Hi, everybody, and welcome to the first annual fall sports wrap-up here on Chikabee Schools
Community Television, where we take a look back on the season that was.
So buckle up those seatbelts and hold on tight.
He's coming to you now on Chikabee Schools Community Television.
Hi, everybody, and welcome to the fall sports wrap-up.
I'm Joe McCall for your host for this afternoon.
Today, we're going to take a look back at the season that was for the fall sports across
the city of Chikabee.
We start first with football.
Both Chikabee Cop and Chikabee High School had trying seasons, but they got back on top
with a fantastic sword game.
We take a look back as we bring you the final few minutes of the sword game 2013.
Taste the snap.
He's looking Kagan's way.
He's looking Kagan's way.
He's going to throw it up.
That kind of mark, Mike Bombard.
What a catch.
Bragging rights across the town for the first time since 2003.
And the kick is no good.
The kick is no good, and we are going to overtime.
Well, the 50th meeting is having a first.
We've never had an overtime game in the sword game.
Never before.
Never before.
For the first time.
I double-checked with Dan Dolcino.
Tentatively.
Yeah.
For the first time in history.
How long has this game been going on?
50 years.
Right.
Flotter in motion.
He's going to get the handoff along the outside, and he's going to get wrapped up
there.
That's over.
No, he's got the touchdown, and the Chickabee Pacers have won the sword.
The Chickabee Pacers have brought the sword back to Front Street.
They continue the streak of no team winning consecutive sword games.
Michael Slaughter takes the handoff in motion on the outside, and scores to win the sword.
Final score.
Pacers 20, Colts 14, and here's the collaborative picture.
Here's the team picture with the sword.
Exciting moment for Coach Estrada and the Pacers, and has always a prime time show here
in the sword game.
And what a great sword game it was.
It doesn't get any better than overtime in the sword game, but the Chickabee Pacers emerge
victorious and bring the sword back to Front Street.
Both teams finish the season with three and eight records.
Chickabee Comp beats South Hadley on Thanksgiving for the second year in a row, and the Pacers
lost to Holyoke for the first time in three seasons.
Good luck to both squads next season.
On to gymnastics, where the Chickabee gymnastics team, the single team for the City of Chickabee,
had a great year finishing third in Western Mass.
Let's take a look at some of the highlights brought to you from the season.
Gymnastics team beat teams like Aguam and Minnichaw, Gateway and Hampshire.
They finished third in Western Mass behind the star power of Sabrina Alechenko.
Westfield won their seventh straight Western Mass title, en route to a great gymnastics
season for all of Western Mass.
Now let's take a listen from some of our gymnastic girls on what they thought about their season.
The third place at Western Mass last year, how do you think you guys will be this year
next year?
Better.
Better because coming in third place sets us at a good state.
This year we've got new people coming in and we've got harder talent and I believe we
can come in second place this year.
Just like all the other teams this year, the Senior Test dominates.
What kind of impact have they made to the team and how does the leadership help inspire everyone
out of the team?
They definitely drive us too many.
They've made us because of their experience.
Having Sabrina Alechenko, who is also a Super 7, how does she impact the team during this?
She is really strong in every match and that in her being a Super 7, she is a big competitor
to this team.
A great all-around performance from the gymnastic squad.
Congratulations on your third place finish in Western Mass.
Moving on to golf, both Chickabee Comp and Chickabee High faced off twice this year,
but the Pacers emerged victorious in both of those contests.
Chickabee Comp finished the season 5 and 14 overall while the Pacers finished 6 and 12.
In the two contests against Chickabee Comp, Chickabee High players Brian Turnbow shot 41
along with Richie Guerrero.
Guerrero shot 40 on the 15th of October, a season best for him, completing the sweep
of the Chickabee Comp Colts.
The Pacers had a great year themselves.
A lot of great individual performances from both players on both teams.
Congratulations to our golf players on a great season.
Good luck to them again next year.
Moving on to soccer, boys' soccer for both high schools was very exciting,
but Chickabee Comp had one of the more exciting years.
8, 10 and 2 was their overall record of 5, 2 and 1 divisional record,
while the Pacers were 7, 9 and 2, 3 and 5 divisional record.
For the Colts making it to the playoffs this season, Brian Mutay, 17 goals,
3 assists and 20 points.
Nick Moyzen with 144 saves on the season.
They lost 1-0 to Central in the Division 1 round 1 of the playoffs.
The Pacers did not make the playoffs, but they had good overall personal performances
from David Rupaz with 7 goals on the season.
Brandon Ruby had 67 saves on the season.
So the Colts going to the playoffs, the Pacers did not,
but look for both teams to be very good in 2014.
Moving on to our next sport, Cross Country.
Both teams take to the track or to the field at Chickabee State Park
when they take part in their home meets,
and what a good season it was for both squads.
For the Chickabee Comp Colts, they were 6-2 with a 7th place finish
in Western Master Patrick Burns.
For Chickabee High School, they were 2-3 on the season.
Tyler's students were the best time of 154-12.
They beat Chickabee Comp and their lone meet the Pacers did 32-25.
Derek Dobos with 17th in Western Master for Chickabee High School.
A good overall showing for the Cross Country boys and girls this season.
Let's take a look at Girl Soccer in Chickabee this season.
For the girls, it was a 8-10-2 record for the Chickabee Pacers
who made their way, make that a 12-3-4 record that knocked them into the playoffs.
Tamara Nicholson led the Pacers with 11 goals.
Four assists, 20 points on the season.
Jordan Martel, 86 saves overall.
They lost 5-0 in Division I Western Master Quarter Finals.
But the Pacer girls brought home a victory against Comp this year.
They were 1-0 this season against the Colts who had a struggling year, 1-15-2.
Carolyn Roberts led the Colts with 4 goals.
Allie Roy 3 goals, 2 assists and 5 points.
Look for the Colts to rebound in 2014 and the Pacers to continue on their high of a great season.
We're going to take a quick break but when we come back,
we're going to sit down with Chickabee Athletic Director Jim Blaine and a couple of friends.
You're watching the Western Master Chickabee Ball Sports Wrap-Up on Chickabee Schools Community Television.
We have special kids here who we just welcome into our family.
With the resources we have, with the faculty that we have, with our schedule,
we're able to be successful with our kids.
With that philosophy, I think it helps our kids grow.
One of my goals is to continue to increase the number of diplomas that they earned
through hard work, grit, determination and changing.
That to me symbolizes the success that we've had.
One of the great parts of being Girl Scout's father is that, you know,
the initiatives that the Girl Scouts are involved in really help to connect other parents
within the community other than the girls just themselves.
Some of the great experiences that my daughter has had as she's been part of the Girl Scout Choir
and being a part of that chorus, she's been on national television for some of the events too,
outstanding opportunities that help her grow.
It really helps them develop those social skills amongst other girls in the troop.
It really helps them to develop those teamwork type skills and develop like a work ethic
and I see that reflection that works in not only athletics but also works in the academic side too
and it really helps them to understand what commitment not only looks like
but it also gives them the opportunity of understanding what commitment actually is
which helps them also progress and develop.
And welcome back to the Ball Sports Wrap-Up for the first time here in 2013.
I'm Joe McCullough. Joining us now is the Athletic Director for Chica B. Jim Blaine.
Joining by some friends, Ashley Clark, Taylor Scanapico and Rachel Bollier-Jim.
Thank you for joining us and girls, thank you for joining us.
Thanks for having us, Joe.
So tell us a little about how we got the fall sports wrap-up to come together, the first yearly one, and how did you make it happen?
Well, every season in the beginning of the year we talked to the telecom department about which games are going to be televised.
In the fall it's traditionally been the soccer and football games, the sword game and the comp and high soccer games.
We started to have, you know, an open dialogue about what are we going to do for the other teams that don't get the sort of visibility
in all of the accolades that the football and soccer get, like your cross-country and golf teams.
Mr. J. Buckley, who works in the telecom department and I, both grew up in the 80s and there was a television show called Scholastic Sports America
that was actually run by a guy named Chris Fowler who does the telecom.
And we just started brainstorming and how kind of cool that would be to have a fall sports wrap.
We have a great telecom department, we have great facilities, and we wanted to highlight the student-athletes.
Talk a little bit about the overall state of Chickpea Athletics. It was a great fall season for both high schools.
Where is the program at and where are you looking to bring it?
Well, you know, we have about 700 students.
Athletes participating in each season. So it's pretty busy between the two schools.
We try to balance a competitive nature where we're trying to win championships along with a lot of our student-athletes who play at the
sub-varsity freshman and JV levels. So the state of the program is great.
Our numbers are at an all-time high. We have freshmen programs in every sport.
We're pretty much just increasing the percentage rate of participating student-athletes every season.
On top of that, we have some really high-rate teams.
Our girls volleyball made it to the Western Mass Championship this year.
Ashley will tell you more about that in a minute.
So, you know, I look for great things to come now and in the future.
Now it's Ashley's time to shine.
Ashley Clark, a volleyball player for Al Dobson and his volleyball team here at Chickpea Comp.
Ashley, you guys were undefeated in your league in Western Mass Finalists.
What made the team so good? Did you guys gel from the start?
And how exciting was it for your playoff run?
Well, yeah, we all gel from the start.
We all played summer league together and we won the championship for that.
And there was like, there's no drama.
So we were all like together and we all knew we all had one thing that we wanted to do.
And we had one focus and one focus only and we made it.
Making it to the Western Mass Finals is a huge feat.
How exciting was that playoff run? But how trying was it?
It was a little crazy.
It was the first time the program's ever made it there.
And it was the first time mostly any of us have ever made it there.
So it was a very new experience for any of us.
So it was scary, but it was very like, it was very cool to experience it.
Talk about being the first time the program has been there.
How important has coach Dobson been in the development of not only you as a volleyball player,
your team as a volleyball team, but the sport is all here in Chicago?
He's an amazing volleyball coach.
Seeing how I started my sophomore year, I didn't play in my freshman year.
He taught me a lot.
So I'm sure most of the girls didn't really play before they entered high school.
So he taught them like a lot.
So for us to make it and develop that much to get to the Western Mass Finals was really cool.
Taylor Scanapico is a student at Chickabee High School.
And you were really involved in bringing this fall sports wrap-up together,
shooting a lot of the video and doing some of the interviews.
What was the process like and was it the first time you ever done something like this?
It was my first time.
Mr. Blaine came to me and asked if I had free time.
And of course I had free time.
Just asking students how they enjoyed their season,
what they did to have a successful season.
I enjoyed listening to all their responses and what they had to say about their sport.
What type of things did you learn?
What kind of challenges did you encounter?
Some thought it was funny.
Others took it more seriously.
I enjoyed the kids that took it seriously.
They were just all awesome.
I learned that they really enjoyed their coach and what the coach had to put out there for them.
Overall good experience for you?
Overall good experience.
Do you think this is something you could be interested in the future?
I would come back and do it again.
Very good.
And also joining us is a soccer player for the Chickabee Cup Colts, Rachel Bullier.
You guys had a tough season, but talk about some of the things you learned this year.
We learned a lot about teamwork this year.
The team grew so strong, just being maybe not in the most, you know, wasn't really a winning aspect all the time.
I mean, the aspect was, you know, you want to win, but the more important part was the connections you made with each of your teammates and with the coaches.
You really can't compare that too much.
You guys had a lot of injuries this year.
How difficult was it to fight through them?
Well, Sam Russ broke her toe and that was rough.
Sam Russ and I were pretty close and that hurt.
And Allie Russ, her twin sister had a concussion into something to her collarbone or shoulder.
I don't recall which one now, but it's just, with the collection of injuries, I think it was like five.
Like all of our captains at one point or another were just done.
And it was awful.
I mean, Carol Roberts, she pulled through strong, Carol, but it was okay.
She led your team in goals this year, so good for Carol.
But I know you're also involved with various community service projects.
Talk a little bit about your work with that.
We do the rays of hope walks every year.
We've done that every year.
I don't know how long they've been doing it, but that's always a good one.
It's very uplifting to be able to do that.
And Jim, since you've been here in Chicabee, you've done a good job of bringing community service projects throughout the sports in Chicabee.
Talk about why that was important to you to pass down from each coach and to each team.
I've always been a service oriented person.
When I started my second year, I made it mandatory that each team conduct some sort of community service effort between the captains and the coaches and led by the student athletes.
And I gave them no parameters.
Whatever felt good, whatever felt right is something we should do.
I can say that we impact the community at large.
Lorraine soup kitchen, the rays of hope, the real life for life special Olympics, pretty much anywhere in town where good things are happening.
You're going to see Chicabee comp and Chicabee high student athletes right behind it.
Fantastic to hear about that.
It has been a great year for Chicabee sports all around.
And we're looking for many more seasons of fantastic just like this one.
We're going to bring you a winter sports wrap up the winter season has begun.
We'll hope you be there with us for that.
I want to thank Jim Blaine, Ashley Clark, Rachel Bolier and Taylor Scantipico along with my director, Jay Buckley for putting this together.
You've watched the Chicabee false sports wrap up on Joe McCullough.
Thanks for being with us.
We'll see you next time.
Have a great day.
.
