here - Suffield Academy

Sports & News
7 - The Bell October 2005
It is evident even to an outsider
that sports are a major priority at Suffield
Academy, and, consequently, numerous
Suffield graduates have gone on to play
against higher-caliber competition in
college. This summer, a new wave of
Suffield students showcased their ambitions
for their futures in sports. Rather than
idling around their homes for three
months, these athletes used their extensive
summer vacation to their advantage,
both competing in and coaching sports.
Laura Monty ’08 has already
proven herself to be an integral part of
the Suffield golf team. Last spring, as a
freshman, she was a solid contributor to
the team. This summer she competed in 19
tournaments, along with her younger sister,
Liz ’09. The majority of the tournaments
were in conjunction with the Connecticut
Section Junior PGA and the Sierra Mist Tour.
Although Laura played in
tournaments for the CWGA (Connecticut
Women’s Golf Association) and the
Connecticut Women’s Amateurs,
making the cut both days in the latter
tournament, she truly defined herself as
a player in the Sierra Mist tour events.
As far as the scoring system,
she says, “you build up points at each
tournament depending on how you place
overall (the girls’ 13-17 division for me).”
Her results for the 11 of 15 Sierra Mist
events that she played in were phenomenal.
“I came in first seven times for
my age group, four of them wins for the
girls division overall,” she says. As a result
of the points she had amassed throughout
the summer, she found herself atop the
standings at the final event, the Tournament
of Champions. She shot an exceptional
77, and earned the title of Connecticut
PGA Junior Girls Player of the Year.
Meanwhile, her younger
sister, Liz, is looking to make a
splash on the golf scene as well.
Liz and Laura played in the
same tournaments, and while Liz did
not win any events, her results were
impressive. In the Sierra Mist Tour events,
she reports that “I came in second and
third place a lot, but no wins (for me).”
She also made the cut at the Connecticut
Women’s Amateurs after two days.
Liz finished just behind her sister
with a 79 at the Tournament of Champions at
Westover C.C. Based on her point totals, Liz
placed fourth in the 18-and under division.
Runners Brie Beaudette ’06
and Chris Pugliano ’07 participated in
the Baystate Games in the track and field
category in late June. The Games consist
of athletes from all reaches of Massachusetts
Suffield Athletes Take Sports to Another Level
participating in a plethora of sports.
“The spring track season had just
ended,” says Brie, “so it was nice to be able to
continue to run and compete against new faces.”
Brie ran the 200 meter and 400
meter qualifying events, placing second in
both races, while Chris participated in the
400. In order to qualify for the Games,
the runners had to place in the top four.
Despite the fact that she qualified
for her events, Brie was rushed to the hospital
with heatstroke-like symptoms. Chris was
also injured- his feet were badly burned.
Brie mused that “although I
was unable to make it to the final games
in July, I still had an amazing experience.
Jeremy Arnold ’06 had an
altogether different summer sports
experience from the other athletes. He had
already worked with the Special Olympics,
an annual national event for disabled athletes.
During his freshman year, he helped with
bowling. It only seemed natural that he
would offer his time again this summer.
He volunteered two to three
times per week, coaching the Special
Olympics Softball team of West
Hartford. Aside from coaching, he did
mentoring, and even played on the team
as a partner of the more disabled athletes.
Along with the other volunteers,
he led his team to a first place finish at an
annual tournament in North Brandford.
“The adults, children, and coaches were
so pleased with our performance, and
the disabled players couldn’t have had
bigger smiles on their faces,” he says.
Even though he was giving
something back to his community, the team
gave him something back, and he came out
of the experience a changed person with a
new perspective on life. “It was an amazing
experience. The type of experience that
makes you feel great about what you’ve done
and the people you’ve helped. I learned not to
take anything in my life for granted and how
lucky I am to have the life I do.” He reports
that he plans to volunteer again next summer.
Khadim Diouf ’06 is already a
standout on the Suffield varsity soccer team,
but this summer, he took his game to an
entirely different level. He attended the Adidas
Elite Soccer Program (ESP) camp at Loomis
Chaffee, along with 136 of the most talented
high school boys from all areas of the country.
When asked if he had been invited
to attend the camp, Khadim responded,
“How did I get invited? It was because I’m
a hardworking player.” He was contacted by
a coach from Bayern Munich in Germany to
say that he had been brought up as a possible
candidate. He began training on his own in
New Jersey in order to be in top form for the
Kristen Bautz ’06
camp. He reported that, “I was still injured
at that time and nervous, because to me that
would not be an excuse for not playing well.”
Over the course of the five-day
camp, the objective is for players to improve
their overall skills, test their performance in
competitive play, and learn how to manage
their time off the field to prepare for life
in college and the professional world.
It was crucial that players put forth
total effort all the time, because, in addition
to being under the instruction of elite coaches,
upwards of 70 college and professional
coaches stopped by for scouting purposes.
The participants were divided
into teams, and, as is typical at the
majority of sports camps, competed in
daily games and scrimmages; there was
also an all-star game that took place
towards the end of camp that served as
a showcase for the best players at camp.
The teams had a final game on the
last day of camp, and then had an instructional
period with top international coaches.
Representatives from two of the world’s most
successful clubs, in Germany and Italy, have
headlined the list of guest coaches in the past.
Khadim said that the camp was so
different from others he had attended in the
past because “they were all talented players,
which was a great experience for me.”
When asked where he hoped
to take his soccer career in the future,
he profoundly declared, “only God
knows where I’m going with soccer.
I hope He leads me to the right path.”
As for Sydney Greenberg (’07), her
summer sports experience found her halfway
around the globe, competing in the World
Maccabiah Games in Israel. The American
version of the Games is comprised of young
Jewish athletes aged thirteen to sixteen, and
are held annually. Athletes compete in one
event each, and the Games are largely modeled
after the Olympic Games. Sydney had
previously competed in the American Games
through her local JCC (Jewish Community
Center), but unexpectedly, something out
of the ordinary caught her eye last year.
“One day, when I was in my
JCC, I saw a poster up for the world games
and noticed that field hockey was a sport
offered.” Sydney has played field hockey
since coming to Suffield, and she had
genuine interest in competing. However,
there was no age limit, meaning that girls
from college would be allowed to try out
as well. She worried that she would not
stand a chance against girls who had been
exposed to higher-caliber field hockey.
Despite Sydney’s initial qualms,
her parents were cautiously supportive. She
says that “they tried to make sure I didn’t
get my hopes too high. We were all pretty
convinced that I wouldn’t even make the
team, at best an alternate.” Still, the idea
of competing in Israel was very attractive.
When asked whether she had had
any significant worries about traveling to
a region so notorious for its violence, she
said that “I really had no worries about
traveling. While I do realize that there are
a lot of problems in Israel (there ended up
being a suicide bombing at a mall located
three blocks from my hotel), I really wasn’t
worried, because the security was so tight.”
“We had to have credentials to go
anywhere. At opening ceremonies, they had
snipers circling the stadium in helicopters.
There were armed guards on our buses, and at
least 25 security guards at each of our games.”
She is extremely grateful to The
Harold Grinspoon Foundation, which was
in part responsible for her being able to
go on the trip. They provided much of the
money needed to pay for it, and the rest
came from within Sydney’s community.
She is eternally grateful for those who
donated even the smallest amount of money.
Other than one other girl from
her town who participated in swimming,
Sydney did not know anyone, and she was
one of only three high schoolers on her
team. Nevertheless, she said, “the girls
and coach were so supportive of me and
helped me improve my game ten-fold, and
the age gap was no problem at all. It was
most definitely a bonding experience.”
She still keeps in touch with the
girls on her team, and they are hopeful for the
chance to play together again. Even though
she was not a starter, she still improved
and was embraced by her team. Their hard
work paid off in the form of a gold medal
after facing solid competitors from the
Netherlands, South Africa, and Australia.
She said that she had significant
interaction with the other athletes, both
in their hotel and simply walking down
streets brimming with Maccabiah Games
competitors, identifiable by their credentials.
Even though much of her time was
spent competing, she had time to reflect on
what the experience meant to her. She said
that, “by forcing myself to be with people
better than myself, I will improve, and I can
use this in life as well.” Also, “you pretty
much know no one there, and unless you
put yourself out there and make yourself
open to others, you won’t meet anyone.”
She also fell in love with a country and
its people. “It’s an amazing country
full of wonderful people who were
so welcoming. It had a beautiful
landscape, and is filled with history.”
Camping Out at the TA Retreat
Jenny Schnaak ’07 & Brie Beaudette ’07
New Fall Schedule
Monica Markowski ’07
What’s better than being a TA
and going out to the SOLO barn? A TA
retreat at the SOLO barn! The TA retreat
brought the junior and senior TAs together
in a common leadership experience to
prepare for the approaching school year.
Over thirty teaching assistants gathered
outside the SOLO barn with a handful
of faculty members leading the way.
The two-day long camping
excursion began with ice breaker activities,
which the students could later choose to
use with their leadership classes. Also,
the weekend was filled with scheduled
skill-building activities. A lot was
learned about giving effective feedback
in our classrooms after activities and in
homework assignments. The participants
learned to create successful lesson plans,
while having fun at the same time.
Mr. Eckhardt, the Director of
Student Affairs and the event coordinator,
reflected on the weekend by saying, “It was
one of the richest professional experiences
of my life.” The future TAs spent the
night playing games like flashlight tag and
sleeping in tents set up nest to the barn.
Erik Osbourne ’07 said, “It was awesome!”
The highlight for many participants was
climbing the indoor rock wall completely
blindfolded while being belayed by a fellow
TA. All the students had to come to school a
little early this year to take part in the retreat,
which took place on September 4 th and 5 th .
Several faculty members joined the thirtysix
students for the weekend including Mr.
Rockwell, Mr. Goodwin, Ms. Ostberg, Ms.
Obelsky, Mr. Eckhardt, and Mr. Biederman.
All of the TA’s are now better prepared to lead
freshman and sophomore leadership classes
and they look forward to next year’s retreat.
Why was it created? Will it be a
permanent change? Is class time really lost?
While there are many rumors about the new
fall schedule, Mr. Ellerton and Mrs. Riegel
assert that this fall’s schedule, including
an A and B week, is strictly a test run. Mr.
Ellerton explained that “In an attempt to
evaluate how staff, faculty, and students
alike use their time at Suffield Academy,
the Time Committee decided to first tackle
our daily schedule.” After collecting
close to twenty-five schedules from other
schools, faculty and staff members were
able and to sift through which schedules
might work for our community, and which
ones would definitely not work, all the
while adding their own opinions to the mix.
The resulting schedule’s week
B is the key difference from last year. Mr.
Cahn says, “In the old (week A) schedule,
each class met for 230 minutes per week
(two 45-minute periods and two 70-minute
periods). Under the Week B schedule, each
class now only meets 205 minutes (three 45-
minute classes and only one long period). So
even though it may feel like you have more
class time, in fact, you have less.” (Yes, even
continued on page 8
Ask the Trainer
Sarah Ellerton and Meara McCarthy with collaboration from Trainer Sue
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