ATHLETICS |
When Thornton Academy Middle School indoor track and field coach Kirk Agreste’ 99 conducted his team practice on the afternoon of Friday, March 13th, little did he know at the time that it would mark the last in-person gathering of any school athletic team for the balance of the 2020-2021 school year. Since that date, Linnell Gymnasium, Hill Stadium, and the other playing fields surrounding the Thornton Academy campus have remained quiet and free of any school and community athletic activity as the coronavirus pandemic has gripped the country’ s attention. For the first time since the fall of 1907( when there were not enough boys interested in participating in football), Thornton Academy did not field any interscholastic programs in a sports season. Despite the loss of many traditions associated with spring athletic play( e. g. preseason trips, senior nights, and state championship tournaments)
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Thornton ' s Athletic Department has continued to operate, albeit in a virtual, screen-based mode. In addition to holding several meetings to keep coaches updated on current information related to the pandemic and any directives coming from the Maine Principals’ Association or the Southwestern Maine Activities Association, the department has conducted several events via electronic platforms for the public as a whole. On May 20th, Thornton Academy held its annual fall athletics information night for families of incoming freshmen; 50 individuals participated in this Zoom meeting. Similarly, a live senior athletic awards program was held on June 3rd. Over 50 speakers, including all varsity coaches and captains, joined student hosts Mia Taranko’ 20 and Kobe Gaudette’ 20 in a celebration of the athletic accomplishments of the members of the Class of 2020.
A number of spring athletic programs met via Google Classroom throughout the season to conduct virtual practices.
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Thornton Academy boys ' tennis coaches Andrew Carlson and Chris Kohl met regularly throughout the season with their players to provide instruction and communicate training routines that student-athletes could conduct in isolation. In addition, Kohl utilized the team’ s Twitter page(@ TABTennis) to share tips about imagery and visualization.
Middle School coaches Kirk Agreste’ 99( outdoor track and field) and Lauren Sonneborn( softball) conducted similar activities for students who had expressed interest in being candidates for those programs, neither of which began in-person workouts.“ We [ developed ] workouts the kids can do at home without weights or going to a gym,” observed Agreste,“[ and ] we post [ ed ] how-to videos on workouts.” Noting the need for generating communication and enthusiasm for the sport while creating connectivity, Agreste noted,“ Our hope [ was ] that the page can be a place where the kids can get some ideas when it comes to
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Seniors from the softball team came together for one last huddle inside the dugout. |