'Mods' need love too

PINE PLAINS — High school athletics coverage is predominantly a varsity level affair. Of course those teams would attract the most attention; they often play the most games in a season and the degree of skill is high.

But like the rags-to-riches stories you hear about mailroom clerks working their way up the ladder all the way to the top, the same can definitely be said about athletes. All players have to start somewhere, and this week The Millerton News headed to Pine Plains to get in on the action at the modified level.

First up was modified football, coached by Frank Tamburino and Michael Stewart.

“The season has been up and down for us,� said Stewart, “but there is a lot of talent which we can hopefully carry up to junior varsity and varsity.�

The Bombers lost to New Paltz last Wednesday, Oct. 29, with a score of 32 - 12. Dylan Carrino and Justin Cooper both scored for Pine Plains.

“A lot of kids are just starting out,� Stewart added. “Especially with the seventh-graders, this is their first interaction with football. Coach Tamburino and I have a lot of fun teaching the basics: stance, blocking, tackling... that’s what we enjoy most about modified football.�

Talking about the differences between coaching varsity versus modified, Stewart stated, “you have to simplify the plays. It’s a lot for a kid to remember. These kids are still in middle school. Early on [at the beginning of the season] he had to have a lot of repetition so the kids would remember the plays.�

Pine Plains hasn’t had a junior varsity football team for a few years and some of the modified players found themselves starting on the varsity squad this year, but Stewart, who is in his second year coaching, is hoping for a JV team in the future.

On the field hockey side, modified coach Cathy Gomm reported that her team has had “a great season.� With only one team to play by press time, the Bombers’ record stands at 7-2-1.

Standouts on the team’s roster include leading scorer seventh-grader Megan Proper, with six goals and two assists.

“Megan started as defense and moved her way up into offense with her aggressiveness and improved ability to move the ball to goal as evidenced by her six goals scored this year,� stated Gomm.

Other team highlights include cousins Sophie and Amelia McGhee sharing goalie-duty for the year, as well as goals scored by Christine Boyles (4), Olivia Langa (3), Monica Smith (3), Kaitlin Croghan (2) and Abigail Aresnault (1).

Coach Gomm has good things to say about all her players, and commented extensively on the improvements many of her team’s players have made over the course of the season.

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