Month: August 2014

FCIAC

A Competitive Spirit Has Driven Westhill’s Emma Hart To Becoming A College Level Field Hockey Player

By Dave Ruden August 27, 2014

STAMFORD—She has an unassuming appearance, is shy and laconic around people she does not know well, and can easily blend into the crowd.

Then Westhill’s Emma Hart steps onto the playing field, and her alter ego takes control.

“I’m a very competitive person,” said Hart, a senior who has been a four-year starter for both the Vikings’ field hockey and softball teams. “I just hate losing more than anything, so I get like feisty.”

That spirited attitude has carried her well. A midfielder, Hart will be one of the captains of the field hockey team this fall, looking to improve on a year ago, when it was 7-9-1, losing to eventual champion Darien in the first round of the state tournament.

FCIAC

The Cheerleaders: Hard Work Has Danbury Primed For New Season

By Dave Ruden August 27, 2014

DANBURY—When you think football, it’s hard not to also think of cheerleading, the classic counterpart to the tradition of the game. Cheerleaders bring the spirit and the motivation to unite everybody in the stadium to root for their favorite team.

Danbury High School has this tradition down pat, and the girls have already started training for the upcoming fall season.

According to coach Joanne Tatarzycki, the coaches picked the team in May and started immediately after with a stunt clinic at North Haven High School and consistent trips to the weight room and the track to get its preseason going.

FCIAC

The Breakout Star: Darien’s Evanchick Ready To Build On Sophomore Success

By Dave Ruden August 26, 2014

DARIEN—There was not much advance hype for sophomore Mark Evanchick prior to last year’s opening game against Hillhouse, when he finished with eight tackles, including three for losses, and was a constant presence in the backfield.

It was a foreshadowing of a season in which the Darien defensive end was the breakout star of the FCIAC season, with a performance that even surprised his coach a little.

“I’ve known Mark since the DJFL days and he’s always been a special player, but translating that into a high school player, your never know,” said Rob Trifone, referring to the Darien Junior Football League. “I didn’t expect him to come out of the blocks like he did.”

Boys Hockey

Commentary: Bo Hickey’s Retirement Brings A One-Of-A-Kind Career To An End

By Dave Ruden August 21, 2014

NEW CANAAN—The news on Monday that Bo Hickey was stepping down as New Canaan’s boys hockey coach after 20 years, in which he won 10 league titles and made the Rams the most consistent program in the FCIAC and one of the best in the state — created a ripple effect.

Really, it was just one piece to the Bo Hickey puzzle, and the seismic reaction to the news in reality was about more than just a successful coaching career in one sport concluding.

An era is coming to an end, one that lasted for over 50 years, when Hickey attended what was then known as Stamford Catholic and produced one of the most storied playing careers in league history.

Hickey may have been known as much for his work as a football assistant as behind the hockey bench. Save for an occasional year, this will be the first season Hickey has not coached since 1974, when he was named the offensive line coach at Staples.

FCIAC

How I Spent My Summer Vacation: Darien Softball Star Erika Osherow Recounts Her Trip To Nepal

By Dave Ruden August 20, 2014

DARIEN—If her teachers on the opening day of school ask students how they spent their summer vacations, some of Erika Osherow’s classmates will no doubt have interesting tales to share.

None however are likely to top Osherow’s.

The All-State pitcher for the Darien High School softball team spent a month in Nepal as part of the Where There Be Dragons program, which bills itself as “combining the best in experiential education, travel, service learning, and physically and intellectually challenging experiences.”

So, why Nepal?

FCIAC

The Blitz: 5 Questions As FCIAC Football Camps Open

By Dave Ruden August 18, 2014

Camp is open.

Today marks the beginning of training camps for all teams in the state that did not start last week because they opted out of spring football.

The offseason was relatively uneventful compared to the past. Yes, we are going to have to endure the absurdity of eight state champions, but rather than continue to lament it is best to look at what will take place after Thanksgiving as a one-year aberration before order is restored in 2015 with the return back to four champions and quarterfinal rounds.

Four of the 19 FCIAC schools will have new coaches, with the highest profile change — in the state — coming in Danbury, which has former Cheshire coach Mark Ecke now calling the shots.

FCIAC

Sister Act: Casey And Makenna Pearsall Looking Forward To Soon Being Lacrosse Teammates At Notre Dame

By Dave Ruden August 13, 2014

WILTON—Casey and Makenna Pearsall are a unique pair. After graduating Wilton High School in 2013 and excelling as a tri-sport athlete, Casey moved on to the University of Notre Dame to pursue a Division I lacrosse career. Just over the course of this past year, news broke that Makenna made the decision to join her sister with the Notre Dame lacrosse program, giving these sisters another two years to be teammates, but this time at the next level.

“The possibility of playing with Casey didn’t impact my decision as much as you would expect,” Makenna confessed. “But if you’re playing on the same team as a sibling in college, then you must have a good relationship with them because you will be spending a lot of time together. That wasn’t a worry for me because Casey and I get along well together. The thought of playing with her was only another positive for Notre Dame.”

Although the decision was purely her own, Casey could not completely keep quiet before everything was said and done.

FCIAC

The Ruden Report’s 2nd Annual FCIAC Football Media Day Sept. 2

By Dave Ruden August 12, 2014

The start of the high school football season is less than a month away, and three weeks from today, with a lot of support from our friends, The Ruden Report will again help to kick if off in grand fashion.

We will be hosting our second annual FCIAC Football Media Day, on Sept. 2, at Zody’s 19th Hole in Stamford, from 7-9 p.m.

The event is for the 19 league teams and the media.