. In my first year of being on the Varsity Hockey team here at Berkshire I did not get to play as much as I would have liked. I had the talent just not the confidence. With playing time low I still was able to have a great attitude and wait for my chance to prove myself. We came into Avon Old Farms needing a win to keep our tournament hopes alive. Anytime you play Avon in hockey you know its going to be a war. Countless NHL stars have played there and they always field a strong team. In the first period the team came out flat and we came back to the locker room down 2-0. My line had yet to play a shift in the game but were ready to get our shot. When we conceded another goal Coach Driscoll sent my line out there hoping to simply rest the top groups and let them figure it out. We came out buzzing and were firing shots and playing hard. Coach gave us a few more shifts and wasn't disappointed. After our line almost scored a few times we came up ice on the break. Sam Topham skated up ice and passed it to me. I immediately gave it up again to him and he fired a shot and scored. I had finally gotten my first point on the Varsity team. I was truly excited. My teammates went nuts and I was as happy as I had ever been. That goal started a string of six unanswered goals as we went on to win 6-3, almost guaranteeing us a spot in the New England tournament.
ReplyDeleteLuke Amero
During JV basketball my junior year, we were scheduled to play Canterbury two times. The first game was back and forth, neither team could get a strong lead. If they scored, we answered back right away and vice versa. We ended up winning by only a few points. The second game was at home and we slaughtered them. For some reason we were playing great and they were not so we took advantage of our opportunity. We continually created turnovers and capitalized on fast breaks. On a fast break, it was me and Jack Scarafoni against one Canterbury player. I went ahead of the opposing player to the right side of the basket while Jack drew him over to the left side of the basket. It was a textbook two vs one play. As Jack nears the left elbow of the foul line, he chucks the ball perfectly between me and the basket. I leap into the air, catch the ball and shoot a layup still mid-air. Everything was in slow motion; I felt like I was floating. Before I hit the ground, the ball had gone through the basket. We had successfully pulled off an alley-oop. It was not a game deciding play but it still felt amazing to accomplish something like that. We ended up winning the game by over twenty.
ReplyDeleteMatthew Licata
D Period
I was a member of the girls varsity lacrosse team for my freshman and sophomore year at Medfield High School. During my freshman year, the team was able to make it to the quarterfinals in the state tournament, but unfortunately lost to the Norwell Varsity team. With many returning players my sophomore year, everyone on the team set a goal early in the season to not only make the state tournament again, but to make history, and be the first girls lacrosse team at Medfield High School to win a state championship in lacrosse. This was not an easy task, and it took a lot of time out of season and out of practice to acquire the skills and team dynamic that was necessary to achieve the goals we set.
ReplyDeleteWe made it to the state tournament and won enough games to advance to the semi finals, where we were matched up against Norwell. Not only had our team lost to Norwell in the semi finals last year, Norwell had beaten Medfield for the last five consecutive years in the state tournament. This was a time for the team to get the revenge that we needed. We played them on a Friday afternoon and the entire Medfield community came out. We never had a crowd like that, which definitely contributed to our success. Not only did we beat Norwell, we beat them by six goals. This feeling was immensely relieving, and just advancing to the state finals was an accomplishment on its own. My team ended up defeating Winchester in the state championship game; however, the win against Norwell was more meaningful, it was something that derived from pure heart and passion for the game of lacrosse, which is why it is my greatest sports moment.
molly crabtree
One of my favorite and most memorable sports moments came during my sophomore baseball season. As a sophomore I was already filling a big role starting at shortstop and batting 2nd. My old high school team was in the semifinals of the Rhode Island State Playoffs and we were facing Burrillville, who had won their division with solid pitching. I started off the game well going 2-2 with a double and a single as well as driving in a run and scoring a run. Come the top of the 6th inning, we were down 3-2. Burrillville had the bases loaded with 2 outs and a chance to put the game out of reach. The pitch was delivered and their batter hit a hard ground ball in the hole between third base and shortstop. I made a diving play and threw the ball to second for the out to get us out of a jam. In the bottom of the inning my most memorable moment in sports occurred. I hit my first high school home run. I definitely did not act like I had done it before, as I celebrated with a little dance before I touched home plate, which made my coach more red in the face than I have ever seen a man in my life. I had never been that excited about anything, which is why it has to be my favorite moment of my sports career. My two run home run proved to be a big one as it put us up 4-3. We ended up winning the game 5-3, which gave us a chance to play at McCoy Stadium in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, which is where the Pawtucket PawSox play, who are the Triple A affiliate of the Red Sox.
ReplyDeleteJack Lambrecht
D Period
In the winter of 2015, the men of the Berkshire School Thirds hockey team made memories that would not be forgotten. About three quarters through the season, it had been disappointing, with only two wins, it hadn’t been the season we wanted. The last game we played, we had lost by the largest margin in my recent memory of being on the team for three years, 11-0 to Salisbury. Losing to Salisbury hurt, we should not have been beat that badly by anyone. Luckily, we were going to get another shot at them before the season ended. We played them on our home ice the next week. We had a few good practices before we played the Knights again and we, as a team were feeling ready. Wednesday, February 18th rolled around, and it was game time. We were fired up, we had a great warm up and we got ready for puck drop. My line mates, Brendan Moloy and Pete Giordano, and I went out for the opening draw, and the game was under way. Salisbury buried their first goal around halfway through the first period, but we didn’t give up then. We kept working hard, and I was able to feed Moloy the puck in the slot, and he put it away. We were going to hand them this game. As a team, we had to overcome some adversity, we had a few guys in the penalty box and we had to put our penalty kill unit out on the ice. Matt Spaniol was able to score a short-handed goal, and then I was able to sneak another past the goalie. The score was 3-2 going into the third period. In the locker room, encouraging words of Coach Quilty kept us focused, and we shut them down in the third period, and I was able to put the game away with an empty net goal. It was a miracle on ice. Personally, it was the best hockey game I had ever played, before this season, I was cursed and had never scored a goal. But besides that, it was the team camaraderie, and not giving up that makes this one of my favorite sports moments.
ReplyDeleteBrooks Kiley
B Period
I have been playing sports all of my life and the are a big part of who I am. There are so many games, overtimes, and wins that are unforgettable and some of the best moments of my life. One that sticks out to me was in 8th grade when I made the Varsity Lacrosse team at Stillwater High school. It is very unusual for an 8th grader to make the high school team but I had been encouraged by the coaches to give it a shot since the high school team was very low on midfielders that year. I ended up trying out but the coaches didn’t see fit for me to be on the Varsity squad just yet so I ended up playing with JV to start the year. I had a very successful first half of the year with JV and the Varsity coaches noticed that. For the second half of the season I got pulled up to Varsity where I continued to play well. I played even better during playoff where I ended up playing on the first line for the second round of playoffs against Totino Grace. I ended up putting up a couple of assists in a 5-3 game that we unfortunately lost. Although we lost, it was a great feeling knowing that as an 8th grader on a varsity team, the head coach saw me as someone he needed during the most important time of the season.
ReplyDeleteHarrison Yaste
D Period
The ability to row well, and win, comes from a combination of mental toughness, and physical ability. For my first two crew seasons at Berkshire, it became evident who the teams we wouldn’t beat, and the teams we would were. My freshman and sophomore year, we received crushing defeats from Taft and Choate in the first races of each season. They became the teams to fear, but in my junior year, the 2nd varsity boat was going to prove that wrong. Composed of a group of guys who would definitely be considered underdogs, we were up against two crews with impressive 2k averages, far surpassing ours. During the race, our group of underdogs found their swing, and ended up crushing Taft, and loosing to Choate by less than half a second. Our boat, composed of myself, Eric Smith, Alex Dechellis, and James Donnovan, had defeated all of the odds against us. We toughened up, mentally and physically, and rowed through some of the worst conditions we had seen, but after all of it, it was worth it.
ReplyDeleteRichard Riegel
B Period
On October 4, 2014, the girls’ varsity field hockey team traveled to Williston Northampton school to play in our first night game of the season. We arrived at Williston and once we started to warm up it started down pouring. Since it was a night game, we were playing on their football field with lights, in which you could barely tell what were the field hockey lines and what were the football lines. It was Williston’s “pink out” game and their uniforms were white, which made it very confusing to tell who was who, since we were in our white uniforms because we were away. When the game finally started, we fought hard, but Williston was able to score. The final score was 0-1. We had lost. Devastated, cold, and wet from the rain, we all boarded the bus, and headed back to school. Little did we know, that later in the season we would face Williston again this time, in the New England Tournament.
ReplyDeleteAbout a month had passed since we had first played the Wildcats, and in that month, we had beat Taft and Loomis Chaffee, as well as four other schools. After our 7-1 win against Pomfret, which secured our place in the tournament, we discovered that we would have to play Williston in the first round, at Williston. On November 12th, we gathered on a bus and traveled to Williston. We were not going to let them beat us again.
When the game started we were all a bit nervous, as we hoped to beat them so badly that we did not want to make a mistake. In the first half we scored! Everyone on the sidelines, on the field, and in the crowd was jumping up and down in excitement. Even though we were playing at Williston, we knew that this was our game to beat them. Entering the second half the score remained at 1-0, with the Bears in the lead. Williston had many shots on goal, but never managed to get one in. In the last couple of minutes the Bears scored again, making the score 2-0. As the last few minutes on the clock ran out, we all stormed the field. At this moment, I realized that the girls who I practiced with since the beginning of the year were not just my teammates, but my family. We advanced in the tournament, and eventually lost; while we were upset we didn’t win the championship, we were ultimately crying because the season was over and soon we would all be joining other teams for the winter. Being on the varsity field hockey team and playing in the New England tournament is the greatest sports moment in my life, as I learned the power that a team can have on one.
Eliza Griffin
I’m from a family where almost everyone was born and raised to play hockey. Everyone, except for me. My dad went to college for hockey and then went to play for a European team. When he came back to the US he coached at college hockey, and then raised my three older brothers to have his same talents. The entirety of my childhood consisted of traveling around to different rinks and tournaments, but always in the stands, never on the ice. I tried on a pair of hockey skates for the first time ever last year, when I was trying out for the Girls JV team. I remember my first game ever, which was happening the same time as the Boys Varsity’s game. My parents came up to watch my brother, Charlie, and me play. I was really excited for them to see me in action, but once they were actually there I became very nervous. My parents were used to watching my brothers on their varsity teams, never anything remotely similar to a Girls JV game. After a while of sitting on the bench, Coach Anselmi told me I was going in. I jumped over the boards, shaking with fear and excitement. However, I’d never jumped over the boards before, and fell right on my face. I struggled to get back up, feeling awkward with the unfamiliar gear I was wearing. Though I’m sure the whole scene looked ridiculous, my parents were so proud of me for trying hockey, and since then I’ve worked to jump over the boards with ease.
ReplyDeleteMary Corcoran
D Period
I have always just played field hockey. I was never asked if I wanted to play I just started playing in Kindergarten and never really stopped. I was never really in love with it I just sort of played it my entire life until my first sophomore year in High School. I had always been an in-between Varsity and Junior Varsity, so I sort of played wherever they needed me. It was Friday and we had a huge game tomorrow, biggest game of the season one of our biggest rivals, Shawnee. That night before our game we had a psych party and we were all so nervous to play the game the next morning. Our team was very superstitious so we all lit candles and on the count of three blew them out and said, “Blow out Shawnee”. With that it was game day it was a very tight and close game, however we were down 1-5 at the half. Coach Collins gave us a huge pep talk and it was like we were a completely different team. Our passing was on point and we had each other’s backs on the field and it was apparent. Then out of nowhere it was all tied up and it was a fair game it felt like it was 0-0 and we had to give everything we could. And then all of the sudden it was like everything clicked in one moment and we heard the noise of the ball hitting the back of the goal and that sound was redemption, we were above Shawnee for the first time in 12 years we were above them. We just had to play keep away from the other team for 3 minutes and 40 seconds; it was the longest 3 minutes and 40 seconds of my life. The clock counted down and we didn’t give up and all of the sudden the horn sounded and there wasn’t another goal and we had won it was over we won for the first time in 12 years it was us and not them, Shawnee had finally fallen. That made me believe that comebacks actually can happen you just have to put your head down and hustle.
ReplyDeleteLane Mayher
B Period
I was about to play in the biggest game of my life as a sophomore in high school. It was the Division 1A Super 8 hockey state championship on March 18, 2012; the team, Boston College High School, had just upset one of our big rivals St. John’s Prep four nights before to advance to the finals. BC High had a long history of success in the rink having won the Super 8 four times before in 1996, 2002, 2007, and 2008. Malden Catholic was the reigning champion who stacked their roster with several division 1 commits and players who were soon to be committed.
ReplyDeleteThe whistle blew and the puck dropped in the TD Bank Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. I was on the second defensive pair unit playing along side senior Brian Furey. I watched the first minute go by in the period and we had gotten trapped in our own zone by the overwhelming fore-check of MC. We quickly made a change as the pressure let up and I sprinted across to my left side of the ice. As MC was changing it allowed me to jump up and act as if I was a winger playing forward. I received a pass from Tim Laroque just as I crossed over our defensive blue line and proceeded to rush the puck up to the offense. I came down the left side of the ice, favoring my lefty shot, and made a head fake to the center allowing myself the space to beat the opposing defender wide. As I came down to the bottom of the face-off circle I saw my chance to get a shot on net and string some momentum. I pulled the shot across my body and forcefully put it top corner on the goalie. I was overwhelmed and even surprised that it went in, only realizing it had after the ring of a post and the cheers of the fans.
The rest of the game was a blur. We could not withstand the pressure of MC and their top line bad both goals to tie it up and take the lead late in the third. The final was 3-1 including and empty net goal. It was my first taste at what could have been a state championship and it was my goal from then on to reach that final game and hopefully win. That goal is a memory I will have for the rest of my life and although I only have a few goals in my high school career it is my absolute favorite. The first shift of the game gave me the confidence for the next two seasons to play bigger than I was and change my style of play to be more offensive.
-Sam Topham
B Period
My sports moment happened when I was a sophomore playing JV football. Are team went undefeated and never been scored on, so we had a pretty good team. One game that I remember in particular, was are last game. The energy surrounding the team was astounding. We were ready to completely dominate Hotchkiss. I was a wide receiver and a corner back. We were doing pretty well in the first half having scored two touchdowns. Come the second half, it started to snow. This was a complete bummer because the temperature was already freezing, and adding snow to the mix made it even more difficult. Something spectacular happened as a result of it though. Instead of slumping are efforts, we played harder and tougher. We were tackling NFL players and running like Olympic sprinters. It was fantastic and surprisingly fun. I myself was surprised at the amount of effort that I put in because I am not a huge fan of the cold. I was able to push myself further than I thought I could because of the kind of players that we had. I personally miss that team and wish to relive again someday.
ReplyDeleteJet Joseph
B Period
On every American football team, there are twenty-two different positions to be filled with at least eleven different players. Every position contains unique, different responsibilities, assignments, and alignments. However, the most popular of these twenty-two positions consistently proves to be the quarterback. Regardless, if one knows the game inside-out or only tunes in for the super bowl, they most likely know that the quarterback exists in someway or another. The position proves as the most important position on the field simply because quarterbacks must stay composed and accountable on every single play. Successful quarterbacks are successful leaders. Fran Tarkenton states, “You know, quarterbacks, I think greatness in quarterbacks is taking what you've got, whether it's a great team, a good team, or a struggling team and make them better.” A great leader can establish a belief within his squad that they can win on any given day—no matter the circumstances.
ReplyDeleteI’ve come to realize the “quarterback experience” first hand allows me to appreciate the figurative moments of impact in my life much more intensely. Last summer, I participated in the Orange County North-South All-Star Football game which has seen the likes of Tony Gonzalez, Chris Kluwe, Ronnie Hillman, and many more. Needless to say it was an incredible honor to play along side the best athletes in the county, however, the moment of impact I remember vividly occurred minutes before the game even started. The sun was setting, painting an orange sky above the field goal posts and crowded stands. Kettle corn and remnants of various snack bar items filled the summer air as the national anthem began to play. I recall feeling incredibly strange about the many hours one spends pursuing passions. Hours on days on years in order to have an opportunity of success and how perhaps that glimmer of achievement is what drives one to go to extreme lengths. And as I stood on the 50 yard line in a somewhat spontaneous euphoria, I became astounded that throwing a pigskin-covered, oval-shaped ball could create so much support and opportunity. I then, understood the infatuation that is the world of sports, it is the great equalizer. Regardless of origin, ethnicity, or resources, sports allow “average joes” to become overnight superheroes. Such ideal is the epitome of the American Dream and I found such realization enlightening. And as the nation anthem ended and I strapped up my chinstrap, I knew many more moments of impact were still to come, but I thoroughly enjoyed where I stood.
- Scott Lloyd
Crew is an impossible sport to understand. Among our expensive boats and abnormally tall and short individuals, we have our own language. For instance, here are some phrases you would commonly here around the boathouse; “weigh enough”, “port pressure and starboard pressure”, “swing the bow”, “uni’s”, “de-rig” and my personal favorite, “catching a crab”. To an outsider, we all appear to be crazy people with blistered hands, who also wear uncomfortable amounts of tight clothing, sometimes exposing too much. Welcome to crew.
ReplyDeleteI began my coxing career in 7th grade, where I was placed in a boat of all boys. At 12 years old I was far out of my comfort zone, as I tried asserting my authority over 14 and 15 year old boys. After my first day on the water, I cried the entire way home and promised myself I would never participate in the sport again. Six years later, I still continue to cox today. If you ask any experienced rower or coxswain their feelings about the sport, guaranteed most responses will consist something along the line of, “I hate it so much but I can’t stop.”
A turning point in my crew career began this year when I trained to become a rower. For many years I had been the one instructing others how to row. However, just last week, as I strapped myself into the bow seat for the first time as a rower, I became dependent upon my coxswain’s instruction. This was something I was not used too. As I struggled to get my oar cleanly out of the water, I realized what I was doing wrong. I had been focusing too much on the mental piece of rowing, trying to teach myself the technique, when instead I should have been focusing on the feel of the boat. This was largely due to my coxing mentality interfering with my rowing abilities. Mr. MacKenzie has always informed the rowers that crew is not so much a technical sport, than it is a “feeling” sport. This means that in the boat, it is important to feel the pull on the oar when you drive it into the water. It is crucial to feel the pull on the slide as you roll up to the catch. These were all terms I had been familiar with, but never actually understood the meaning of, until I started rowing.
Having now experienced rowing in two races for second boat, I believe it has made me a stronger first boat coxswain. I am able to better relate to the feeling of complete exhaustion and pain, which is often experienced in the heat of a race.
-Olivia Good
My sports moment happened actually when I was in fourth grade. At the time my sister, Louisa, was a freshman at Middlesex School in Concord, MA. In the fall, she was partaking in a JV cross country race at another school in the Independent School league. I had never seen one of my races and to be quite honest got kind of bored watching the races as there were points where you couldn’t even see the runners. However on the final lap of the race, I convinced myself that I would take interest. As the runners from both teams came out. Most if not all of their faces were red with sweat. However one particular runner caught my eye. There she was! Louisa Savage was tied for first with another Middlesex runner, whom happened to be her friend Kelsey. It seemed that they were running together. The thought did occur to me that perhaps one of them would have to come in first, but I only dwelled on that for a second. Despite my previous thought, both of them continued to keep the same pace as they approached the finish line. They then continued to cross the finish line together. I was amazed that the two of them were able to keep the same pace throughout the race and cross the finish line together. The next year, both Louisa and Kelsey made the varsity team that was coached by Malcolm Russell. While they certainly weren't one of the top runners, they certainly did well. The previously described moment was perhaps one of my favorite memories out of my sister’s high school athletic career.
ReplyDelete-Rad Savage
When I was in seventh grade I decided to get back into ski racing. I had quit alpine skiing altogether three years earlier and begun to telemark ski, but I was bored with that and wanted to give ski racing another shot. In order to relearn as much as possible before the season actually started I went on a trip with the local ski team to Mt. Hood Oregon in the summer. Mt. Hood has snow all year long so many teams go down and train there in the summer. Halfway through the trip our coaches said that Andrew Weibrecht an alum of NYSEF the program we all did was coming and was going to help out with the coaching. This was a big deal because Andrew had won a bronze medal in the Vancouver Olympics just that past winter. We were all very excited, but sadly there were only a few days left and he would not be able to help with every group. Luckily he chose my group to work with, I was ecstatic my hero the guy who came from the same place as me and won an Olympic medal was going to coach me. I could hardly contain myself. That day was a day full of injuries for my group. Before half of the day was over I was the only kid left in the group. It was a dream come true I got a private lesson from one of the best ski racers in the world. I learned so much that day and improved immensely, when I returned that winter I was able to compete with the kids on the team who had been racing for years, and I have been able to stay in touch with Andrew who won a silver medal in Sochi last year.
ReplyDelete-Will MacClarence
My sophomore year was the point in my life where I decided to quit club hockey and focus more on my lacrosse career. However I still wanted to play hockey, so I decided to play for the high school team since it was less of a commitment. Little did I know I would have the greatest season of hockey in my life. At the beginning of the season it was a big change for me from club. The pace was not as fast and players weren’t as good. But we had a great group of guys that had a lot of potential. After a very successful season we got to play offs as the 4th seed. In our first came we were playing some small high school from southern Illinois who was the 26th seed. Needless to say we thought we would crush them. We ended up winning in overtime 5-4. This was a rude awakening for us, but we pulled it together and made it to the semifinals. Unfortunately we were to play the number one seed Rockford, who had won state for the past 16 years in a row. We were able to keep the game scoreless until the third period when they scored with 3 minutes left in the game. We battled back and with a pulled goalie, tied it with a minute and 24 seconds left. Then in over time we scored the game winner to knock off the dominant Rockford. This put us into the championship game, which was to be played in the United Center, the rink where the Chicago Blackhawks play. Sticking with the dramatic fashion of the playoffs so far, the game went into overtime where our leading scorer heroically scored the game winner which caused the whole team to hop off the bench and throw our gloves and sticks into the air as we dog piled onto him. The local media dubbed this as “The Miracle”, which we had inscribed on the inside of our championship rings, because of all similarities it held to the 1980 Olympic men’s hockey “Miracle on Ice”. We beat Rockford in the semifinals, who had won state for the past 16 years; we then had to win the championship in the finals. The Olympic team beat Russia in the semifinal game, who had won the gold for the past 16 years (4 olympics); team USA then had to win the championship game to get the gold. Our captain, Mike Pietro, and team USA’s captain, Mike Eruzione, shared the same number, 21. This whole playoff run was easily my greatest sports moment.
ReplyDelete- Joel Mayo
When I came to Berkshire, I had never played on a sports team. Still, I was told that I had to join a sport. So I thought that I would join the Track and Field team. I knew that I could run. That was easy. As a fourteen-year-old girl, I had long legs and thought I was pretty speedy, so I tried really hard for the first couple of weeks at Track practice. Because Mrs. Driscoll was impressed with my speed, she put me in a couple of the fast-paced races: the 200-meter dash, the 100-meter dash, and the dreaded 400-meter dash. I wasn’t too nervous when she told me that I was going to be competing in these races. I thought, “Hey, they’re just quick sprints and ill do my best and maybe ill even win”. I was confident. But when the day came, and it was time for the 400-meter dash, and I took my sweats off and stood at the starting line getting ready to run, I was suddenly bursting with nerves. I looked around at my competition, about four other girls with different colored uniforms on. I thought about how I had no idea how fast those girls were, and how embarrassing it would be if I were running way behind them with my entire team watching. I thought about how mortified I would be if I tripped and fell, or pulled something and had to quit. I thought about all of the excuses that I could possibly make to get out of the race. But before I knew it, I heard the sound of the gunshot, and I took off. I was winning the race, but I had no idea how hard it would be. When I got to the second half of the race, I was dizzy, my legs felt like they were made of stone, and I couldn’t hear the loud cheering that I could see was going on. I remember seeing one of the senior boys that I had a lot of respect for, Stephan, cheering me on and it made me run that much harder. I won the race, and I remember being so proud of myself for a long time; not only for winning, but also for competing in something that I had never really tried before, for trying as hard as I possibly could, and for finally appreciating how great it can be to be part of a team.
ReplyDelete- Faye Downes
I have been on many different sports teams, but the one sport I have chosen to stick with for my whole life is ski racing. I learned how to ski when I was just two and a half years old. My father would click me into miniature children skis, and hold me by my armpits as he ran down the hill in our backyard pushing me. When I was old enough to take lessons and join junior development race teams I realized how important this sport is to me. I went to Berkshire School my sophomore year mainly because I wanted to ski more than I was used to. I have always enjoyed being with my teammates here, but this past season was a season I will never forget. This past February, five boys, four other girls and I traveled to Cannon Mountain in northern New Hampshire for the New England Championships. There, the four other girl athletes and I shared a bonding moment that we will remember forever. This race consisted of four individual runs, which are two separate races. Each of the two races was for a different event. These two races are then combined to determine the winner. In the morning, we were not doing to well, we had two of our five girls fall and those girls were therefore disqualified for the run. There were ten other schools there. After losing to three of them in the first race, some of our team members began to lose hope. We pulled ourselves together after an inspirational talk from our coach and each other, and prepared for the final race, which was also our strongest event. The conditions were not as we would have hoped for. It was cold, snowy and a little bit windy. The snow was not holding up and there were huge ruts in the coarse that made it very difficult to ski over. We were all extremely nervous. Our first racer went down, and cleanly finished her run. Then it was my turn. Shakily I put my poles over the starting wand and the second the announcer said go I pushed so hard and finished my run. I crossed the finish line gasping for air and eagerly stopped to watch the rest of my team mates come down. We all finished, we had a good race. It was then time for awards. Before the ceremony, we all tried to calculate the scores posted on the scoreboard but because there were so many people it was impossible to keep track, so we hoped for the best. The ceremony started, and we were anxiously crossing our fingers. “In third place, Deerfield Academy… In second place, Suffield Academy…. And in first place…. Berkshire School!” Berkshire girls had won. We screamed so loud and celebrated for hours on the way home. It was a moment we will remember forever and will inspire us in our future races.
ReplyDeleteMolly Coleman
I have been participating in sports recreationally and competitively for as long as I can remember. My parents have always supported me in whatever I try to do. My mom particularly used to invest a lot of time shuttling my sister and I around to sports before and after school. My Freshman year of high school I played basketball for my old school. We did not have a lot of players on the team to start and our coach's systematic and rigorous practice schedule made kids lose interest in playing for the team very quickly. Towards the end of the year our team had 9 players, and teammates regularly missed games and practices. Our season was winding down and so were most of the kids on the team. At one of our last games only 6 kids showed up, including myself. I was pretty lonely on the bench for the first few minutes, but then my teammate sprained his ankle a couple of minutes in. I knew I had to go in and play the rest of the basketball game and try my hardest. Although our team did not end up winning. I learned what it felt like to play on a team that really wanted to win.
ReplyDeleteJames F.
As far as a great sports moment is concerned i wouldn't necessarily call it that I would put it more along the lines as a moment where i experienced failure and had to accept the fact that not all things in life are gonna fall your way. The exact moment i am referring to is during our winter term and it was basketball season, we were playing taft at their house fighting like true berkshire bears. We were battling back and forth through the game and with just about 2 minutes left we decided as a team that we were gonna win this game together. Not one individual on the court or on the bench was prepared to lose this game even though we were down by ten or so points, we made a substantial push with a few steals and easy buckets we got the lead down to 6 with a little more than a minute left. Me being the point guard and ball handler for this game i was in control of our potential success and failure for the rest of the game. I came down the court made a swift move to the basket and scored the next two points for our team. Our bears were fired up as we had taft on their heels their coach and players weren't sure what their next move was gonna be, with less than a minute we cut the lead just two points and caused a turnover for them giving us possession.
ReplyDeleteAbout 32 seconds or so was on the clock as far as i remember and our coach called a timeout to recollect our thoughts. With some refreshing water and a couple good coaching points made by Mr. Quinn we were more than ready to take on taft and win this game. So we broke down our huddle with a proud "Bears" shout and went out to the court to continue our game. The ball was inbounded to me trusting that i would make the correct decisions, i hold the ball until about 10 seconds are left and dish it to trevor who was supposed to get it cooke, but he could not pass it to him because he was being doubled and instead had to pass back to me. Now with about 4 seconds or so i cross over to my right and pull a rushed, contested shot and missed wide right. The buzzer sounds and we lose by two points to taft I immediately slammed the court with my fist in anger as i was not only furious but disappointed in myself as i knew i could of gotten a better shot off.
So i tell you of my sports story to share with you a moment where in my case the ball did not drop for me and it was a moment of harsh disappointment, but to think positively things like this only cause me to work harder and strive for better outcomes than what occurred to me on this day. So could i consider this a great sports moment for me? I would say in a way yes, but i hope for ones that end in my success in the future.
-DeAndre Jones
Sailing has transformed my life from the first time I set foot in an Opti at the age of seven at the Vineyard Haven Yacht Club. It has introduced me to my best friends and has taken me all around the world to compete in various regattas. After optis, I moved up to a bigger boat called a 420, a two person boat. Last summer was my fifth year in 420's, and three months before the summer sailing season started, my sailing partner of two years, Jackson, called me on the phone and told me he wouldn't be coming to the Vineyard for the summer. It was shocking news, we had two great seasons together, winning a handful of regattas and competing in the US Sailing Youth Championships in Texas the year before. It was heartbreaking to watch all of that go to waste. I started thinking about who I could sail with that I already knew from my yacht club since the sumer season was quickly approaching. Everyone I knew already had someone to sail with, but I tried to think beyond the people from the yacht club and maybe find someone from my high school sailing team. I was reluctant at first, because high school sailing is completely different from summer sailing, but it never occurred to me that my good friend Charlie, who was my teammate, was also a summer sailor at a different club. I decided to ask him if he would consider sailing with me, and he said he actually didn't have anyone to sail with either. We applied for the 2014 Youth Champs in Grosse Pointe, MI, one of the biggest youth regattas in the country. I had gone to this event with Jackson, my previous skipper, the year before. Jackson was more experienced than Charlie and it worried me that we might not sail at the same level as Jackson. Regardless, the summer rolled around, and Charlie and I were accepted into Youth Champs. We practiced when we could, and went to many smaller regattas throughout New England. Youth Champs would be the last regatta of the summer. August 14th came fast and the next thing we knew we were flying to Michigan along with my best friend, Maura, and her skipper Logan. Jackson was coming to Youth Champs with a different crew but I felt confident I didn't need Jackson to have a good result at this regatta. As Charlie and I headed out to the race course in the morning, I was really nervous. All that I was thinking was I had to beat Jackson. I wanted to prove to him that I was a good sailor and he'd made a mistake by not wanting to sail with me anymore. It was really light wind that morning, which can be very frustrating conditions. I usually liked when it was really windy, but I had to try and stay focused no matter what. The five minute starting sequence began and the 33 boat fleet was just bobbing around, barely moving. Charlie and I were practically going backwards, which was clearly not a good way to start. Ten minutes went by and although we were almost to the first mark, we were the very last boat in the fleet. I was trying to tell myself that we would make a comeback and we would pass some boats on the downwind, but that moment never came. An hour and a half later, we were officially last across the finish line. I didn't even have time to be upset before a huge clap of thunder surrounded the lake we were on and it immediately started down pouring. In that moment, I realized how ridiculous I was being. I realized it was okay not to be n the top five because I knew we would and could get there eventually. It was amazing to me that I had the privilege to be in a beautiful place, competing in a sport that I loved with someone who valued me as their crew. I had never felt happier to be soaking wet and absolutely freezing, but it was because I knew I worked so hard throughout the year to get myself to Youths and that's all that mattered.
ReplyDeleteAnna Flaherty
B period
A few years ago I was at a summer camp in the New York Adirondack State park. I was on a rock-climbing trip, my first one ever. At first I wasn't sure if I even wanted to do the climb at first. Standing at the bottom of this two hundred foot vertical wall, I was nervous. Looking at this ominous wall I felt as though I would never be able to climb to the top. Nevertheless I clipped into my gear and was ready to start the climb. The way up was tough. I felt like I had gone for a hundred feet but then when I looked down I seamed that I was just barely at a quarter of the way up the wall. I trudged on, pulling my self up. I was reaching the top and decided to look down and was startled to see how far I had gone. My fingers ached and were all cut up from the rocks. I reached up and pulled my self to the top. Once over the ledge I looked around. It was breathtaking. The view from the top looked out on the valley below. I was so proud of what I had just accomplished. Ever since then my passion for climbing grew.
ReplyDeleteBen Lang
D period
My great sports moment was during my first year at Berkshire when I went to the New England Championships after being called up to second boat with a weeks notice. Prior to this event, I had not yet done anything of significance in the world of athletics at Berkshire School. It was not until I began crew that I had found something that I liked as well as something that I had somewhat significant abilities in. A week before the New England Championship race, I was notified that one of the seniors on second boat would not be able to make it, and that the coach decided I was the next best fit for the job. I was very nervous when I was told this, as I had only been on the 5th boat before this, and I did not want to mess up this big opportunity for the second boat rowers. On top of that, I was told that I would be rowing starboard instead of port, which is the opposite of what I had been doing all year. With only a week to train with my new boat, I worked hard and dedicated myself to doing the best I could for the varsity rowers. Although we did not win the big race, I was told afterwards that second boat had achieved its best time of the season with me in the bow seat. This was an extremely proud moment for me, because I was able to rise to the occasion in the face of very difficult circumstances and contribute to the team at a higher lever in a manner that was meaningful. It was from this moment that my passion for crew truly began to grow. Although I have had much better races since then, and have seen higher prestige, I will always be immensely proud of what I was able to contribute to the second boat that first year I was on the team.
ReplyDeleteAlex DeChellis
B Period