Fall 2020 Athletics
How to Navigate the Fall Season Recap: scroll from sport to sport to learn about how each team developed over the season. Don't forget to click the green header boxes with the names of each sport -- those link out to more photos!
Dear Sacred Heart Greenwich Tiger fans,
While this fall had a different look and feel than in past years, it was still meaningful and successful for our student-athletes, coaches and each sport program. Our Sports Night guest speaker encouraged the student-athletes to embrace the opportunity that this fall presented to slow things down, take a risk, focus on skill development, and simply enjoy being together as a team. Our entire athletics community embraced that and made the most of every opportunity this fall.
Staying motivated and focused can be challenging in the absence of regular interscholastic competition, but our leaders and all our student-athletes and coaches rose to the occasion and made the most out of every practice opportunity, intramural scrimmage day, and interscholastic game day. I often encourage our student-athletes to focus on those things they can control, and not on what they cannot. While the season was different, it certainly was a meaningful one here at Sacred Heart Greenwich.
Please read a recap from our Varsity Head Coaches below. Team photos and pictures from Upper and Middle School intramural and interscholastic game days can be found on our SmugMug page.
Thank you for your support of our student-athletes!
Go Heart,
Sacred Heart Athletics
It was great to see each individual Middle and Upper School student-athlete improve their speed and race mentality over the course of the season through time trials and other challenges put together by the coaching staff.
Note from Varsity Head Coach Suzanne Myette:
Cross Country had a surprisingly wonderful season as we had more time to focus on quality training, individual improvement, and team unity and bonding. The girls grew appreciative of our (hilly!) home course as we hosted three meets this season, and really enjoyed the two opportunities to run on other courses at Brunswick and Greens Farm Academy. The team, with the leadership of its captains, made the best of this very different season, maintaining a positive attitude throughout. The athletes were sad when the season ended and expressed a genuine appreciation of the sport of running and their desire to continue to run this winter and beyond. We are already looking forward to next fall.
We had a large group of dedicated field hockey players this year in both the Upper and Middle Schools- once again demonstrating our depth and the level of talent in this sport. The inter-squad scrimmage days in both the US and MS programs were a highlight each week.
Note from Varsity Head Coaches Sarah Hill and Alex Gheorghe:
Despite the unique season, our program goals stayed the same: demand excellence and focus in the areas of skill execution and play during practice and scrimmages. Each Thursday, all Upper School teams participated in inter-squad matches, which helped overall program development and ensured all student-athletes were used to the same system of play, style, and mentality. The local scrimmages produced successful results and demonstrated our depth and the exceptionally talented athletes involved in our Field Hockey program. The passion and dedication of our veteran players have made a huge impact on our program and has laid the foundation for future seasons to come.
The rowers demonstrated the hard work and determination that you find in this sport- training both on land on our rowing machines as well as limited days at RowAmerica Greenwich on the water.
Note from Varsity Head Coach Costel Mutescu:
Given these challenging times, the team showed great resilience. We were able to row twice a week on the water, both sculling and sweep rowing, in addition to our land-based training and virtual workouts. The rowers demonstrated true team spirit throughout the season!
The enthusiasm of our soccer coaches and student-athletes is contagious- and can be seen in all of our fields during MS and US practices alike. Both Upper School teams were able to participate in interscholastic scrimmages that demonstrated our high level of skill, speed, and teamwork on the field.
Note from Varsity Head Coach Stuart Smith:
It was another great season for the varsity soccer team and overall soccer program. In the absence of league competition, we adjusted our focus to fun and skill development but maintained our usual competitive practice environment and ever-inclusive team spirit. One of the highlights of the season was the first annual fall Play Day which brought together the entire Upper School soccer program for intramural competition. We also celebrated and said goodbye to our incredible senior class who have given so much to our program.
Our volleyball program continued to grow this year in terms of participation at every level. The student-athletes and coaches were extremely adaptable and met every challenge with a positive attitude- as this season included moving an indoor sport outside onto grass courts and our brand-new versa-court that was set-up on our tennis courts.
Note from Varsity Head Coach Beth Wilson-Jordan:
Our team focus was on skills, drills, and competitive play. With larger rosters, we enjoyed more 6v6 competitive play in practice. Our accomplishments included not only adapting to masks, but moving outdoors and adjusting to different playing surfaces and the effects of rain, wind, sun, and cold on the game we typically play indoors. We learned adaptability and flexibility with scheduling, drills, and practice plans. We demonstrated strong competitive play in our competitions and one of our season highlights was a fierce successful rematch against a strong rival to which we had previously lost in the first competition of the season. The improvement, mental toughness, captain leadership, and team-first attitude the varsity team demonstrated was impressive and truly special. We incorporated some program-wide fun with a water balloon toss, sitting volleyball experience, triples tournament, Halloween costume practices, volleyball trivia, wear pink practice, and breast cancer community service project. We were grateful to practice and thrilled to compete this season!
#FollowAlong
Cheer on the Tigers on the turf, on the court, in the water, and on the track!
FALL SEASON RECAP
