RBR Fall Sports Preview: The Lights are On and the Bucs are Looking to Shine

It’s officially the beginning of Red Bank Regional High School sports, and no matter what sport you are into, it’s sure to be a great season. Improving more and more each week, each game is really the key for all of this season’s sports. So whether you’re a Buc football fanatic, a former runner who likes to keep tabs on the local cross country, or just an RBR fan of all, put on your Buc Pride and take a listen to my 2013 Fall Sports Preview.

To kick things off, I talked to Athletic Director Louis Dal Pra about how he thinks the addition of the lights on the football field will affect RBR’s fall athletic program as a whole. Here’s what he said:

 “The addition of the lights on the football field will be great, and means that the student body has a place to go to at nighttime where it’s not just a football game, it’s an event. Also, with the boys and girls who play soccer, it’s going to create more of an atmosphere where kids want to be watching the soccer teams, which is better. At nighttime, the parents are also off of work, so they can come and watch their own kids. I think it’s not just for sports—it’s great for school spirit, enthusiasm, and being able to watch your classmates.”

CROSS COUNTRY BOYS AND GIRLS

(Photo credit to nj.milesplit.com and thanks to Coach Desiere)

Preview:  You may think that cross country is an “individual” sport, but this year’s RBR boys’ and girls’ cross country teams are everything but individual athletes. As of September 24, the Buc runners are two of the best teams in all of RBR. With records of 4-0 on both the boys’ and girls’ sides, the program this year is off to a great start, even meeting one of their coach’s goals by winning a meet against tough B-North division rival Matawan. The Bucs have a number of talented returning runners who are eager to win this season and put their hard work to the test. Teamwork is a very important part of this season’s RBR cross country program, so we can expect only the best from them.

Coach Brendan McGoldrick on his expectations for the season: “We are looking forward to competing for the top spot in our division. We have to get through Ocean Township, who beat us last year, and Matawan- both should be exciting matchups for this year.”

Coach Chris Desiere on his expectations for the season: “I think that both the boys and girls teams are in for stellar seasons. Both teams have goals of winning their division. But what I am most proud of is all the hard work they have put in over the summer. Cross Country is a lot of hard work and they weren’t afraid to put in the time.”

Coaches’ Players to Watch: Seniors Zach Bradley, Connor Schembor, and Sean McIntyre, along with a number of juniors in Owen Forrester, Houston Migdon, and Jake Luca.

Kyrsten Gilmartin, a senior who won Central Jersey Group 2 State Sectionals last year, an extremely talented runner who knows how to compete come game day.

Lauren Sapone, a sophomore who finished second to Kyrsten in that Central Jersey Group 2 State Sectional race last year, and qualified for the Meet of Champions, a runner with no ceiling and an extremely hard working girl.

CHEERLEADING

Preview: Those who question whether or not cheerleading is a sport have not met this year’s RBR squad. They were out in the mornings for most of the month of August doing everything from push ups and planks to speed tucks and laps around the track—not much different from what other teams were doing. All of their work came together during the first varsity football home game under the lights. From their brilliant halftime performance, a routine that their coach says is one of the best they’ve ever put together, to their launchings of mini footballs into the student section of the game during the third quarter, this year’s squad kept the fans excited and interested even during breaks in the game, although there were very few. So next time you go to watch a Bucs football game, also pay attention to the other team on the field, (no, not the opponents) and I guarantee you’ll have an even better time.

Coach Kristine Finck on her thoughts for the season: “During my first season (2006), I had only 12 girls on the varsity team, and we certainly didn’t have the numbers to warrant a JV team. This year we have 23 girls on varsity and an additional 21 on JV, so I am extremely proud of how big the program has grown over the last few years.”

Coach's Athletes to Watch: The three remarkably-talented captains this year, seniors Gabi Redaelli and Ali Gardella, and junior Sarah Haddow, who choreographed this year’s halftime routine.

FIELD HOCKEY

Preview: First of all, I’d like to give a shoutout to anyone and everyone out there who plays field hockey. It looks like an extremely difficult and hard-to-learn sport, so a high five to anyone who plays. To this year’s RBR team though, a high five AND a pat on the back. This is an extremely young team—all freshmen, sophomores, and juniors. They may be young, but they are tough, and most importantly, they work as a group. This year, the girls on RBR field hockey are focusing on getting better, and improving their skills. I attended several games this season so far, and the progress between them is gradual, but there is without a doubt improvement. Next season, the Bucs will for sure be an experienced team of upperclassmen, but for now, look for steady improvement game by game this year.

Coach Maria Heininger on her expectations for the season: “This season the RBR Field Hockey team is in the midst of rebuilding the program. We are comprised solely of freshmen, sophomores, and juniors. Our goal is to keep making improvements and looking for our first win of the season.”

Coach’s Players to Watch: Junior, Liz Doherty. She is the Bucs’ center midfielder and one of the team’s captains. So far this season, she has scored one goal.

VOLLEYBALL

Preview: Volleyball is a highly underrated sport. I don’t play it, but I know you need an incredible amount of concentration, skill, speed, agility and strength. The RBR girls’ volleyball team is using all of these this season to succeed on the court. They are a group who knows how to keep their calm even during close situations. They play a very natural game. All of the girls on the court, like center hitter and coach’s player to watch Megan Reardon, seem relaxed as they naturally hit the ball over the net. The points in the matches I have seen this year are long, aggressive, and thrilling, the players always keep their cool. With a growing number of girls who join the RBR program each year, the varsity team has an almost equal balance between upperclassmen and juniors/sophomores. The futures for both this season and next are looking very, very bright.

Coach Jenn Morrisy on her expectations for the season: “I, as a coach, look forward to our team achieving a winning record this year and making our way into both the State and Shore Conference Tournaments again.”

Coach’s Players to Watch: Senior Megan Reardon, a middle hitter with great prospects for her stats this season.

FOOTBALL

Preview: Let’s start of by saying this: after a long, hard effort, the football field finally got lights!! The impact that this will have on the RBR football team this year is obvious. On Friday, September 20, the Bucs played their first home game under the lights against Wall. We only lost by a touchdown in the last minutes of the last quarter. Focusing on the team now, improvement is the key word for this program. It looks as though the QB job will be up for grabs for most of the season. During Friday’s game, senior Joe Persico started the game, while sophomore Jack Navitsky ran the offense for most of the game before Persico it for the Bucs. The team primarily ran the ball for most possessions, which is really not a problem when senior Mario Williams was carrying the ball. However, on the occasions when they did run a pass play, they were often successful when the ball landed in the hands of sophomore receiver Sadiq Palmer. There is no doubt that success is somewhere in the Bucs’ future, but for right now, improvement every snap and every down is the key.

Coach Nick Giglio on his expectations for the season: “Our season is underway and we are a very young, inexperienced team in two ways. We have a group of sophomores who are playing varsity for the first time, plus seniors who are playing varsity for the first time. Our goal is to gain experience on every snap, learn from our mistakes, and grow individually and as a team. I feel we will become a better team each week.”

Coach’s Players to Watch: Senior tight end/defensive end Dylan DeVita, senior offensive lineman/linebacker Gary Johnson, senior running back/defensive back Mario Williams, and sophomore wide receiver/defensive back Sadiq Palmer.  

GIRLS’ TENNIS

Preview: The RBR girls’ tennis team is almost the mirror image opposite of younger-based teams like field hockey and football. This year’s varsity team has eleven seniors playing, normally filling the top three singles spots and one, occasionally two of the top doubles spots. Tennis seems like one of the less publicized sports at RBR, aside from the announcements on the morning announcements loudspeaker the day after a match, or the often asked, “Oh? You play tennis? Where? Oh! I didn’t even know RBR had a team!!” (Full disclosure: this is my first year on the tennis team and I have gotten that many times.) The Buccaneer girls’ tennis’ program is one that expands and improves year by year. And even as a larger-than-normal group of seniors graduates this year, this program will not fade. Especially with the additions of two new freshmen to the varsity team this year, and with no juniors to take over next year, the girls on this team are putting together the pieces of a puzzle that will lead to more improvement and even more success. 

Coach Krishna Kanuga on his expectations for the season: “We are an inexperienced team, and I expect us to improve more and more as our season progresses.”

Coach’s Players to Watch: Senior Sara Halloran, the team’s top singles player. She has been on the team for two years and is known for her marathon, three and a half hour matches.

GIRLS’ SOCCER

Preview: “Together” is the key word for the RBR Lady Bucs’ soccer team this season. Scroll through any type of social media on game day and you’re bound to see a “#together” somewhere in there. Teamwork has really been the key so far this season for the Bucs, even with a 1-6 record. First year head coach Nick Tucker has installed a style of play with a mix of older girls and new freshmen that is leading slowly but steadily to more improvement game by game. Just by watching quick glimpses of the games, you can see the team grow stronger and stronger. They will come out faster, come out tougher, take more shots, go for risks, give up fewer goals—but one thing that will not change is the sense of family that you see when you watch this team. You can see it in their eyes before the start, in their words of encouragement to each other during the game, in their pregame circle huddle, and in their jog across the field and back after a win or a loss. Only time is going to tell how far this team will go in the conference and state tournaments, but I will tell you this right now: this is one of those seasons that every single girl on this team, everyone in this program, everyone who watches their games, will look back on and remember not just the outcome of their season, but what their #together really meant. Take my word for it—this team is something special, and I guarantee you’ll see it if you watch them, too.

Coach Nick Tucker on his expectations for the season: “The girls have been working since the middle of the summer, and they’ve been working really hard. The season opened up, and we had to play three teams in the top 10, but we expect this team to turn around and start qualifying for states. They should be ready to go, since the schedule gets a little bit easier, they’ve been working really hard and we’re ready for it all to start paying off. We have a good mix of older and younger girls, and we always talk about playing together, so now we just have to put it all together. ”

Coach’s Players to Watch: Senior Jazz Van Loon, who leads the team with six goals, senior Alex Goldrich, who does a good job in the back, junior Gillian Grover, sophomore center Alyssa Keleigh, as well as a mix of freshmen, including Bella Conti, Emily Bynoe, Hannah Proodian, and Grace Dengler.

BOYS’ SOCCER

Preview: “For the first time in my career, I’m not setting expectations in the way of conference championships or state championships. I’m setting expectations for the kids to understand that we apply the same principles out here to life,” said head boys’ soccer coach Sean Reid. Seems as though the idea of working “together” as a team isn’t only relevant in soccer, but actually in pretty much all of the sports this season at RBR. Soccer, like most sports, is a game in which the only way you can win is if you work with your teammates. The Bucs are doing exactly that. It’s more about using everything they learn on the field to become even better people off of it. It’s incredibly fascinating to watch this team play from one end of the field to another. It’s enjoyable—it makes me smile when I see a group of people working together the way that this kind of team does. Go watch a game sometime. I think you’ll smile, too. 

Coach Sean Reid on his expectations for the season: “We are a very, very solid team who is looking for someone to take the lead and direct the ship. The core of players that we have is an incredible group, and they can achieve anything they set their minds to, but it’s definitely up to them. That’s what’s great about this team—they aren’t pieces, they are one big puzzle that the only way we’re going to succeed is if they do what they’re supposed to do.”

Coach’s Players to Watch: Juniors Dylan Fogerty and Sam Macpherson, and in Coach Reid’s words, the list goes on. “We don’t have one kid,” he says. “that’s going to put their teammates on their back and carry them. We’ll be doing it as a unit, together.”

It looks as though the future is bright for all of our Buccaneer fall sports teams. So next time you've got a free day or night, throw on your maroon and white, build up your Buc Pride, go out and catch a game.