Vernon Edition December 2012

How young is too young for youth sports? Jon Buzby explains. See page 3

Fundraiser raises money for Ellington teen. See page 17

Eagles Soaring HighTolland C Team player Nicholas Carneiro proudly shows off his victory medal after his team took the NCFL Championship over RHAM by a score of 34-16. Photo by Andre Garant, The Sports Department, www.ajgphotoguy.com.

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Inside The Sports Department

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The Sp rts Department

Rockville Student Helping On And Off The CourtBy Jon Buzby,The Sports Department

Brendan Kennedy isn’t a member of any of Rockville High School’s varsity sports teams. But the talented junior is scoring points on and off the court representing the Rams in a more special way. .

Kennedy is a Unified partner (peer without a disability) on the Rams’ Special Olympics soccer, bowling and basket-ball teams. Rockville is one of 120 high schools across the state that participate in the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Association’s (CIAA) Unified Sports pro-gram. When the team started at Rockville more than two years ago, Kennedy didn’t hesitate to get involved.

“[People with disabilities] are regular people,” Kennedy said. “Just because they

Brendan Kennedy (middle, back row) is an integral part of Rockville High’s Special Olympics team as a Unified Partner.

think a little differently, doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be treated like human beings.”

Kennedy was introduced at a young age to certain disabilities people may have, as a close cousin of his has Down Syndrome.

“I just played with him like any of my oth-er friends,” Kennedy explained. “I treated him like a regular person.”

And now through the Unified sports program at Rockville High, Kennedy is in a position to encourage others to treat people with disabilities as they would any other peer.

“When I saw my cousin play on his Special Olympics team, I would see how happy he was playing sports,” Kennedy said. “So by being a Unified partner, it not only helps make someone’s day, but

See “KENNEDY” Page 9

December 20122 The Sports Department

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Our Goal is to Get You Back in the Game!ECHN Provides Rehabilitation When & Where You Need It

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December 2012 3The Sports Department

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How Young Is Too Young To Start Playing SportsBy Jon Buzby,The Sports Department

It’s heading into the winter sports sea-son when many parents debate whether or not their child is ready for youth sports. This is especially true for those kids who just completed a successful adjustment to kindergarten and are surrounded by class-mates all talking about whatever sport they’ll start playing.

I was at a children’s birthday party last weekend and the topic of how young is too young to start playing sports came up.

I just sat back and listened to the various opinions. One grandmother offered to pay for her granddaughter to play youth sports. The mother of that daughter, a former Division I field hockey player, is dead set against her daughter playing any organized sport until she is 5 years old.

One mom started her son in soccer at

four years old while another has decided age six will be a good. A dad, who is a

former high school basketball coach, is debating whether his

4-year-old son is ready.Other mothers and

fathers chimed in, and just when I thought the topic would wane without me needing to voice my opin-

ion, my wife spoke up: “Jon, you write about youth sports.

What do you think?”I actually think it depends on

a number of things when determining what age a child should start playing sports.

First and foremost is the interest of the child. If he or she has no interest whatso-ever, it’s probably too early to start.

The second is the physical and emo-tional maturity of the child. If the child is scared to death of any physical contact, he or she won’t be interested in being part of an unintentional soccer scrum that happens almost every time a child touches the ball. If someone’s feelings get hurt every time a toy is taken from him, imagine the reaction the first time a child “steals” the ball on a basketball court.

Two years ago, my 4-year-old was more than ready to start playing soccer and since then has successfully played T-ball and flag football. I can’t imagine my youngest son who just turned four years old playing anything organized right now. And that’s another thing to remember – like all developmental stages, children, including siblings, are ready to begin play-ing sports at different times.

I also think one factor often overlooked

by parents when trying to make this deci-sion is how the family will be affected by a child playing an organized sport at such a young age.

If bedtime is 7 p.m. — to allow for not only a good night sleep but also “down time” for mom and dad — and practice is twice a week until 7 p.m., that means the family routine is going to be upset two of four nights.

If there is more than one child at home, what happens to the non-practicing sib-lings the night of practice? Will a younger sibling be dragged out of the house when

he or she would normally be in bed? Will an older sibling’s grades suffer

because he or she is sitting in a car at a practice instead of at the

kitchen table getting assignments done?

All of these things must be taken into

consideration.I’ve heard

good and bad stories of young

kids playing sports, so there is no one sure-fire answer. But one piece of advice I always give is that if both parents aren’t convinced it’s time, it’s probably not.

Contact Jon Buzby at [email protected] and follow him @JonBuzby on Twit-ter.


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Stay Active In The WinterTolland Recreation

By Tom Ainsworth,Tolland Recreation

Well, the holiday season is here and with it all the stress,fun, family, shopping and of course, eating you can handle. Put that all together, and it is even more important to stay active and healthy to counteract any negative impacts you may encounter along the way. Whatever your activity of choice is, stick with it. It’s okay to miss a day or two, but don’t abandon ship. Even if you have to reduce the time you spend working out keep doing it. Ev-ery little bit helps.

We have plenty of programs and activi-ties to keep everyone busy through the winter. A new community newsletter with all our programs and activities listed will be mailed to residents the end of December. Be sure to check it out and find something for you and your family to do. For those who like to stay inside when the weather is cold, we will be offering our full compliment of active and educational programs. We are again teaming up with Ed2Go to offer a wide variety of online programs. These programs include starting a web page, learning Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Word, classes in medical coding and ter-minology, speed Spanish, digital photogra-

phy, grant writing, graphic design, spiritual-ity health & healing, becoming a veterinary assistant, anatomy & physiology, introduc-tion to criminal law, wine appreciation, dealing with difficult people, personal finance, customer service, resume writing, learn to buy & sell on ebay and many, many more. For a complete listing check out our website at Tolland.org.

As always, we like to hear from you with your ideas for new programs and activities and feedback on ways to improve existing offerings.

Thanks to all of you that have volun-teered to coach Saturday youth basketball teams. We couldn’t do it without you. The time and effort you put in to help the kids in Tolland is greatly appreciated. That goes for the coaches of the other youth sports and programs as well.

There will be a clinic for kids 14 & older who are interested in refereeing basketball in January. If you want to learn how, give the Tolland Recreation Department a call.

Any questions about programs and events we offer now or suggestions for new classes you are interested in taking, give us a call at 860-871-3610.

As always, we hope to see you out and about.

Plaques for the Student Athlete of The Month are provided courtesy of The Trophy Shop 214 Hartford Turnpike, Vernon

EaglesEaglesEagles

Sport: BasketballAccomplishments: Honor-Roll Student, Team MVP, All-Conference, Hartford Courant Fab 15 Honorable Mention, Second-Team All StateGPA: 3.3How do you prepare for a game? I normally eat something healthy and listen to music. I always try to stay as humble as possible.Expectations for the next season/Thoughts on the season: I think we can do really well, we have four return-ing seniors that have played a lot and can really make an impact.Favorite Career Moment: Beating Bloomfield my junior year. It was an all around great team win.What area were you strongest in? What area did you improve the most in over your career? My strongest area would have to be my passing and getting out in transition. Over the years I’ve re-ally improved my jump shot and getting quicker to the basket.Looking back, what are you going to miss the most about playing for your team? Overall, what are you going to miss the most about high school? In both high school and the basketball team I’m going to miss the people I’ve been around. I’ve been so fortunate to

Tolland StudentAthlete of the Month

have such great teammates and friends.What is the toughest chal-lenge you’ve overcome? Switching coaches my sophomore year.Favorite athlete? Which athlete do you most model your game after? My favorite athlete is Tiger

Woods or Larry Bird. I try and model my game after Chris Paul.Red Sox or Yankees? UConn men or UConn women? Red Sox/UConn menFavorite band, movie, TV show? Drake, Caddyshack, and Tosh.0 or Par-don the InterruptionWhat is your favorite sports website to follow? ESPN.comHow do you believe sites like Twitter and Facebook have changed how you watch and follow sports? Social media really helps me catch up on the scores of games and which games to watch.Plans after high school: Attend college and play basketball.

Taylor Fortin


Youth Photos

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Football proves to be a rough and tumble sport during the NCFL Cham-pionship game between A teams Ellington and Colchester. By Andre Ga-rant, The Sports Depart-ment, www.ajgphotoguy.com

It’s a battle of the C Team Champions as Tolland Eagle Carter Biron plows past the RHAM defense. By An-dre Garant, The Sports Department, www.ajgphotoguy.com

Tolland C Team player Aidan D’Amato sprints down the field for a touchdown. By Andre Garant, The Sports Department, www.ajgphotoguy.com


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The Ellington Roadrunners A Team pose for a team photo after taking the 2012 NCFL Championship with a 14-6 victory over Colchester Photo by: Andre Garant, The Sports Depart-ment, www.ajgphotoguy.com

Youth Photos

The Tolland Eagles C Team are the 2012 NCFL Champions. By Andre Garant, The Sports Department, www.ajgphotoguy.com

Connor Kapisak tries to avoid the grasp of a Glastonbury defender dur-ing the B Championship game in the CTYFL

South Windsor celebrates its CTYFL title with its fans.


Football NotebookFootb

all

On Big Stage, South Windsor Takes Home Youth Football TitleBy Erick Knickerbockerand Danny Atkinson

An all around dominating performance gave South Windsor a 34-8 victory over Glastonbury in the Connecticut Youth Football League B title game at Rentschler Field in East Hartford on Nov. 18.

Glastonbury entered the game 8-1. Its only loss was 23-22 the undefeated Pan-thers on Oct. 20.

The game wasn’t close this time.Glastonbury briefly took the lead, 8-0

on a rushing touchdown by Ryan Kapur early in the first quarter. Its momentum disappeared in the face of an outstanding performance from South Windsor quarter-back Connor Kapisak. At a level where teams rarely throw the ball, Kapisak was flinging passes down field with ease, torch-ing a flummoxed Tomahawks defense for four touchdown passes. Two of those touchdowns went to Mike Bazzano, including one that went for 49 yard. Will Pineo and Jacues Bouquot also caught touchdowns. Finally, Jake Klemba rushed for a touchdown.

Glastonbury was unable to throw the ball effectively, putting too much pressure on a running game that was unable to escape for big plays. Once Kapisak and the Panthers got going, the wind came out of the sails for the Tomahawks.

“We have good athletes and a good

quarterback,” said South Windsor head coach Dave Hodge. “That’s always going to lead to success on offense.”

Ellington Takes Home A-Title In NCFLThe Northern Connecticut Football

League (NCFL) A, B, and C Championship Games were held Nov. 18 at Tolland High School. Local towns claimed each of the championships. Ellington won the A-Team Championship, 14-6 over Colchester.

Ellington relied on a dominant defense to lead the way en route to their fifth cham-pionship in eight seasons.

Colchester controlled most of the first

Jacques Bouquot reaches out to catch a touchdown pass from Conner Kapisak in South Windsor’s B Championship win.

quarter, and drove the ball deep into Ellington territory before its drive stalled. After a scoreless first quarter, the Roadrunners faced a fourth and eight at the Colchester 25-yard line. During the drive, Ellington quarterback, Nate LaJoie was sacked twice and was consistently under pres-sure. The Roadrunners ran and executed a bootleg pass to perfection as LaJoie made

a great fake and threw the ball up in the end zone. Kevin Redler, who had a great year at wide receiver, made a leaping catch to give Ellington a 6-0 lead.

Ryan Weitz kicked the ensuing kick-off down to the Cougar five yard line, a rarity in youth football. On the first play, Colchester fumbled the snap and after a scrum, Ellington’s Sean Villeneuve fell on the ball in the end zone for a touchdown. LaJoie then connected with Redler on the two-point conversion to give Ellington a 14-0 lead.

The 14 points was enough for Ellington’s

defense. Ellington limited Colchester to 137 yards on the ground, but did most of its damage on third and fourth downs. El-lington held Colchester to 2 for 17 on third and fourth down conversions. Colchester could never get a long drive going.

“Our defense was smothering,” said El-lington defensive coordinator Rick Reilly after the game. “You know how you coach ‘11 Helmets on the ball’? You saw exactly that.”

Nobody stepped up more on the de-fense than tackle/linebacker Ryan Weitz. Weitz, who was good all year, saved maybe his best performance in his eight year Roadrunner career for his last game. He recorded eleven tackles, four of them for losses. He always seemed to make the big tackle on third and fourth down.

“Weitz was far and away the MVP of that game. The kid was an absolute animal on the D-line.” stated Reilly.

Perfect Season For TollandTolland put a hurting on RHAM on its

way to the C-Team title, winning 34-16 in front of a hometown crowd. It was a fiting end to a season in which Tolland had a perfect record and absolutely dominated the league. The Eagles finished 11-0. Aidan D’Amato scored for the Eagles, and Carter Biron played very well on both sides of the ball.


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Local Youth Hockey Program Hosts Harlem TeamBy Nate Owen,The Sports Department

The Eastern Connecticut Hockey Orga-nization’s one-day Mini-Mite Thanksgiving Festival was a sign of just how much the organization has grown in recent years.

The tournament, which lasted almost six hours, was held at the Bolton Ice Palace Nov. 24. This was the fifth year of the event, which had four teams its first year. That number grew to 10 this year, includ-ing one from the Harlem section of New York that received a special invitation.

Mini-Mite is for players from 4 to 8. Each team played four,cross-ice four-on-four games. Playing cross-ice games gives players a chance to touch the puck more, and better hone their skills, according to Mike Rooney, ECHO’s director of Grow the Game.

The rink was split into three playing areas. Each game went 25 minutes, with players skating two-minute shifts. Some

games had a fully-equipped goalie, while others just had a player standing in the net.

“We try not to pigeon-hole kids into a goalie-type position at this age,” Rooney said. “There are so many other things they need to learn besides standing in front of the net with pads attempting to block shots.”

Playing in a smaller area didn’t seem to bother any of the participants.

“We had refs with striped shirts; the kids swore they were playing in the Stanley Cup,” Rooney said. “It was a great day for everyone.”

The Ice Hockey in Harlem group is sponsored by the NHL’s New York Rang-ers and plays on an outside rink in Central Park.

Rooney said the Harlem team originally reached out to various organizations across Connecticut looking for some of their older kids to come to play in the state.

ECHO reached out to them and offered the chance for their Mini-Mite group to play in the Thanksgiving event, waiving the tourna-ment fee.

For many of the Harlem skaters, it was their first time in the country and playing in an indoor rink.

“It was great,” said Bob

Pilney, ECHO’s co-president. “I don’t think any of the kids knew about their different backgrounds. All the parents were hoot-ing and hollering. Once they put on their skates and helmets they were just hockey players.”

Pilney said the plan is to send one of ECHO’s older Peewee A teams down to Harlem’s rink at some point.

While some of ECHO’s older groups travel for games, the Mini-Mites mainly stay close to home. Both Rooney and Pilney said this level is all about teaching the game and having fun.

“You’ll see a little boy or girl score their first goal, or learn to stop and start, or do a drill they haven’t been able to do before,” Pilny said. “That’s what makes its fun for the kids.”

ECHO has two co-ed groups for kids

The NHL may not be on, but these kids felt like they were in the Stanley Cup. Photo courtesy of ECHO hockey

There was action everywhere as ECHO hockey hosted teams from Harlem, NY. Photo cour-tesy of ECHO hockey

interested in playing hockey: Learn to Play and Mini-Mites. Rooney said Learn to Play has 55 players while Mini-Mites has 30. Once players are done with Mini-Mites, they move on to ECHO’s House program, the highest in-house group.

Those numbers are up from three years ago, when Pilney and co-president Ken Comallo took over the program. Rooney said competitive travel leagues have replaced the local, rec-level learning expe-rience that ECHO offers.

“We’re not out there directing our energy trying to get a kid a scholarship at a D1 school somewhere,” Rooney said. “Our at-titude in our three groups is ‘Let’s enjoy it.’ These kids come to the rinks will a smile on their face at 6 a.m. in the morning. They truly and genuinely love what they’re doing.”


Marianne Anderson

Continued from Page 1makes mine because helping out someone is a great feeling. It’s a lot of fun.”

Head coach Joe Prignano, a transition coordinator at the school, started the program and has watched it flourish.

“It’s great to provide an opportunity for students with special needs to participate in a sports program where they see success in a setting they usually would not,” Prignano explained. “The program helps in developing social skills with teammates and athletes from other schools.”

Rockville plays games against rival high schools and also participates in local Special Olympics tournaments. Kennedy believes the Unified program enhances the entire school environ-ment.

“When you have a scrimmage or tournament at your school it does encourage the other students to participate and recognize the importance of the Unified program,” Kennedy said. “The mentors truly get an opportunity to work closely with the athletes and experience what it is like to work with individuals with special needs and experience the joy and sportsmanship that this pro-gram brings out.”

According to the CIAA website, the immediate goal of the Unified Sports program is for the athletes and Unified partners to train together, learn together and laugh together.

“It’s always fun,” Kennedy said. “The athletes never fight with teammates like happens in some other competitive sports. They are so happy and that’s what they focus on. They don’t care what other people think. They care about the moment. If they make a basket or score a goal, it’s the best thing in the world to them and

they just enjoy the moment.”In the process of having fun, the program hopes to change atti-

tudes and develop friendships between the athletes and partners that last far beyond the season.

“Brendan has definitely developed some great relationships with the athletes,” Prignano said. “He has been the model that we would like from other student mentors who participate in the Unified program. His motivation every time we have practice or a tournament makes a positive impression which carries over not only to the team, but the entire school.

Kennedy, who Prignano described as “a very talented musician who will be very successful in whatever he does,” wants to stay involved in Special Olympics after high school and said he might even consider a career with the organization.

“The athletes have opened my eyes,” Kennedy said. “They’ve taught me to be fair and to respect more people in life. These kids are all happy and respecting of everyone. That’s what I’ve taken from it. If these kids can do that, I can do it.”

At the end of each season, the team members receive a Rockville High School athletic certificate. In addition, Prignano presents a plaque to each Unified partner upon graduation. When Kennedy is handed his next year, he’ll accept it with pride, but at the same time has already admitted he got far more out of being in involved in the program than he could ever give back.

“The athletes have helped me become a better person,” Ken-nedy said.

Contact Jon Buzby at [email protected] and follow him @JonBuzby on Twitter.

Keys To Shooting The BasketballBy Dr. Hal Wissel,www.basketballworld.comConfidence is the Most Important Factor in Shooting

Believe in yourself. You want to have confidence in your ability to make the shot every time you shoot. Confident shooters control their thoughts, feelings, and shoot-ing skill. Shooting is much more than good mechanics. It’s the feeling, thoughts and belief in yourself that comes first. Basketball is a mental and physical game. Develop-ing the mental aspect is a key to enhanc-ing shooting as well as performance in all fundamentals.

Three and One-Half Balls Fit in the RimTo help your confidence, it is important

to know that the basket is big. The basket is so big that three and one half balls can fit in the rim. This surprises most players. You can get on a ladder and fit three balls side by side over the rim and have enough space to fit and turn your hand between each ball. Realizing that the basket is so big should give a psychological boost to your confidence.

Act Like a Shooter. Keep Follow-through Up Until the Ball Reaches the Rim

To also help your confidence, keep your follow through straight up until the ball reaches the rim. This is not only mechani-cally correct, but more importantly you will look and act like a shooter.

Feel positive that each time you shoot, the ball will go in. Good shooters stay confident even when they hit a cold streak and miss a few shots. After a missed shot, mentally correct the miss and visualize a good shot. Positive affirmation statements (“I’m a shooter!” All net! or “Count it!” for example) that you can say to yourself can promote confident thoughts about yourself and your ability to shoot. You can also remind yourself of past successes to boost your confidence.

Being able to shoot under pressure distinguishes great shooters from the good shooters. You want to take the shot not only when your team is ahead, but when the pressure is on. The direct correlation between shooting confidence and shooting success is the most consistent factor we recognize in great shooters.

Rhythm is the Second Most Important Factor in Shooting

Kennedy Humbled By Experience

Skills should be smooth, free flowing, and rhythmical and this is especially true in shooting. Mechanics are important, but you want to have good mechanics without being mechanical. Your shot should be smooth and rhythmical rather than mechanical. All parts of your shot should flow together in a sequential rhythm.

Rhythm and Range Come from a Down-and-Up Motion of Your Legs

To help our rhythm and range we use a down-and-up action of our legs, rather than lowering the ball or stepping into the shot. Start with your knees slightly flexed: Bend your knees and then fully extend them in a down-and-up motion. Saying the key words ‘down and up’ from the start of your shot un-til the release of the ball will trigger the down and up action of your legs that provides rhythm and force for your shot. Your legs and shooting arm move together. As your legs go up your arm goes up. As your legs reach full extension, your back, shoulders

and shooting arm extend in a smooth, continuous forward and upward direction toward your target. It is important to keep the ball high with your shooting hand facing the rim.

Use the down-and-up motion of your legs for rhythm rather than lowering the ball for rhythm. Keeping the ball high fosters a quick release and also provides less chance for error. Stepping into your shot may help your range, but your shot becomes a two-count shot. Using the down-and-up method allows you to shoot in one motion or one count. When shooting off the catch the down comes just before the catch and the shot goes up as your legs go up providing for a quicker release.

Basic Mechanics Of ShootingBasic mechanics of shooting include

sight, balance, hand position, elbow-in alignment, shooting rhythm, and follow-through. To develop your shot it is best to concentrate on only one or two mechanics

at a time.

Key Words Enhance Shooting Confidence, Mechanics, Rhythm and Range

As important as confidence is, accurate shooting takes more than positive thinking: it also takes shooting skill. Neither mental confidence nor mechanics alone is enough. Success results from the integration of the mental and mechanical aspects of shooting.

When you think, you are in a sense talk-ing to yourself. That talk can be either posi-tive or negative. A technique called positive self-talk can help you integrate the mental and mechanical aspects of shooting, speed-ing the improvement of your shot. Positive self-talk uses key words (also called cue words) to enhance performance.

Select words that help you learn correct mechanics, establish rhythm, and build confidence. The key words should be posi-tive, concise (preferably one syllable), and personalized.


Hockey NotebookHockey

Bucks Look To End Playoff DroughtBy Nate Owen,The Sports Department

After missing the state playoffs the last two seasons, the Bucks of E.O. Smith/Windham/Tolland are looking for a strong offense and solid goaltending to end that drought.

“We had our largest turnout in years,” said E.O. Smith/Windham/Tolland coach Victor Hurtuk. “We’re looking to make a run at the conference title after having a bit of a hiccup [the last few years].”

The Bucks (6-13-1) return plenty of offense in senior forwards Mike Criniti, Chance Foster and Daryl St. Onge. Ju-nior Ben Lassow is back in goal, although Hurtuk said junior Eric Sahi and sopho-more Matt Schoen could push for playing time.

Lassow’s twin brother, Aaron, and junior Justin Gagnon are the veterans on an otherwise inexperienced defense.

While players used to go their own way in the offseason, Hurtuk said the team spent the fall practicing together. That, coupled with the team’s large numbers, should be beneficial this season.

“We have three pretty deep lines and a lot of high quality juniors and seniors,” Hur-tuk said. “We only have three sophomores on varsity – usually we have between six and ten.”

Rockville/Bolton/CoventryRockville enters a new partnership with

Bolton and Coventry after being paired with Stafford and Manchester the last several years.

“Our players will need to get used to playing with each other and under a differ-

By Patrick Telman,South Windsor Recreation

The K-1 Mighty Mite Basketball pro-gram is an instructional, co-ed program that teaches the fundamentals of bas-ketball to young players using a variety of fun drills and activities designed to improve skills. The registration deadline is Dec. 23. The season runs from Jan. 5 - March 9 and classes are held at 9 a.m., 10 a.m. and 11 a.m at Phillip R. Smith or Eli Terry School. There is a $52 fee. Space is limited.

Grades 2-3 More Mighty Mites Basketball

Full court basketball games are introduced in this modified instructional format. Staff will provide a combina-tion of instructional drills and controlled scrimmages. Programs meets on Satur-days at 9 a.m., 10 a.m., 11 a.m., noon, 1 p.m. or 2 p.m. and will rotate weekly. The season runs from Jan. 5 - March 9 at

Orchard Hill School. The fee is $52.

Middle School VolleyballIn this eight week program, teens will

develop basic skills with an emphasis on mastering the proper techniques, move-ments and postures through instruction, drills and play. Students will participate in organized games at the end of each class. The program is for students in grades 6-8 at Timothy Edwards Gym. Classes we be held Jan. 3- Feb. 28 on Thursdays from 5 p.m. - 6:45 p.m. at Timothy Edwards Gym.

All Fall/Winter programs and offer-ings are in the brochure or online at recreation.southwindsor.org at this time. Registration is ongoing for both residents and non-residents for all Fall/Winter pro-grams at this time. You can register for programs at the office, by mail or online. The recreation office can be reached at: (860) 648-6355. Office hours are: Mon-day through Friday 8 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.

Escape The Winter BluesSouth Windsor Recreation

Action Photos Make Great Stocking Stuffers! To Order Prints From

The Sports Department See www.TheSportsDept.com “Photo Gallery”

Mike Criniti

ent playing system,” Rockville head coach Christian Stevenson said.

Top returners include senior forwards J.R. Piretti and Mike Leardi, who has good hands and a physical presence, Stevenson said. Senior goalie Cam Earle is also back, along with junior forward Seth Alexanderowicz, a versatile player with good speed. Piretti and Earle both played in the Connecticut High Schools Coaches’ Association junior all-star game last season.

“This is a team of players who were arch rivals with each other six months ago,” Stevenson said. “We shared a rink and competed hard every time we faced each other for bragging rights. Now we are wearing the same jersey and hopefully share the same goal.”

Tri-TownThe three

school coop of Somers, Ellington, and East Windsor opens its season Dec. 15 at home against Conard. The Terrorcats begin the year with four straight home games as they look to re-bound after miss-ing the playoffs last season with a 6-13-1 record.

Cullen Rob-erts returns for the Terrorcats, but Zack Palmer will not be back as he has opted to play Junior

“We have three pretty deep lines and a lot of

high quality juniors and seniors. We only have three

sophomores on varsity – usually we have between six and ten.” - E.O Smith/

Windham/Tolland coach Victor Hurtuk

Hockey this winter.

South WindsorAlways one of

the area’s pow-erhouses, the Bobcats return this season after getting knocked out of the Division I quarterfinals last year by eventual champion Notre Dame-West Ha-ven. South Wind-sor opens Dec. 15 at home against Fairfield Prep, then plays five straight

on the road before returning home to face Darien Jan. 5.


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Tolland Is Guard Heavy, But Look To Crash Boards More

Boys’ Basketball NotebookBoys’

Basketball

By Danny Atkinson,The Sports Department

Getting to the rack won’t be a problem for Tolland. Crashing the boards is where the ques-tions lie as the 2012-2013 campaign kic ks off.

Tolland is confident it can improve on last season’s 10-11 season. The Eagles went 7-7 in the CCC East and lost to Brookfield in the first round of the Class M Tournament. The Eagles will be lead by Taylor Fortin, one of the state’s very best guards. Seniors Mike Nisbet and Dan Vareed are also returning starters with proven resumes.

The Eagles are Fortin’s team. He scored 19.6 ppg last season and dished out nearly five assists a game, earning him All-State honors. The highly competitive shooting guard will anchor what head coach Mike Lewis hopes is a formidable offense.

Nisbet, a forward, scored just over nine points a game and can shoot well for a big. He will be counted on to score more inside this season. Vareed scored 7.3 ppg, a number that should go up for the outstanding shooter (he shot 40 percent from three).

Tolland’s success will be predicated on its ability to rebound. The Eagles grabbed less than 18 rebounds a game and lost their second and third leading rebounders. Nisbet will need to increase his average of 3.8 rpg, but that will not be enough. Juniors Trevor King and Josh Petosky need to step up and bring an edge to Tolland inside.

“We need to rebound the ball effectively,” Lewis stated. “We haven’t had the physical toughness you need inside the last few years.”

EllingtonThe Knights look to take another step forward

after finishing tenth in the NCCC with an 8-13-1 record. They earned a berth in the Class M Tournament but lost in the first round. Ellington features a solid core of players who will make big contributions on both ends of the floor.

Ellington is deep all-around. Jon Bassett is an outstanding junior point guard, and senior shooting guard Justin Dionne will complement him with his skills as a scorer. Austin Tautkus and senior Matt Anderson will bring size and defense to the post.

Head coach Don Flint is confident his team has the talent to return to the state tournament. He believes the biggest key to reaching that goal is team chemistry.

“We need to have continued cohesiveness throughout the season,” Flint said. “Every good team must gel both emotionally and physically.”

RockvilleThe Rams expect to improve on last season,

after a disappointing 4-16 (3-11 CCC East) season. Head coach Peter McCann is hoping his squad’s speed and depth can carry it to a state tournament berth.

Rockville will go ten deep, an advantage that should allow it to play at a quick pace.

The Rams will be led by two forwards; senior Rae-quan Barber and junior Sean O’Gara. McCann praised sophomore forward Tyler Johnson for his tremendous athleticism and leadership skills. The Rams also have added Tarchee Brown, a junior transfer from Hartford Public. Brown is a talented swingman who can get to the basket off the dribble and spot up for the perimeter shot.

When asked what a successful season would be for Rockville, McCann’s response was crystal clear.

“I think we need to make the tournament for our season to be deemed successful.”

South WindsorMost head coaches would temper their

expectations coming off a season where their team went 1-19. Brenden McClay is not most head coaches. The South Windsor head coach believes his team can make a big turnaround and possibly contend for a state tournament berth.

The Bobcats certainly have their work cut out for them, losing four starters from a team that averaged just 43 points a game.

South Windsor looks to improve on its rebounding and turnovers, something the team struggled with all of last season. However, the team has shown steady improvement in these areas during the preseason. McClay praised the work ethic players have shown in practice.

See “SOUTH WINDSOR”, Page 12

Matt Anderson will be looked at to be a force in the post for Ellington. Photo by: Steve Smith, The Sports Department


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Continued from Page 11“Our players have been in our system for

a few years,” he said. “They should improve their execution as the season goes along.”

The Bobcats will rely on their seniors to lead the rebuilding effort. Forward Shaq Smith should be the team’s No. 1 player. McClay said that Smith is capable of putting up 15 points and 10 rebounds nightly with strong defense. Zach Heckt should be a steady point guard and guard/forward Casey Shoop will bring South Windsor some much-needed outside shooting.

“We are absolutely looking to qualify for the state tournament,” McCay stated. “It would be a huge step forward for our program.”

StaffordIf you think the Stafford Bulldogs are just

content with making a tournament run after a big improvement from the previous season, think again.

After a 10-11 season and losing in the first round of the Class S tournament, Stafford expects to take another leap forward this season as the team is stacked with eight seniors.

Head coach Mike Morhardt had nothing but praise for his team’s play in the pre-season.

“Our guys have shown good chemistry and play very well together,” he stated. “I’ve been surprised by how good our athleticism has been. It feels like we’ve taken a step.”

The Bulldogs overall athleticism should be their biggest strength. It starts with senior Zach Rollins, an all-conference forward. Morhardt said that junior shooting guard Jake Kalette has “jumped off the charts athletically”

South Windsor Has High Expectations

and that he will open some eyes. Senior Tim Ford is an exceptional defender, and sophomore Alex Hoss will set the offensive pace at the point.

“We need to try and keep everything in the moment. Our players just need to focus on getting better every day.”

Enfield

The Raiders went undefeated in the regular season last year and won the NCCC championship. However, the season ended with a thud when Ledyard upset Enfield 69-67 in the third round of the Class M Tourna-ment, giving it a final record of 25-1. The Raiders are hoping to repeat as conference champions and make another tournament run this season, but to do that, their talented squad will have to overcome the loss of stars Tre Preston and Hugh Lindo.

Enfield will be a guard-oriented team, with senior Paul Lima leading the way in the backcourt. Head coach Cory O’Connell believes that speed should be a strength for

the Raiders because of all the skilled guards they could have.

Enfield will have to overcome its lack of size as the season goes along. Kevin Camidge is currently the squad’s only no-table big man.

O’Connell is confident that the Raiders have what it takes to have another strong campaign.

“The season will depend on how the team comes together and prepares.”

East Windsor

The Panthers were 11-11 last season and finished sixth in the NCCC, losing in the first round of the Class S Tournament to Hadd-am-Killingworth. The team has the talent to return to the state tournament, but must overcome its youth.

In junior Kevin Mocadlo, East Windsor has a versatile performer who teams will struggle to contain. Mocadlo is an outstand-ing scorer who can play every position and shoot well from all points on the floor. Head coach John Cessario expects Mocadlo to reach the 1000 point mark by the end of his career.

Junior Dajon Farley brings similar skills to the Panthers. He plays all five spots on the floor and is an exceptional long range shooter.

The Panthers feature six players who are 6-foot-3 or taller and should consistently control the boards.

Cessario is looking for his squad to show impressive defensive effort early.

“We have to secure a defensive mentality and understand how that pride can lead to some great things on the offensive side of

the floor.”

FermiThe Falcons may have something to build

on after winning its last three games of the season to finish 3-17 last season. Head coach Bob Evans is confident his team can build on those victories behind its experience and size. If Fermi reaches its ultimate goal of qualifying for the state tournament, it would be a huge boom for the program, which has won just nine games over the past five seasons.

Fermi should have three effective big men in forward Alex Zachary and seniors Josh Murphy and Josh Liebla, who are both 6-foot-3. Senior point guard Dan Brunetti needs to have a strong season to take pres-sure off the Falcons big men.

“We can’t back off at all,” Evans said. “We have to play hard for all four quarters.”

Somers

The Spartans have a strong shot at a state tournament berth, as they return three full-time starters from a squad that finished twelfth in the NCCC and just missed out on the Class S Tournament by going 7-13.

Somers experience and size will make them a tough opponent in the NCCC. The Spartans will rely on senior big men Brendan Coverdill and Nick Elia. Coverdill and Elia, who are both 6”4”, both averaged nine PPG. They will bring experience and size to both ends of the court.

Sophomore guard Jack Hostetler and junior guard Mike Casciano are returning starters who averaged 5 ppg and 3 ppg last season.

Taylor Fortin will be the catalyst for the Tolland Eagles this season. TSD File Photo


Girls’ Basketball NotebookGirls’

Basketball

Bobcats Look To Get Over The HumpBy Reid L. Walmark,The Sports Department

The South Windsor Bobcats haven’t had a problem getting to the Class LL tourna-ment the last two seasons. But performing well in it has been.

The Bobcats have lost in the first round of the Class LL tournament in each of the last two seasons, finishing 12-9 in 2011-12. They lost two starters to graduation and another to transferring, but return junior guard Christina Rozie, who was All-CCC North a year ago, and will draw players from last season’s junior varsity team that went 20-0.

Forwards Jackie Kenefick and Marissa Silverman are coach Don Leclerc’s only seniors. Juniors Olivia Bolden, Kait-lyn LaBonte and Emily Ryder will play forward, juniors Rebecca Karlins and Kristina Russo will play guard, as will sophomore Amy McConnell.

South Windsor will rely on its defense and quickness, said Leclerc, who expects Glastonbury and Weaver to be the Bob-cats’ chief competition in the CCC North.

The Bobcats defeated Plainville, which earned a berth in the CCC tournament a year ago, in the season opener by 69-28 on Dec. 5.

Tolland

Gone is veteran coach Rocco Sansone

and most of the players who carried Tol-land to the Class M finals in 2012 where they lost to Weaver 55-47 to finish at 24-4. Junior guard Chelsea Domian is the lone returning starter for the Eagles, who lost in the CCC tournament semifinals last winter and were runners-up to Class L finalists E.O. Smith in the CCC East in the regular season a year ago.

Vinnie Cianfarani, who guided Wind-sor into the conference tournament last season, brings a 265-116 career record as he takes over as coach. “I strongly believe that we will be a cohesive unit sooner than later,” Cianfarani said. “The girls have given me impressive season goals that illustrate that they want to have a suc-cessful season. Their work ethic has been amazing.”

Senior guard Ashley Clawson will be counted upon to be the floor leader. Se-niors Jacqui Foreman and Sammie Ol-son will play forward. Sophomore Lauren Heery is likely to see time at forward, as will freshman Taylor Hall. Three sopho-mores could be in the rotation at guard – Sammy Downham, Courtney Akerley and Sarah Allen.

The Eagles started the season on Dec. 5 in West Hartford at Hall, which was a CCC tournament team a year ago. Tolland beat Hall 61-40.

RockvilleIsrael Caban takes over for Craig

Archambault as coach of Rockville, which went 4-16 last year, a four-win improve-ment from 2010-11’s winless season.

“My expectations are high on what we should be able to do on both ends of the floor with our quickness and athleticism,” Caban said. “How fast do we get there still is to be seen.” The Rams’ work ethic, he said, “should speed up the development of our up-tempo style. Our defense will carry us early on and the group with continue to develop fundamentals.”

Junior Courtney Joubert will play guard, as will junior Hannah Steed and sophomore Taylor Krajewski. Junior Daphne Botteron will play some at guard and forward, junior Danielle Wemmell will play at forward and junior Katherine Cut-ting will split time between forward and center.

Rockville kicked off the season on Dec. 5 at Conard, which went 5-15 a year ago, but the Rams lost, 56-24.

EllingtonEllington returns three starters from a

team that went 24-3 last year and earned the No. 3 seed in the Class M state tourna-ment, losing to Tolland in the semifinals. Coach Lauren Beeler (94-34) will rely on

See “KNIGHTS”, Page 14

Amy McConnell will look to help lead the Bobcats past the first round of the Class LL tournament this season. TSD File Photo


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Continued from Page 13junior guard Karlee Alves to build on her statistics from 2011-12 when she averaged 10 points and six assists a game. The Knights will be buoyed by the return of senior guard Brittany LeMire, who missed all of last season with a knee injury.

Senior guard Jess Malone averaged eight points and two assists a game last winter and junior center Meg Milliken contributed nine rebounds and six assists per game. Junior guard Kim McCoy averaged three steals and six rebounds a game, and junior Devonney Waters likely will receive signifi-cant playing time at guard.

Beeler is confident Ellington’s defense will be effective but she has concerns the offense can be as productive as last year. Avon, Suffield and SMSA should be the top competition in the NCCC, she said.

Ellington’s first game was Dec. 6 at Woodstock Academy.

Knights Try To TopLast Season


BobcatsBobcatsBobcats

South Windsor Student Athlete of the Month

Sport: SwimmingNickname: MeeshAccomplish-ments: All-State: 100-yard butterfly, All-Conference: 100 butterfly, 200 medley relay, 200 freestyle relay, 400 freestyle relayGPA: 3.5How do you pre-pare for a meet? I listen to music that gets me pumped up and I laugh with my friends.Thoughts on the season: We had an awesome season this year (8-1).Favorite career moment: Breaking a minute in the 100-yard butterfly. It hap-pened for the first time this year at state finals (59.24).What area were you strongest in? What area did you improve the most in over your career? My strongest area is swimming butterfly, but I also compete in the 200 yard IM so I have been trying to improve all of my strokes.Looking back, what are you going to miss the most about playing for your team? Overall, what are you going to miss the most about high school? I’m

Michelle Robidoux

definitely going to miss being with girls on the team because we saw each other six days a week, sometimes practicing twice a day. Overall, I’m going to miss being just a short car ride away from my friends.What is the toughest challenge you’ve overcome? I had a really rough junior year season and didn’t improve as much as I wanted to. Starting out fresh this year and working hard at every practice helped me to stay on track and reach my goals.Favorite athlete? Which athlete do you most model your swim? Rebecca Soni is an Olympic swimmer who I really ad-mire. Watching her swim has helped me to improve my breastroke technique.Red Sox or Yankees? Neither. UConn men or UConn women? UConn womenFavorite band, movie, TV show? The Cab, The Shawshank Redemption, 90210Favorite sports website? ESPN.comHow do you believe sites like Twitter and Facebook have changed how you watch and follow sports? Twitter is definitely a great place to look if you want updates on a game, because sports are something that people feel passionately about.Plans after high school: I have applied to several colleges that are all relatively close to home, and I would love to be able to swim at the collegiate level. Chelsea Domian (3) returns for Tolland

and will be one of the top players in the area this season.


A Special Thanksgiving Story For A Very Special Player

By B.N. Mazzone,The Sports DepartmentELLINGTON - The Ellington/Somers football game vs the Housatonic/Wamogo Mountaineers on Nov. 17 was just a footnote for two teams headed in differ-ent directions. For the Knights, it was their senior day, an annual event that evokes equal amounts of both joy and sadness. For the Mountaineers, it was another game that helped to round out a tough season. However, for one senior, this day was a day that he’d never forget.

Xavier Avalos, a senior at Ellington High School played in his first ever high school game. Avalos, who is in his first year at El-lington, has had a long sports journey.

Avalos’ first love is sports. His main interests are the records of the Boston Red Sox, New England Patriots, Boston Celtics, and Boston Bruins. (He’s also very concerned with how often the Yankees and Giants lose).

Avalos is a special education student at Ellington, and although he’s been involved with sports as a manager, he’s never been able to participate in a game. On this par-ticular Saturday, he got his chance.

Ellington/Somers head coach Keith Tautkus came up with the idea over a month ago and thought that maybe Xavier could try kicking in the game. Last week he contacted Housatonic head coach Deron Bayer and he responded with great enthusiasm in support of the idea.

Avalos was supposed to kick the open-

ing kickoff for the Knights and his day was supposed to be done. However, he got much more than he bargained for, kicking off four times and attempting two extra points. Unfortunately Avalos missed the two extra points, but the results didn’t matter.

In his four years of high school Avalos has had quite the journey. He attended Somers High as a freshman and spent the past two years at Enrico Fermi High School.

While at Fermi, Avalos, or X-Man as he likes to be called, was the boys’ basketball manager. He tried out for the team, but didn’t make it and former head coach Vern Mitchell wanted to keep him as part of the team. Mitchell asked him to be a manager and he continued in that role until he left Fermi. However, he never got in a game.

Avalos practiced with the team all week. He participated in special teams, practicing kickoffs, tackled some coaches (unexpect-edly) in drills, and did all the sprints. Two days before the game he was brought in to attempt an extra point. X-Man nailed the extra point and was mobbed by his teammates like he was Adam Vinateri win-ning the Super Bowl. X-Man was hoisted up by his teammates as they chanted his name. The coaches then chose to end the practice.

Nov. 17 won’t go down in the record books for anything spectacular for either team. For the X-Man it will be a day that he’ll never forget.

Ellington High senior Xavier Avalos gets a kick out of sports and last Saturday, he finally got his chance to play in a varsity game.

By Nate Owen,TheSportsDept.comENFIELD - It would be easy to focus on what the Ellington/Somers football team hasn’t done the last two years – namely hold a pair of fourth quarter leads in the each of their playoff games.

But that would be ignoring the climb the Knights have made from an average team to one of the area’s elite programs.

“We showed that we weren’t a one-year fluke,” said senior Brendan Coverdill after the Knights’ 29-22 loss to No. 6 Weston in the Class M playoff opener Nov. 28 at Enfield High School. “We were 6-4 [two years in a row] and then went 10-0 last year. The seniors didn’t want to be a 6-4 team again. We wanted to be special and I think we did that and it really means a lot.”

Aaron Pomerance’s 9-yard touchdown run coupled with quarterback Tyler Has-sett’s two-point conversion run gave the Trojans a 21-14 lead with 10:06 remain-ing in the fourth. Ellington wasted little time responding, as Christian Schneider fumbled the ensuing kickoff, but recov-ered and brought the ball into Weston territory.

The Knights scored one play later when Joe Leslie found a leaping Austin Tautkus for a 42-yard touchdown. Neal Janiga’s two-point run made it 22-21, El-lington with 9:44 left.

But Weston drove to the Ellington two-yard line and went up 29-22 on Hassett’s touchdown run and ensuing conversion pass to Justin Schaffer at 7:41.

Hassett caused problems for El-lington’s defense all game, completing 16-of-28 passes for 154 yards and a touchdown, while rushing for 97 yards with two touchdowns, often scrambling out of the pocket to avoid the pressure off the edge.

“The line held for the two seconds I need to get out of the pocket,” he said.

“They did a great job.”Ellington sent out the punt team facing

fourth-and eight on the Weston 38-yard line and 4:01 left, but called timeout and went for it. Hassett intercepted Leslie’s pass and brought it down to Ellington’s 22 yard line. The Knights held on de-fense, with Leslie breaking up a pass on fourth-and-seven intended for Schaffer.

But the Knights couldn’t get past mid-field, turning the ball over on downs with 1:33 left.

“We were able to cover and stop them. We had some great stands in the red zone. But we just couldn’t get anything going,” Ellington head coach Keith Tautkus said.

The Knights defense took hit when linebacker Sean Tynan left in the third quarter with a concussion.

“That’s a tough guy to replace,” Keith Tautkus said. “We’ve got to change our whole defensive philosophy when he’s not in there. But they got us the ball and kept us in the game.”

The game was played at Enfield due a lack of permanent lights at Ellington’s field. A new CIAC rule enacted this year required all host teams to have perma-nent light fixtures at their fields.

Ellington lead 8-7 at halftime thanks to Schneider’s one-yard touchdown run and ensuing conversion, and then took a 14-13 lead at 2:55 in the third on Janiga’s 52-yard touchdown scamper.

Janiga finished with 97 rushing yards.“This is a great bunch of guys,” Keith

Tautkus said. “I enjoyed this season more than I did last year even with the 10-0 [record].”

For Coverdill, who is from Somers, the football season gave him a chance to bond with his Ellington teammates.

“I love coming over to Ellington and just being with my and teammates friends,” he said. “Going out, and enjoying every bit of it, it’s the best.”

Post-Season Dance Ends Early For Ellington/Somers

Football

Ellington/Somers quarterback Joe Leslie feels the crush of the Weston defense as he gets rid of the ball. Ellington/Somers dropped a 29-22 decision to Weston in a Class M first round playoff game. Photo by Steve Palmer, The Sports Department, www.stevepalmerphotography.com


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FIVE STAR

Ellington Student Athlete of the Month

Sport: SoccerNickname: Stone-wallAccomplish-ments: Honors Student, Scholar Athlete all four years, Sportsman-ship Award 2011, State Tournament Quarterfinalists 2012GPA: 3.7 (un-weighted) 4.0 (weighted)How do you prepare for a game? I like to listen to my iPod and have a good warm-up with the teamExpectations for the next season/Thoughts on the season: We have a very good group of returning players. I think the team as a whole has greatly im-proved; I expect a strong 2013 season.Favorite Career Moment: 3-2 upset over Tolland after taking the game to PKs in the second-round of the state tournament this year, making the saves during the shootout to help earn the win.What area were you strongest in? What area did you improve the most in over your career? I always tried to leave everything on the field, no matter what. I improved my judgment in making Plaques for the Student Athlete of The Month are provided courtesy of

The Trophy Shop 214 Hartford Turnpike, Vernon

KnightsKnightsKnightssaves during games and practices.Looking back, what are you going to miss the most about playing for your team? Overall, what are you going to miss the most about high school? Playing the game I love with an all-around amazing team; spending time with my long-time high school friendsWhat is the toughest challenge you’ve overcome? I tore my ACL right before my sophomore year so I was out for that season. The toughest challenge was making my recovery so that I could come back strong and play again.Favorite athlete? Which athlete do you most model your game after? I don’t have a favorite athleteUConn men or UConn women? UConn MenFavorite band, movie, TV show? Life-house, Braveheart, Criminal MindsWhat is your favorite sports website to follow? CIAC sports during tourna-ment time in the fallHow do you believe sites like Twitter and Facebook have changed how you watch and follow sports? Sometimes I’ll see scores on Facebook but other-wise I’ll just ask someone. I don’t have a Twitter account.Plans after high school: I would like to go to UConn and major in nursing

Kiara Stone

Ellington Recreation

Youth Basketball UnderwayBy Bob Tedford,Ellington Recreation

All youth basketball programs are under-way, either in the practice or game mode. If you have a child that wishes to participate in the instructional (ages 4 through 2nd grade) or the recreation division programs, grades 3-4; 5-6; 7-8, please contact the recreation office immediately in order to determine roster/space availability.

Early notice: Spring Lacrosse registrationsIn order to comply with the respective

league registration deadlines for both girls and boys lacrosse teams, Spring 2013 lacrosse registrations began on Dec. 1 and will close on Jan. 25, 2013. All registrations received after Jan. 25, 2013 will be accepted on either a ‘wait’ list or enrolled based on the current available roster openings as defined within each division.

We are also looking for greater parental support and involvement to ensure that the program continues to prosper and grow in the upcoming years. If you are interested in assisting the Ellington Lacrosse Association in any capacity (coaching, officiating, fundraising, operations, etc.) please contact Bob Tedford at the recreation office (860-870-3118) or at: [email protected].

PostseasonThe 2013 youth basketball jamborees that

bear the well-known names of ‘Dick Gunn and Clare Landmann will once again be held in late February or early March.

Informal Youth High School BasketballLate registrations are being accepted for

the high school age youth basketball program (currently enrolled in grades 9 through 12).

Adult Men’s Comp League

The adult mens competitive basketball league is currently underway. Individuals wishing to be placed should contact the recre-ation office.

Just as a reminder, the mens under and over 30 informal basketball program is held at Windermere School on Monday evenings from 5:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m., until at least mid-March.

The womens informal program will continue to be held at Center School on Tuesday eve-nings from 7:30 p.m. - 9:15 p.m.

Travel Basketball TourneyThe annual 8th grade boys’ travel basket-

ball tournament are tentatively scheduled to held on Dec. 26 and 27 Ellington Middle School. Evening games are planned at 6 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. on both dates with the opposing teams coming from non-league opponents. If a business would like to take out an adver-tisement in the tournament brochure, please contact Bob Tedford at [email protected].

A complete overview of the current program

brochure can be obtained starting Dec. 19, 2012 by accessing the following website: www.ellington-ct.gov. Select town services; select parks and recreation.

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A Memorable Homecoming For Ellington’s Troy RussellBy Brendon Willis,The Sports Department

As memorable moments in a lifetime go, this one was A-List all the way.

With nearly 400 players and specta-tors packed into the Ellington High School gymnasium, 3-on-3 basketball games going simultaneously at four hoops and music blaring from the DJ booth, the atmosphere was a little bit rowdy and a whole lot festive at the Troy Russell Benefit 3-on-3 Basket-ball Tournament, Nov 18.

But that all changed at little after 2 p.m. with the sound of a scoreboard horn.

Instantly, everyone in the gym was reminded of why they had come to this gym on this day. The meaning and spirit of Thanksgiving had arrived a few days early.

“Ladies and Gentleman, may I have your attention,’’ asked DJ Marvella, otherwise kn own as Alyssa Skewes, a 2006 gradu-ate of EHS. “ We have a very special guest who has just arrived. Would you all please welcome Troy Russell.’’

And as his father Bill helped him wheel across the threshold at the entrance to the gymnasium, Russell, who broke two ver-tebrae in a swimming accident in August, managed to lift the hearts and hopes of an entire community in one fell swoop.

For many of Russell’s classmates at EHS, this was the first time they had seen him since the accident. Russell, a two-sport standout athlete at EHS spent nearly three months at Rhode Island Hospital in Providence and then Gaylord Rehabilitation Hospital in Wallingford working to regain movement in both his upper and lower extremities.

The progress has been slow but steady. Russell has limited movement of his arms and recently has been able to move some of his toes and his left leg. According to the family, doctors are guarded with any sort of prognosis this early in the recovery, but if there is one thing Russell proved to the large crowd of supporters gathered at the benefit tournament it is that he is committed

and determined to win this battle.Russell returned to his home in Elling-

ton on November 17th and the family is hoping to bring him to a special hospital in Baltimore that works with spinal cord injury patients 21-years of age and younger. The tournament on the 18th, like previous fund-raisers held for Russell, will help in achiev-ing that goal.

“He came home to a house full of people and banners and everything. Ellington and the surrounding towns have been great,’’ said Troy’s father Bill Russell “It’s been amazing with the raffles, golf tournaments, the dance, this event today…people have been incredible and he’s been so positive.”

Although the accident was heartbreaking, it has truly brought together a town and a community.

The feeling in the gym on Sunday was almost too special for words. Everyone rose to their feet and clapped as Troy gave a gentle wave. There were countless damp eyes and even more smiles throughout the crowd. The ovation lasted for minutes, and incredibly, Troy wheeled himself across the court to greet his friends and supporters, showing how much progress he’s made and how much strength he has gained. A huge crowd gathered around to express their support for Troy and a barrage of hugs, handshakes, and fist bumps followed.

What was truly memorable about the entire scene was that people just could not stop smiling. For such a large group of people to share such pure, common happi-ness is a truly powerful thing.

Afterward, one of Troy’s good friends, Neal Janiga, spoke about what he saw at the tournament and about what he’s learned from his friend. “Kids from East Hartford Troy doesn’t even know are here supporting him, just because they’ve heard about it through someone they know from AAU or something. It’s awesome.,’’ Janiga said. “I play football and every week I get banged up, but I tell myself it’s nothing compared to what he’s going through, I can’t complain.”

According to Troy’s father, the physical therapists were constantly amazed by how quickly Troy was getting better and gaining movement..

Jake Gagne, a 2012 EHS graduate and

freshman at the University of Rhode Island, added, “Being away, I was able to see him once or twice a month, and it was amazing because every time I saw him he was ten times better than the time before,’’ Gagne said. “When I left for school he had no arm movement yet, and when I saw him next he was feeding himself again. He’s the kind of kid no one had a problem with, and that’s why everyone is behind him.”

On the night friends and family found out Troy was in the hospital, #PrayForTroy could be seen trending on Twitter, raising awareness of the situation. The support has not stopped and people have not forgot-ten, as evidenced by all the events and fundraisers and Facebook updates posted regularly about Troy’s progress.

Tee-shirts can be seen around town bearing the #PrayForTroy slogan inside a heart lined with baseball stitches. “Every time I see him he’s happier and staying strong.,’ said friend Cam Mozzer. “He’s really thankful for what he has around him and all the people. I wrote my college essay on him after seeing what he deals with and how tight knit our community is.”

The tournament was a perfect example of a community pulling together for one of its own. Parents, friends, coaches and classmates were all involved in putting the event together. The Ellington High School Rise Above group had nearly 100 percent participation from its membership and the athletics teams at the school helped by creating “team” baskets which were raffled off throughout the afternoon.

Families and organizations donated baked goods that were sold and contributed to prize packs that were raffled off to con-tribute to the fundraising efforts . Sponsor-ships were huge as well, with many families and local businesses lending their support. More than 40 teams from all over the area (East Hartford, Bolton, Tolland, Glastonbury and South Windsor) competed in the event and proceeds exceeded $10,000.

With a lengthy rehabilitation on the horizon, that money will be needed. But on November 18th none of that mattered. What did matter was that Russell was able to come home to his family and enjoy some good basketball with great friends in his high school gymnasium.

There was not a dry eye in the house after Troy Russell arrived at the Ellington High School gymnasium for a special 3-on-3 basketball fundraiser held in his honor on No-vember 18.

Longtime Rivals Join Together For Important CauseBy Staff Report

The Ellington and Tolland boys basketball teams – longtime rivals on the court – came together on December 1 for a special pre-season scrimmage which helped to raise money for Ellington High senior Troy Russell.

The scrimmage was open to the public and nearly 400 fans showed up – many of them from Tolland – to

support Russell, a two-sport athlete who broke two vertebrae in a swim-ming accident this past summer.

Donations were collected at the door and a total of $849.71 was raised on behalf of the Troy Russell Benefit Fund. Congratulations to all of the players and students as well as administrators at both schools for working so hard to organize the scrimmage.


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Youth Photos

Derek Green lunges to save the ball during a nail-biting game against Bolton.

Ellington’s Erin Hayes weaves past the Vernon defense during a recent travel basketball game.

Vernon’s Lindsey Mont-miny rushes past the Ellington defense.

Vernon’s Tyler Medley looks for an open team-mate during a recent game against Somers. Photos by Andre Garant,

The Sports Department, www.ajgphotoguy.com

Ellington’s Lucas VanDeventer prepares to make a shot as Vernon’s Adam Muszi makes the block.

Vernon’s Jake Cichon regains posession of the ball during a recent game against Bolton.

December 2012 19The Sports DepartmentHealth and Wellness

By Julie Dutton, ATC, LAT, Director of Athletic Training Services

While falling snow is beautiful to watch, clean up after can be tough. East Coast snow can be water-filled and heavy, making

it difficult to shovel and remove. Shoveling snow can be an excellent form of exercise, if done properly. To minimize your risk of injury, follow these snow shoveling safety tips:Do not shovel snow if:• You have hypertension, angina or any

other heart-related condition.• You are experiencing back or neck pain.• You are out of shape.Before shoveling:• Warm up by stretching your back, activat-

ing your abdominals, and exercising your leg and upper body muscles.

• Have a light snack and plenty of fluids to fuel your body for the task ahead.

• Dress comfortably in layers. A Dri-Fit shirt will wick moisture away from the skin. Be careful not to overdress, as your body will heat up quickly.

During shoveling:• Pace yourself, especially if you are not

used to physical activity.• Shovel for 5-10 minutes, then break to

Tips For Shoveling Snow Safelyrest, stretch and hydrate.

• Use a shovel with a longer handle for more control. A shorter handle will encour-age poor posture in the neck and back, and potentially lead to back and neck pain.

• Take half-scoops of snow instead of full scoops, especially if the snow is wet and heavy or you are not used to physical activity.

• Stand square to the shovel: your feet and hips should face the shovel. Your legs should be bent and your back should stay straight. Use your legs to push the shovel into the snow. Once you have a scoop of snow, grasp the handle as close to the blade as you can. Your other hand should be about three quarters of the way up the handle. Pivot (move your feet) to face the area where you want to put the snow. Do not twist. This can lead to back pain.

• You should feel the stress of shoveling in the large muscles of your hips, legs and arms, not in your low back.

AFTER shoveling:• You may experience soreness in the large

muscles of your legs and arms 24-48 hours after shoveling. To minimize sore-ness, stay active with light exercise, and use ice and acetaminophen or ibuprofen as needed.

• Use heat 24 hours later if needed, but not before. Hopefully by following these tips and

listening to your body while you are shovel-ing, you can minimize your risk for injury.

Did You Know?

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Tough Transition ForLocal Stars

By Reid L. Walmark,The Sports Department

Two standout girls basketball players in 2011-12 as high school seniors are experiencing the ups and downs of making the transition into the college game. Kelly Conley, an All-State and All-NCCC player at Ellington last winter, is a freshman at Assumption College (6-1) and Kristin Schatzlein, an All-State and All-CCC player at Tolland last winter, is a freshman at Fairfield University (5-1).

Conley has played in five of seven games at guard and has scored seven points in 32 minutes. She played 16 min-utes in her career debut, scored a point and supplied two assists against AIC on Nov. 14. Conley was 2-for-2 from the field with four points against Pace. Schatzlein, the Gatorade Player of the Year in Con-necticut a year ago, has appeared in all six games as a guard, starting none. She has logged 45 minutes of playing time. Schatz-lein is averaging 2.2 points per game. She has grabbed 10 rebounds, blocked a shot and added two assists.

Kelly Schatzlein, a senior forward and Kirstin’s older sister, is a captain for the Merrimack College women’s basketball team (5-2). This is the fourth year as starter for the 2009 graduate of Tolland High School. Schatzlein is averaging 10.3 points per game, best on the team, and 10.7 rebounds, also tops among Warriors. She is shooting 39.2 percent from the floor.

See “??”, Page 20

Kristin Schatzlein, shown here in her high school days was the Connecticut Gatorade Player of the Year last season. She has not started a game yet for Fairfield. TSD File Photo


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Offseason TrainingASK THE TRAINER

Certified Athletic Trainers (ATC’s) are allied health care providers trained in the prevention, evaluation and rehabilita-tion of sports injuries. They work under the direction of a physician and they are board certified nationally and licensed in CT. Visit www.NATA.org for more information. Certified athletic trainers at Enfield High School and Enrico Fermi High School are provided by Hartford Hospital Rehabilitation Network ( rehab.harthosp.org ), formerly Eastern Rehabili-tation Network.Hartford Hospital Rehabilitation Network (HHRN) and The Sports Department have partnered to bring readers a month-ly column on sports medicine topics. Readers may submit questions related to injuries, training advice, rehabilitation or any other sports medicine topic. Submit questions to:Nicole Fontaine, ATC, (South Windsor High School) – [email protected]; Greg Zimbelman, Physical Therapist, (HHRN South Windsor) – [email protected]

Many sports enthusiasts and scholastic athletes consider “winter” their off- sea-son. Rest, both physical and emotional, is certainly an important part of sports. Maintaining a level of fitness during the offseason, however, is not only good for the body. It means less risk of injury when starting up again. So the offseason

is a great time to try a new sport or work on different aspects of conditioning.

The question of how fast to progress with conditioning or in a new sport is frequently posed. The old saying of “no pain, no gain” should not be your guiding principle. A much more reasonable ap-proach is the 10% rule. This means that whatever your activity – weights, training time, mileage, participating in the actual sport – should not increase by more than 10% week over week. If you’re trying to peak for a particular event, back into the timeframe to give yourself adequate training time with gradual increases in intensity.

Several organizations and institutions have collaborated to bring sports injury prevention strategies for kids forward at the website www.STOPSportsInjuries.org, but the advice is practical for any age. Their recommended offseason ap-proach concentrates on different phases. The first focus is core strength, followed by cardiovascular/fitness training. Once this base has been established, strength training would be included, and finally, sport-specific drills. Following this regi-men, with adequate rest built in, will allow you to have a productive, fun offseason followed by a new sports season that will hopefully be injury free. For additional information on setting up your offseason program consult an athletic trainer, physi-cal therapist or sports specialist.

Continued from Page 19Schatzlein is averaging 27.3 min-

utes per game, third most on the team. She has started every game thus far in her sophomore, junior and senior seasons. Her six blocked shots also paces Merrimack. Her best game was on Nov. 28 during a 64-53 win over St. Anselm’s. Schatzlein scored 20 points and grabbed 12 rebounds.

Emily Savino (Ellington 2009) is a senior captain and guard at Western New England College. She is leading the Golden Bears (4-2) in scoring at 14.2 ppg, with a season-high 22 against Lasell. Savino, who has started all six games, is shooting 40 percent from the floor (28 of 70) and is 12-for-32 (37.5 percent) from three-point range. She has made 17 of 20 free throws (85.0 percent), best on the team. Savino has contributed 29 rebounds and 29 assists. Her 4.8 rebounds a game is third best for WNEC. She has been the team-high scorer in five of six games and once, against Nichols, grabbed the most rebounds (8).

Ashley Kinney (Somers 2011) is a

sophomore guard at Dickinson Col-lege (6-2). She has played in all eight games, starting none, and is averaging 9.8 minutes a game. She has scored two points but has chipped in with four rebounds and nine assists this season.

Trachone Preston (Enfield 2012) is a freshman guard on the Eastern Con-necticut State University men’s basket-ball team (5-2). Preston was injured in the preseason but has recovered to play in all seven games for the Warriors, starting in two of them. His 6.6 ppg scoring average ranks him fifth on the team. Preston is shooting 40 percent from the floor and a team third-best 50 percent (8-for-16) from three-point range. He is averaging 1.6 rebounds per game and has 10 assists, one blocked shot and four steals. Preston has made 14 of 16 foul shots (87.5), which is second best on the team.

Sophomore Stevie Hoyt (Glastonbury 2011) placed in three events on Oct. 27 for the McDaniel College men’s swim team (1-4). He placed third in the 100 backstroke and was runner-up in the 200 backstroke and 100 butterfly.

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Local Digest

Brittany Garnelis won the 2012 Connecticut Parks and Recreation Association Dorothy G. Mullen & George Sanford Recognition of accomplishments in the aca-demic field of Recreation and/or Park Studies.

Brittany, an Ellington High School graduate, is in her se-nior year at Eastern Connecti-cut State University majoring in Sports and Leisure Man-agement. She received her award on November 20, 2012 at the annual conference.

She was nominated by her Vernon Park and Recreation Supervisor Amy Locandro, with support letters from Bruce Dinnie, Director of Vernon Parks and Recreation and Charlie Chatterton, Ph.D. Eastern

Connecticut State University Health and Physical Education Department.

Garnelis Receives Presigious Park and Recreation Award

Brittany Garnelis (center) is the 2012 recipient Con-necticut Parks and Recreation Association Dorothy G. Mullen & George Sanford Recognition of accom-plishments in the academic field of Recreation and/or Park Studies. Garnelis is flanked by her mom Diane (left) and Amy Locandro (right) of Vernon Parks and Recreation.

Boston’s named “Booster of the Year” for South Windsor Athletics

Boston’s Restaurant & Sports Bar was named Booster of the Year for 2012 by the South Windsor Bobcats Boosters.

The restaurant, located at 1436 Pleasant Valley Road in the western end of the Buckland Mall area, has been a strong supporter of South Windsor sports, including youth programs and high school booster clubs.

Manager Jeff Weed (center) accepted the award with members of South Windsor High School athletics. Courtesy of: Steve Kaczmarek

Rockville Boys Basketball Wins Fall League Championship

The Rockville High School Boys Bas-ketball team won the Southeast Division Championship of the 2012 CT Northstars High School Fall Tune Up League. The league consisted of four divisions and 38 teams.

The Rams finished the season undefeat-ed at 12-0. The Rams were coached by

The Rockville High School Boys basketball team won the Southeast Division at the CT Northstars Fall Tune-Up League, finishing with a perfect 12-0 record. Back Row (left to right): Coach Brian O’Gara, Sean O’Gara, Raequan Barber, Tyler Johnson, Jake Kennedy, Andrew Foreman; Middle Row (left to right): Sage Storo, Adam Barseleau, Olin Leonard, Steven Hatch, Tarchee Brown; Kneeling: Brian Ducas. Missing from the photo: Malik Yarde, Raheem Huff. Photo by: Johnnie Johnson, Special to TheSportsDept.com

Tolland Grad Receives Lacrosse ScholarshipBy Peter Montenegro,Special To TheSportsDept.com

Tolland High School (THS) 2012 graduate, Geoff Desmarais is the 2012 recipient of the Coach Pinney & Counselor Arnold Lacrosse Scholarship.

A four year lacrosse player at THS, Des-marais played for three years on the varsity squad as a midfielder. The THS scholarship committee selected Desmarais on the basis of lacrosse sportsmanship, lacrosse team lead-ership and academic success. Head coach,

Coach Lee Pinney and Counselor Joel Arnold assisted THS student athletes and their families with the start-up of lacrosse at the school in 2003. Pinney was the inaugural head coach using his prior experience in founding lacrosse at Somers High School and at Suffield High School. Pinney is a member of the Connecticut Lacrosse Hall of Fame.

Joel Arnold brought many years of ex-perience with youth sports and as a school athletic administrator to help guide the Tolland families in supporting a high school lacrosse program. Perhaps, best known for his work with the sport of wrestling, Joel Arnold is a member of the Enfield Athletic Hall of Fame. Arnold passed away in September 2009 fol-lowing his retirement as a counselor at THS. The scholarship is named in their honor by the Friends of Tolland High Lacrosse. Tolland coach Victor Hurtuk assisted the THS scholar-ship committee during the 2012 selection process.

Desmarais, who also played on Tolland’s Class M state championship soccer team as

Tolland’s Geoff Desmarais is the 2012 recipient of the Coach Lee Pinney & Counselor Arnold Lacrosse Scholarship. Courtesy of: Peter Montenegroa sophomore, is attending the University of Connecticut (UConn) in Storrs. He currently plans to declare a major in business. Geoff anticipates trying out in spring 2013 for the university’s club lacrosse team.

Lacrosse constitutes much of Geoff’s youth sports experience. As a third and fourth grader, he played on the Vernon Lacrosse As-sociation teams as Tolland kids were invited to participate by the Vernon adult volunteers. When the Tolland player numbers grew, Geoff then joined the newly formed Tolland La-crosse Club for grades 5-8 youth competition. Geoff is very fond of the resulting lacrosse rivalry with his former Vernon teammates for THS and Rockville High School games during his high school career.

Desmarais joins the following THS gradu-ates as recipients of the Coach Pinney & Counselor Arnold Lacrosse Scholarship: 2007- Justin Lappen; 2008- Nathan Kuzmes-ki; 2010- Andrew Kelly; 2011- Eric Horsfield.

Brian O’Gara who was a captain of 2010 RHS and is currently a junior at Springfield College.

The Rockville Rams are members of the CCC East and are coached by Pete McCann. Rockville opens the 2012 season on December 12, with an away game at Manchester High School.

South Windsor P.E. Teacher Wins AwardJennifer Baker, the physical education

and health teacher at South Windsor’s Timo-thy Edwards Middle School, was recently honored by the Connecticut Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (CTAHPERD) with one of its Profes-sional Services Awards. Baker received her award last night at the Awards Banquet for the association’s Annual Fall Conference.

The Professional Services Awards are awarded to professionals who have heavily contributed to the health, physical education,

recreation and dance professions over a period of at least ten years.

Baker has been teaching health and physical education at Timothy Edwards Middle School since 2000. In her time at the school, Baker has authored several CTAH-PERD grants and received funding that al-lowed teachers to certify 7th grade students in First Aid and 8th grade students in CPR/AED. Baker has helped to improve student’s health and fitness by working with intramural programs and overseeing the fitness club.

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Hours: Tue, Fri, 8:30am - 6pmWed - Thu, 8:30am - 5:30pm; Sat, 8am - 2pm

Sport: VolleyballAccomplish-ments: All-Con-ference team my junior year and getting MVP three years in a row for volleyball and be-ing selected for the Louis Bazzano Jr award in 8th grade.GPA: 90 (out of 100)How do you pre-pare for a game? I like to laugh with my friends and pepper the volleyball back and forthExpectations for the next season/Thoughts on the season: Next year is going to be a very successful year in volleyball with 13 seniors on the team. We can definitely get those eight wins to make it into the playoffs and hopefully further than that.Favorite Career Moment: When we beat Fermi and I had 15 aces and 10 kills for that game.What area were you strongest in? What area did you improve the most in over your career? My strongest area would be in hitting but I never was the best passer but this year for volleyball I was able to play all around the court

Looking back, what are you going to miss the most about playing for your team? Overall, what are you going to miss the most about high school? I will miss going out to pizza and going to see the UConn women’s volleyball team play. Overall I am going to miss playing on sports teams after high school because all my fun memories have to do with the sport teams.What is the toughest challenge you’ve overcome? Getting a good grade in math. If I didn’t have a good grade in math then I wouldn’t be able to play. I would spend most of my time after school in the math room getting help before practicesFavorite athlete? Which athlete do you most model your game after? My Fa-vorite athlete is Destinee Hooker because she is one of the best volleyball players I have ever seen and I love watching her play.Red Sox or Yankees? UConn men or UConn women? Red Sox and UConn WomenFavorite movie, TV show? Movie: She’s The Man TV Show: Chicago Fire Plans after high school: After high school I plan to go to college for physical therapy because I want to be a geriatric physical therapist. I also hope to play vol-leyball in college.


RamsRamsRams

Danielle Wemmell

Rockville Student Athleteof the Month

Vernon Recreation

By Amy Locandro,Vernon Parks and Recreation

Make your New Year’s Resolution with Vernon Parks & Rec. Many new programs are being offered such as Zumbatomics, Fit Tots, Dancing Tots, Belly Dancing, Acting Classes, Life Force Yoga and much more. To view and register for programs you can come to the parks and recreation office, 120 South Street or at www.vernon-ct.gov. If you have any questions, please contact the office at 860-870-3520.

Dancing TotsThis program is open to children ages

3-4 yrs old. Participants will get up on their feet and get moving to the beat. Learn ba-sic steps for dancing. No dance footwear required. The program will be held on Thursdays from Jan. 17 - Feb. 21 from 1 p.m. - 1: 45 p.m. at the Vernon Teen Cen-ter. The programs costs $35 for residents and $40 for non-residents.

Pee Wee Fitness & FunThe focus of this program is to get

children involved in physical activity at an early age. This class is for children ages 3-5. Classes include exercise, dance, and fun games. The program will be held on Thursday from Jan. 10 - Feb. 14 from 4:45 p.m. - 5:30 p.m. at the Vernon Teen Cen-ter Fitness Room. The program costs $35 for residents and $40 for non-residents.

Start Your New Year Out On The Right Foot

Dodgeball This program is for anyone ages 7-12

years-old. Participants will meet once a week. The program will be held on Mon-days from Jan. 14 - Feb. 26 from 7 p.m. - 8 p.m. at Center 375 Gym (no classes on Jan. 21 and Feb. 18.). The cost of the program is $40 for residents and $45 for non-residents.

Sports ManiaKids ages 7-12 will play different sports

such as dodgeball, flag football, basketball and more. The program runs on Thursdays from Jan. 17 - Feb. 21 from 7 p.m. - 8 p.m. at Center 375 Gym. The program is $40 for residents and $45 for non-residents.

ZumbatomicZumbatonic classes are high-energy fitness for children ages 4-7. Packed with choreo-graphed routines and the latest music, like hip-hop, reggaeton and cumbia, Zumb-atomic classes increase focus and self-con-fidence, and boost metabolism. It incorpo-rates rhythm reviews, dance choreography, games, and performance to promote healthy lifestyle habits as well as developing leader-ship, respect, team work, pride, confidence, and responsibility. The program is held on Fridays from Jan. 18 - Feb. 22 from 3:30 - 4:15 p.m. at the Vernon Teen Center. The fee for residents is $35 and $40 for non-residents.

It’s Time To Hit The Mat: Wrestling Season Begins

By B.N. MazzoneThe Sports Department

After all the blood, sweat and tears shed throughout practice, most local teams will hit the mat on December 12th when the regular season begins. Teams have been working since Nov. 26 as teams strive for a state title. Rockville is looking to build its program after a rough season, but its coach is upbeat about the team’s chances.

In the CCC, South Windsor hopes to be tough competitors.

RockvilleThe Rams are coming off a disappoint-

ing one win season. That isn’t keeping second year head coach Paul Courtois from losing his enthusiasm. The Rams lost two lettermen from last year’s squad, but Courtois only sees his team getting better.

“We are a very close team with a posi-tive attitude,” Courtois said. “This year we need to use the experienced gained last year and be more competitive.”

The Rams will look to 152 pound senior Ethan Hotch-kiss to lead the way. Jon Pelletier (182), Mike Barisano (113), and Chris Jordan (138) will lead a

strong junior class.“Our weakness is inexperience,” Cour-

tois said. “While the core of the team has one more year of experience, many of them are still only second year wrestlers.”

The Rams will face stiff competition from RHAM and E.O Smith in their league.

Sam Odell is one of the top returning wrestlers in the state.

“Support Coverage Of Local Youth Sports ...Become A Sports Department Sponsor Today!”

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Alyssa Skewes/DJ MarvellaBest BuyBanner WaterCT Roughriders AAUDunkin DonutsDymotekEHS Athletic TeamsEllington AgwayEllington Football LeagueEllington Little LeagueEllington Rec. DepartmentGeorge DargatiHeadlinersHoliday Restaurant

Integrated RehabilitationJonathan Pasco's RestaurantKosilla LandscapingLife Touch/Prestige PhotographyNational Basketball Hall of FameNew England Graphics, LLCNovel TeesPam Moriarty, Coldwell BankerParade of NoveltiesRise AboveStar Hill Family Athletic CenterSwiss CleanersThe Crowley FamilyThe Flint Family

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Vernon Edition December 2012

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