FEB. 9

INTER-AC LEAGUE

            “And the GA Patriots are the champions of the Inter-Ac!”  Alright, so maybe it doesn’t sound exactly like Joe Buck’s World Series calls, but it still rang true for this GA team.  But before we get to the triumphant victory, let’s start from the beginning.

            GA had all week to prepare for the Malvern game, and similar to a football practice schedule, the players got a few days of short practices early in the week to recover before entering the days of tough practices before the game.  At one of those practices, around mid-week, the coaches instructed their players not to talk to any reporters, especially Tim Vernon.  Apparently there was some sort of secret that the team didn’t want the media and/or Malvern knowing about.  What possibly could it be?  Was there a massive brawl at practice?  Did one of the players get accused of brandishing a weapon and then smiling?  Well since you all know me, the blood-thirsty reporter, always looking to cause controversy, I had to get to the bottom of this.  I discovered that my previous two suspicions happened in other sports outlets, but not GA.  I narrowed it down to one possibility, an injury, but by watching the game on Friday it was obvious that wasn’t the issue either.  So I let it go, down one to nothing to the coaches.  Hey, they’ve been doing their jobs for almost 20 years; I’ve done this for 2 months.  Not to make any excuses.

            I walked into the gym on Friday with the JV still playing and got the privilege of watching a very high-quality JV game, featuring GA sophomores Tyler Regan and “Money” Mike Doty.  Malvern’s student section was already assembling on the far side by late in the JV game, while our student section consisted of our Head of Upper School and a few faculty members.  Eventually those of us who made the trek up to Malvern, PA, moved our way up to the reserved student section and got organized.

            Finally the game got started.  GA shot out to a 10-2 lead, but by the end of the first, the Friars had stormed back to tie it up at 13.  For anyone who was at the game, judging by crowd noise, they would have thought Malvern was up by 20.  The Friars student section was the best GA had seen all year, better than the Quakers when GA played at PC, and no question better than the Kingsley Crazies from CHA.  Props go out to the Malvern students.

            No big events in the second quarter, just more hard play and tough defense, both of which characterized all 32 minutes of this game.  The one note I had at this point was about Joe Hoban, the star of the last meeting between the two, who only had 2 points through the second.  One of the themes of this game was just that, the invisible Hoban, who finished with 14 points, the quietest 14 points with the least effect of any game I’ve seen (4 or 6 of those 14 came with under a minute left in the fourth when the win was already sealed for GA).

            Then came the third.  A fairly physical game up to this point all of a sudden got crazy.  During the previous half it was clear there was pushing and shoving on every end of the court.  GA’s Kyle Griffin and Joe Hill would be held coming around screens, there were hard fouls left and right, hand checks galore.  It all came to a head early in the third quarter when Malvern got a defensive rebound and pushed it back upcourt.  But on the ground all tangled up lay Malvern’s Mike Francisco and GA’s Hill.  Both tried to scramble up but apparently the other kept getting in the way.  Finally Hill lifted himself off Francisco, and it seemed as though as he turned around to sprint back on D, he stepped on Francisco’s stomach/groin area.  From what I saw it looked totally accidental.  Anyway, Francisco looked like he might die right there on the court, but finally the trainers got him up and he walked into the locker room, gagging and crying.  He was back a few minutes later, totally re-energized.  Miraculous recovery, I must say.  From then on Hill was booed every time he touched the ball.     

            Entering the final quarter GA led by 2, 36-34.  Malvern had stayed with the Patriots on the back of none other than Mike Francisco, who hit a few big shots, keeping the momentum on Malvern’s side and with their fans.  The fourth was the most physical and fast-paced quarter of all.  The score stayed close for the first few minutes, but the turning point may have come on a DJ Johnston no-look pass to Hill with four minutes left to put the Patriots up 7.  The streetball style play also sparked the GA Second Half Student Section.  Johnston not only got my award for best play of the game, he also was probably the MVP, finishing with 10 points and 15 husky rebounds.  Although the GA lead stayed in single digits, the Patriots had control from then on out.  The final momentum swing came with 1:50 left, when Jeff Holton received an outlet pass, and while going up for an easy layup was tackled from behind, yet somehow still was able to score.  And one.  Holton finished with 12 points and 8 boards. 

            Griffin finished with a team high 13 points and 6 assists.  Dean Melchionni chipped in with 9 points and 5 rebounds.  Eric Yuschak (5 points), Cam Ayers (2 points) and Steve Roma (6 rebounds) also contributed.

            The Take:  Incredible coaching job done this season, not only by Coach Fenerty, who won his 10th Inter-Ac Championship since 1989, but also Coach Craig Conlin, Coach Marty “A loyal reader of Tim’s Take” Weiss, Coach Jonathan Kelsey, Coach Todd Kochersperger, and Coach Chris Monahan.  All played a huge part in the success of a team not many predicted to win the Inter-Ac.  It was clear by this team’s play that the coaches thoroughly prepared them for each game, especially the final one.  “We said coming into the game that we needed to play defense and rebound,” said Holton, “and we did just that.”  That they did, as GA’s three forwards (Roma, Johnston, and Holton) combined for 31 boards.  “This was the best game we played as a team all year,” claimed the very talented Hill.  Hill finished with 12 points, most coming during crunch time in the fourth.  Hill played through all the unwarranted boos onto one of his best games all year.  Finally, maybe the best explanation of the win came from the player of the night, DJ Johnston: “We got buckets tonight.”  Well said, DJ, well said.

            GA plays in the Coaches vs. Cancer tournament on Tuesday and Thursday this coming week.

The Multi-Sport Athlete…A Dying Breed?

By Timmy Vernon 

Craig Conlin, Luke Harris, John Barr, Colleen Magarity, Alex Holcombe, LeBron James, Allen Iverson.  What do they have in common?  They are examples of the many success stories of the multi-sport high school athlete.  Yet, the rate of specialization in high school sports is growing exponentially.  Kids are quitting sports they love in order to focus on the one at which they think they can be most successful.  Why are they quitting, and who is influencing them to do so? 

The issue seems to begin with parents.  Something has changed.  It’s no longer simply the classic “loving,” overbearing parent who wants their child to get a full ride to a 1-A school, and live vicariously through their experience.  Now, it seems every parent with an athletic kid faces the temptation.  They believe in order to “make it,” their kid needs to play on the school team, the travel team, the AAU team, the summer team, and train all off-season.  Ted Silary, the Philadelphia Daily News high school sports writer, who’s covered the area for over 20 years, sees it this way:  “The competition for scholarships and grants-in-aid is fierce. A kid is medium to good in two or three sports. The parents think, 'Hmm, if we can get him to play just one, maybe he'll become very good to great and get a ride to college.' The AAU programs and personal coaches LOVE these kinds of parents. As they suck them dry. And Possible Stud still winds up going to Medium State, hoping to make the team as a walk-on.”

After parents, coaches inhabit the next circle of responsibility.  In the recent survey Ms. Hofmann passed out to the upper school students, 35% of the junior boys said they felt pressured to specialize.  The leading source of the pressure for those juniors was the coaches.  Granted, “coaches” doesn’t necessarily mean GA coaches, but also AAU coaches.  Still, what is, or isn’t, the athletic department and administration doing on this issue?  While Coach Harris made it clear to me that in no way, shape, or form do the coaches support specialization, I think there is more the coaches could be doing.  Why isn’t there a guideline stating the school wants its student athletes playing multiple sports, similar to PC’s policy?  Why don’t all coaches (Harris has already done this with his football players) hold meetings telling their kids the benefits of multiple sports?

Jack Turner, probably the single most successful GA graduate in all aspects of athletics (as an athlete, coach, athletic director, and father of 3 GA Hall of Fame athletes), thinks something is lost at GA because of specialization.  “If you don’t have many athletes participating in more than one sport, while you may have some success for individual teams, you won’t have it across the board,” and “The ability to increase your athleticism by playing another sport has incredible carryover.”  This “carryover” became glaringly obvious to anyone watching the GA-Malvern basketball game on Jan. 19th, as Malvern’s cross-sport star Joe Hoban dominated the game with his quickness, toughness, and tenacity.

Playing multiple sports can also effect, or help, one socially.  “All my teams had different personalities,” said Sean Grieve, an Inter-Ac/GA baseball and football MVP (and a self-proclaimed all-star JV basketball player on Coach Conlin's last undefeated team),  “I had such an enjoyable experience because I didn't hang out with the same people all the time. I feel it forced me not to be socially one dimensional.”