The point behind the guards

Next time you see the boys’ basketball team wearing their warm-up shirts, take a closer look. Embroidered on the back of the boys’ shirts are Redwood trees.

The trees serve as a metaphor for the team to depend on one another to become stronger. Redwood trees can span 300 feet from their branches down to their deep roots, which connect them to other nearby Redwoods for support. Head coach John Camardella likewise wants the team to achieve its strength as a unit.

Especially in high school, it’s crucial for coaches to be able to bond with athletes and take on the role of mentor. The relationship between a coach and an athlete should translate to more than just instruction on the court or field.

Having had 13 different coaches in high school alone, I have experienced a spectrum of coaching techniques. With such diversity, there is no single way to coach an athlete. Likewise, coachable athletes are every bit important as the coach themselves.

Different coaching styles have an enormous impact on the way athletes perform with their peers. Some coaches have found success with stricter attitude while others have found it with a looser style. Both these techniques can give players a mental edge to focus during competitions.

Whether it’s how  they give their halftime speeches when the team is losing or the offseason workouts they hold at six in the morning to enhance each player’s athletic ability, coaches have a greater impact on athletes all the time.

Assistant coaches are just as vital. They may not make game-time decisions, but they’re every bit as dedicated to the supportive efforts as the rest of the coaching staff.

Assistant coaches sometimes lay the groundwork for building a program up to its potential, including individual instruction and reviewing recent performances. Because a head coach can not help out individual athletes all the time, these assistant coaches take on a roll that enables more specific instruction with athletes.

Camardella knows how instrumental an entire staff of coaches can be to their team. He has a special history with the coaches he had both in high school and in college.

Camardella attended Hersey High School where his coaches, John Novak, Don Rowley and Kent Borghoff, were vital to him after tearing his ACL and losing his father.

Camardella believes they are the main reason he coaches the way he does today.

I continued to ask Camardella what made him different than any other coach.

“I really don’t know,” Camardella said. “Give me a night to think about it.”

The question doesn’t need to be answered so long that it makes you speculate. So I ask all athletes out there, what coach has made more of an impact on you than just your performance on the court or field?

Young talent takes over

Freshman Jack Terry and sophomore James Riordan both made boys’ cross country history by breaking the frosh/soph records in the 2.5-mile race at home on Thursday, Oct. 9. Terry broke the record with a time of 13:28 and placed second in the frosh/soph boys’ conference race Saturday. Oct. 18. Riordan broke the record with a time of 13:20.

The program as a whole is very young with 22 freshmen on the frosh/soph team and only two seniors on varsity.  However, with the display of underclassmen talent, their goals are still set high.

“[Placing] top 10 [in state] would be great because we were top 20 last year,” head coach Mike Stokes said.

Senior Mike Anderson and juniors Max Crowninshield and Alec Heyde all ran at state last year and are expected to lead the team to a top-10 finish. Stokes believes the team can use their experience because they are familiar with the intense atmosphere state meets bring.

Going into the conference meet, Hersey and Buffalo Grove were the favorites. With the Mid-Suburban League (MSL) being such a strong conference with recent state champion Palatine, and perennial power, Barrington, the team gained valuable high-level competition throughout the season in dual meets against them.

“You get three [runners finishing] every second at the MSL,” Stokes said. “That only happens at the state meet, the MSL and in our sectional.”

The MSL conference meet took place on Saturday, Oct. 18. The team finished third overall with junior Karson LeComte (15:55) taking 20th, Heyde (15:52) taking 18th, junior Matt Cozine (15:51) taking 17th and Anderson (15:47) finishing in 15th place.

Anderson and Tommy Mathews have the challenge of being the only two seniors on the team, but the team views it as a fresh start, according to Stokes.

“It’s hard to lead with only two seniors on the team,” Anderson said. “But overall it’s a great feeling to be where we are at right now.”

Heyde knows it can be tough at times but said they expected only two seniors to be on the team.  As a returner, Heyde saw he had to set an example for the other juniors.  Having been together as a team for so many years together, it wasn’t strange when he had to help some of his teammates along the way.

Heyde and Stokes both see that the team has every single person on board, caring about what they do and getting better.

“They’re workers,” Stokes said. “It’s refreshing that they’re not heading for the door until everything’s done. They want to do their best.”

Heyde explained that the team keeps track of other schools’ performances by reviewing their recent times and races.

“With running, it’s hard to focus on other teams,” Heyde said, mentioning that they update their team group chat about other teams’ standards and talk about them. “I think it’s really cool to see [this dedication] from a cross country team.”

Looking toward the later meets, the team’s goal is to make it to state and finish strong. The Knights have already met their goal of placing third in conference and second in regionals on Saturday, Oct. 25.

Stokes believes the team’s mental hardihood will help them reach their goal of five runners under 15:50 and seven runners under 16:10 for their late-season three mile races.

“They’re mentally tough. That’s because they’ve worked very hard to toughen themselves up,.” Stokes said. “They’re really into the mental aspect of running, and there’s [more] to it than people think … It’ll make you or break you. I don’t think it’s going to break this team.”

Mighty Meyers

The most memorable moment for Sophomore Kaeli Meyers so far this volleyball season was being selected for the all-tournament team in the Glenbard West Invitational on Sept. 20.  Meyers achieved the award for her outstanding play during the tournament against girls more than two years older than her.

According to their teammates, sophomore outside-hitters Meyers and Mary Mazurek have contributed more to a varsity team than sophomores typically do.

“[Meyers] has been awesome this season,” junior setter Michelle Haaning said. “She’s really stepped up, even with her shoulder [injury.]”

Throughout the past fews weeks, Meyers has played through the pain of a shoulder injury while still improving her performance on the court.

“At first, I was really nervous and scared,” Meyers said, “but Cat [Sherwood] and Michelle [Haaning] have really helped me adjust and become a better varsity player.”

Meyers also said that senior libero Sarah Cutaia has helped strengthen her confidence level, and Haaning is excited for the future Meyers has to offer the program.

Just like Meyers, sophomore Maggie Porwit has had the challenge of mixing in with experienced upperclassmen.

Senior middle Catherine Sherwood feels the socialization of the team varies on and off the court.

“During the game, we mesh very well,” Sherwood said. “But socially, we are still getting used to each other.”

New head coach Gabrielle Lovin stepped into her position this offseason and has made some adjustments to the formation of the team and their practices, but she’s kept some aspects similar as well.

Last year, the practices mixed the varsity and JV teams. Now that this season has reached its midpoint, the program has brought that aspect of varsity scrimmages against the JV team back to their practices.

“We are working a lot more with JV,” Haaning said. “So everyone is more comfortable with each other when we have to move people around.”

Not only have the players become more comfortable with each other on the court, but their record (Update tuesday) has shown success so far this season.

“We feed off of each other,” Lovin said, “and if one person has positive energy, that’s what we have to feed off of.”

The players have accepted that positive energy is key to their success.

“We have a young team this year, and we came in with a lot of positive energy,” Haaning said.

Meyers has really enjoyed the energy and fast-paced competition the varsity level has to offer her.

Because of their two losses to Hersey already this season, the team can not win the MSL East. However, they are looking to get revenge against the Huskies later in the playoffs.

“As a team, I think we can make it to regionals and beat Hersey,” Meyers said.

“Kaeli [Meyers] has been awesome,” Sherwood said. “She is usually the one with the most kills in a game, and she’s really stepped up to become a huge part of our offense.”

Before the season started, the team made it their goal to become MSL East champions, but they now look to see what they can do in the playoffs.

“Well, our coach flew here all the way from Florida to coach our team [this season],” junior right side Brenda Kendziera said. “She always says, ‘I’m not leaving here without a regional title.’ I’m mostly excited to make that happen for her, and it would be really cool if we went out with a bang this year.”

Injuries plague boys’ soccer

 

In the 74th minute of the Aug. 28 varsity boys’ soccer match versus Jacobs, one Golden Eagle fan decided to give the Knights one more reason overcome a late-game deficit.

Down 1-0 at the time, one student from the opposing student section shouted an unsportsmanlike comment and was ejected.

The Knights’ senior midfielder Dominic Taldone tied the game up five minutes later.  Eight minutes after that, Taldone found senior forward Alex Whiteman, who scored and lifted the Knights to their first win of the season.

With multiple injuries, the Knights (1-7 as of Sept. 14) fell short in four of their first five matches.

The team lost six players due to injury during the first two weeks of play. Whiteman, Taldone, senior Ian Lenke (defender,) junior Patrick Walsh (defender,) junior Dan Marshall (defender) and junior Chris Cooney (forward) have missed at least one game.

With so many injuries, half the roster lacks previous varsity experience, but the returners have eased their transition.

“I feel that it is my job to take some of the younger and newer players under my wing, help them [and] lead by example,” Marshall said.

The team must also adjust to Jason Cohen returning as head coach after coaching JV for the past 10 years.

Cohen does not feel much has changed since last year, even with him being the new coach, as he sees the same high level of competitivity now up on the varsity level.

“It’s just a different person leading [the team],” Cohen said. “It really comes down to the players and what their motivation is like.”

According to Whiteman, many of the players’ motivation and hard work can been seen in practice.

“I think everybody’s been doing their own part to keep everybody up and motivated towards our goals every game,” Cohen said.

According to Whiteman, there have been a variety of new drills improving movement up the field without turning it over.

Marshall and Whiteman both feel these drills have allowed practices to feel like real game situations as this year there has been an energetic and intense vibe added to the team.

Many of the returning players are anxious to seek revenge in the MSL and later the state playoffs, after losing to Loyola last year in regionals.

Cohen has been focusing on taking each game one at a time but still sees success ahead.

“We are looking to continue to develop each player,” Cohen said. “As each player gets better, that leads to our team getting better. As our team gets better, that will lead to success down the road.”

With many upcoming MSL east games, the Knights are looking to play the rest of the season with a positive mental attitude.

“It’s about the mentality that you go into practice with and into games with,” Cohen said. “I think that’s been pretty positive so far.”