Sports

Benjamin Simon

Sports Editor

Three years ago, coach Erin Giorgio compiled one of the best girls’ basketball teams in the Public League. After opening up the season 7-0, the Science Leadership Academy Rockets finished the regular season 9-3 and earned themselves a playoff appearance. A year later, while in the top division, the team went 7-7 in the regular season and ended the year on a 5-1 run.

But after losing multiple seniors and two transfers last year, the team struggled, ending the regular season with a 2-12 record. Following a tough season, there isn’t a better time for coach Giorgio’s harpings on team unity. This comes naturally for her, as she has been organizing, coaching, and playing sports for as long as she could remember–although her history is largely with a sport other than basketball.

“When I grew up, I recognized there were a lot of basketball teams out there,” Giorgio said, who is a native of Long Island, New York. “When I started playing lacrosse, I really found that was more of my speed. And I was really disappointed that it wasn’t available in my town. So when I was in 10th grade, I started a Police Athletic League [program] for girls’ lacrosse in my town.”

The experience taught Giorgio some of the resilience she shows in her work with the SLA girls’ team.

“We initially didn’t have enough girls for the first team,” she explained. “We had a clinic of, I think, ten kids that first year, of kids who were going into third and fourth grade. And then the following year we had a couple teams. By the time I left for college, my dad took over managing the program and I think we had two teams per age group, so we had six teams.”

Despite playing varsity basketball for two years in high school, where she was a defensive stopper, lacrosse was where coach Giorgio had the most success. She thrived, earning a spot on Yale’s Division 1 women’s lacrosse team. While she played pickup and intramural with her friends during college, she really didn’t get back into basketball until she came to SLA, where she has built one of the public league’s most successful programs in recent years.

The team began as a junior varsity team during her first year at the school and the next year, they advanced to the varsity level, but had trouble competing. It wasn’t uncommon for them to lose by 65 or 70 points on a regular basis. But years of intensity and continued growth have helped to further advance the girls’ basketball tradition at SLA.

“I think [the program] has gone in waves,” Giorgio added. “When I first got here, kids were used to not showing up to practice regularly. It definitely took a couple years to get kids on board. When the class of 2015 came in [as freshmen], that was our first class where I had kids showing up on a consistent basis. It wasn’t the only class…but that was the first time we had a more kids showing up regularly and really committing to playing basketball and not just being on the team. Then over the course of the years, we’ve built. And again, now as we’ve added Beeber the last couple years, it has been great being able to work with both campuses. Now as Beeber is in its fourth year we have a lot more kids interested in playing and our talent level has gone up.”

One of the toughest parts has been installing the 6:30 AM practices every morning at Greenfield.

“When you practice every morning at 6:30, you’re either in or out,” she commented. “You’re not going to show up at 6:30 if you don’t really care about it. You’re in or out and that’s it. I’m sure we’d have some different players if practice was after school. But I like what we have and we have a really good, dedicated group of kids. And unlike other teams, we only have an hour and fifteen minutes everyday.”

Early morning practices are all part of her message to the players about learning how to better themselves through sports.

“Building character through sport and having kids learn real life lessons through playing basketball [is important to me,]” she added. “I want them to recognize the transfer that basketball or sports has on other aspects of their life and the importance of having a growth mindset. When you make a mistake, don’t shut down. Learn from your mistake and do better. [I like] having kids be able to take leadership positions in sports in a way that they oftentimes don’t feel confident in the classroom. I think being a coach is a great opportunity to see kids excel in many different aspects of their life. So a kid I may teach in math class, that might not be their most confident area, but then all of a sudden I see them step onto the basketball court and I get to see them in a different light.”

Junior guard Tia Roberts also commented on Giorgio’s intensity and how she instills a lot of the principles she teaches.

“Ms. Giorgio is very aggressive and she has an [impactful] voice,” said Roberts. “She makes you run a lot.”

Junior forward Madison Harris agreed, adding to coach Giorgio’s pet peeves.

“She focuses on hustling,” said Harris. “It really bothers her if we don’t run back. If we miss a lot of layups at a time, that bothers her. [Bad] attitudes bother her too.”

However, this year, the early morning practices are more important than ever. With no seniors and only two returning starters, the team will be youthful. In preparation for their first game, coach Giorgio and her coaching staff of Wynetta Ward, the mother of Phoenix and Nile Ward, and tech room worker, SJ, who previously coached girls basketball at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, are working tirelessly for one hour and fifteen minutes everyday to help get the team ready.

“We dropped down a league from last year, and I think that if we play up to our potential, we should be leading this league,” Giorgio said. “And I’m hopeful that’s what we do. Then when we go into playoffs, we play against the teams from the higher league and show them how much we’ve grown as a team.”

After last year, Roberts has higher expectations for the team as a collective unit.

“I want everyone to flow better and be able to work together throughout the whole season,” Roberts said. “We have some good people and some people that require more improvement and I feel like we can’t just single out people who need improvement. We all need to find a medium where we all communicate and work together.”

Giorgio’s tone is noticeably echoed by captains Roberts and Alexis Perkins. Roberts is a defensive specialist and a really good motivator. She is an extension of Ms. Giorgio on the court. Similar to Roberts, Perkins is an extremely hard worker with raw basketball talent, who “does a great job of finding the open lane,” according to Giorgio

A young player with extreme athleticism, Karrine Tucker is another major piece coming back this season. As one of the two returning starters, she has legit college basketball potential and will be relied on for lots of scoring and steals this season.

“She has so much potential,” Roberts said of Tucker. “If she puts her mind to it, she can definitely dominate this season.”

Harris added another player that feels like could play a big role this season.

“I have big expectations for Diamond [Wallace],” said Harris. “She is a freshman. She is really good, but she likes to make sure people don’t look bad while they’re playing. She tries to make sure everything is perfect. She can’t do that; someone is going to mess up. But overall, I think she’s a good player and her head is in the right place.”

Harris will also play a major role on team. After not playing much her freshman season, Harris emerged as the sixth man last year as an attacking and rebounding big. Although they are in good hands, the team is still trying to establish a starting point that will push them to the next level. But that’s all part of the process.

“The team is much younger,” Giorgio said. “I think, in some weird ways, we’re faster and taller…I think we’re really quick. I think defensively, putting on some pressure, we can end up with a lot of steals. We’ll play some really aggressive defense up and down the court.”

The Rockets open up their season this Friday at Math, Civics & Sciences.

Photo courtesy of Jesse Shuter

Benjamin Simon

Sports Editor

I have never put my hand over my heart during the National Anthem.

I grew up with a father who consistently expressed his distaste for America. He fantasized about living somewhere else and always balked at any forms of patriotism. For him, that included putting your hand over your heart.

As I grew up and began to form my own opinions, I thought about whether or not I should place my own hand over my heart during the National Anthem. Everyone else around me put their arms over their heart. The athletes I revered put their hands over the chests. Why shouldn’t I?

But I also noticed that America was not the best country in the world. It did not deserve to be praised and put on a pedestal all of the time. To me, refusing to put my hand over my heart felt like a small act of defiance. Even though no one ever noticed, it was a way of expressing that I did not love America. It did not have my heart.

Now, the same method that I grappled with for much of my childhood, is making its way into the limelight.

On Saturday September 27th, the players of Philadelphia’s high school football team, Overbrook and Mastery North, took a knee during the National Anthem. That happened a month and thirteen days after Colin Kaepernick first took a knee during the team’s week one preseason game in protest of the treatment of African Americans in America.

His actions, which skyrocketed on August 26th when Jennifer Lee Chan of Niners Nation snapped a picture of the 49ers national anthem, have erupted within sports and the world.

Countless numbers of professional football players have followed suit, raising their first during the anthem and/or taking a knee. Some had locked arms, trying to show unity in the presence of a flag.

Now, high school athletes are doing the same. And there isn’t a better way to go attack the issue and spark conversation.

Throughout the last couple years, supporters of the Black Lives Matters Movement have tried to stir the conversation through almost any method. But without a doubt, Kaepernick’s acts have to be one of the most influential. It has not only captured the black community, but captured the entire sports community, encouraging healthy debate.

Kaepernick, in specific, has handled the entire situation with such grace. When he received backlash for being too harsh with his protest, Kaepernick lightened up his stance, opting to kneel in the face of the flag instead of sitting on the bench. He clarified his stance and eloquently explained why he was sitting so the average American could understand his goal.

“The media painted this as I’m anti-American, anti-men-and-women of the military and that’s not the case at all,’’ Kaepernick said to the USA Today earlier this season. “I realize that men and women of the military go out and sacrifice their lives and put themselves in harm’s way for my freedom of speech and my freedoms in this country and my freedom to take a seat or take a knee so I have the utmost respect for them.”

Kaepernick has done everything right and others have followed suit. Cornerback Jeremy Lane of the Seattle Seahawks was the first player not on the 49ers to join Kaepernick. Denver Broncos’ linebacker Brandon Marshall decided to take a knee in the season opener, risking tons of his endorsements and his own livelihood. Marcus Peters of the Kansas City Chiefs followed soon after, but this time, raised his fist during the anthem. And so many others have done the same. The wave of interest has been abundant from fellow football players.

This is all great and it has sparked so much appropriate discussion. But it needs to stretch a little further.

A white male athlete in a major sport needs to do the same.

Megan Rapinoe, a white, U.S. national women’s soccer player, kneeled for the National Anthem before a game against the Netherlands. Two other WNBA players, Jeanette Pohlen and Maggie Lucas, also did the same.

While their actions were wholesome, the support of a prominent white male athlete in a major sport would be gigantic. Too often, that responsibility falls on black athletes. A white athlete needs to take a stand and speak up for their coworkers, friends, and fellow Americans.

“You need a white guy to join the fight,” Seattle Seahawks’ Michael Bennett, a large part of the Black Lives Matter movement in the NFL, said to the Seattle Times. “The white guy is super important to the fight.”

There are many distinguished white athletes in sports today that have the option to speak out. The Manning brothers, Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees, Kevin Love, and Clayton Kershaw are all examples of athletes who have the platform to make a difference. Saying something as simple as, “black lives do matter,” would help advance the fight that much further. Kaepernick has given them the space to make to stand up for what’s right. White athletes need to take advantage of that for the better of our country. 

As a white high school student athlete on interracial teams, I see myself in the position of athletes on both sides. I am a person, regardless of race, who is upset with the way country is ran. I do not feel the need to praise it.

What Colin Kaepernick has done is given Americans the opportunity to feel comfortable speaking out in the face of oppression in the country: from football players to high school students to people of all races. Everyone should use it.

First photo: Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images

Second photo: Kyle Robertson/The Columbus Dispatch via Associated Press

Caroline Pitone

Staff Writer

It’s 6AM. Where are you?

Most SLA students are still in bed, but for a select few students each fall, they are already on their way to ultimate frisbee practice.

There are benefits to playing this sport and things that can grind people’s gears.

The ultimate frisbee holds practice that are mandatory in the early mornings at 6:50 AM. It’s the only time that can be scheduled that allows them to use a field and that make everyone’s schedule work.

To get insight from how the players actually feel about this tight schedule, they were asked their opinions.

[2016] Destiny Patton shared her view on going to practice stating,

“I mean…kids mostly go to practice, uh, it can be hard to wake up from your bed in the morning.”

Sophomore Bea Gerber shared her view on the quantity of kids that go to practice saying,

“Usually we only have half to three quarters of the team on a good day.”

Just like anything else you have wake up for, it can be hard.  But does it affect the rest of your day to wake up at a time like this and run around outside?

”It’s a good way to start your day off because you have energy,” said Gerber. “But it gets harder during the day because you basically just crash because you’re so tired.”

It is said over and over again that it is hard for the kids to stay focused throughout at the last periods of the day. Not everything students do in school is able to be done at the best of their ability, i the time that they have to wake up at to make it to practice on time.

“On days where I have everything ready, I have wake up at 5:40,” Gerber added. “Waking up that early makes me feel kinda… sad, because I am always tired, but I feel happy about it because, I’m gonna be doing stuff outside with my friends.”

“I know I have friends that arrive to class late, and is it fair to mark them late? After frisbee, theyŕe all hot and sweaty, and they want to get changed. Is 30 minutes enough time to get changed in school, and start their day?” science teacher and coach, Ms. Sessa, said about the attendance. ” I really do, because I let my students out at 7:45, and it shouldn’t take a half an hour to get to school and get changed. You don’t have the most amount of time but I definitely give time and am aware when I let them out.”

All of the kids have a different view on it.  Some believe that time is so limited when you have to get back to school, sign in, walk upstairs, get changed, and start class, acting like you didn’t just work your butt off.

Although frisbee is on a tight schedule, the kids manage to pull through it!