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ABOUT THE COVER
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he spring of 2020 may one day be remembed as “The lost season” because of the Coronavirus pandemic, and that really is a shame because it was shaping up to be a tremendous season in the Cape-Atlantic League in a variety of sports, most notably baseball. Cedar Creek, coming off an appearance in last year’s South Jersey Group 2 championship game, features a slew of pitching talent, including flamethrower Luke Vaks, pictured above. Mainland’s Chase Petty, a junior, was touching the mid-90s on the radar gun toward the end of last year, and St. Augustine Prep was fully reloaded after making its third straight appearance in the state championship game. We may not get to see the sophomore season of Mainland softball slugger Bella Canesi, or what Ocean City boys lacrosse might have had to offer following its best season ever in 2019. And we may have seen the last of Red Raiders star Abbey Fenton, whose career has been full of championship trophies. All we can do is hold out hope that there can be some kind of season for all these athletes.
GLORY DAYS MAGAZINE General contact: 609-788-4294/advertising@acglorydays.com Dave O’Sullivan, Publisher: sully@acglorydays.com On Twitter: @GDsullysays Giuseppe Ungaro, Managing Editor: gungaro@acglorydays.com On Twitter: @GDgisepu Amy D’Adamo, Graphic Design: advertising@acglorydays.com Bill Lynskey, Director of Advertising: bill@acglorydays.com STORY IDEAS/ADVERTISING: Have a story you’d like to see told in Glory Days Magazine? Want to get your business noticed with a marketing campaign at glorydaysonline.com? Call us anytime at 609-788-4294. Volume: 7 Issue: 12 Overall Issue Number: 146. Cover Photography: Dave O’Sullivan 2020 Glory Days Magazine. All rights reserved.
April 21, 2020 w Glory Days Magazine w Page 5
BOYS SOCCER Lambert earns bid to S.J. Hall of Fame Former O.C., Stockton star, current EHT coach gains elite status By DAVE O’SULLIVAN Staff Writer ete Lambert has made a name for himself as one of the top boys soccer coaches in South Jersey during his career at Egg Harbor Township, but his players may be surprised to learn how good he was on the pitch during his high school and college days back in the 1990s. Lambert recently was among eight selections into this year’s South Jersey Soccer Hall of Fame, which includes players, coaches and contributors to the sport. Despite all the success Lambert has enjoyed coaching the Eagles, he was inducted for his prowess as a player at Ocean City and Stockton University. As a midfielder for the Red Raiders from 1993-96, Lambert scored 38 goals and had nearly 60 assists while leading Ocean City to sectional and state titles as a junior in 1995, then, in 2001, he led Stockton to the NCAA Division III national championship. The eight inductees in this year’s hall-of-fame class — which also includes former Hammonton star Danielle Frith, who scored more than 100 goals and was a 1,000-point scorer in basketball — were scheduled to be inducted during a ceremony on April 26, but due to the Coronavirus pandemic this year’s class will be inducted in spring 2021. “It was pretty awesome to have my name called and to get the phone calls and emails from the board. I was taken back. I was honored, for sure, and excited at the same time because I know some of the coaches and players who are in it and what they have achieved, and for my name to be called, I was really taken back. It was something special, for sure,” said Lambert, who led EHT into the South Jersey Group 4 championship game this past fall. “There are coaches who get inducted, supporters of the game and players, and I’m actually being inducted as a player. They said it could probably go either way, with playing or coaching, or maybe a combo deal, but since I’m actively coaching they wanted to induct me as a player.” Lambert said during his Ocean City days no one
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Glory Days file photo/Dave O’Sullivan
Egg Harbor Township boys soccer coach Pete Lambert has 133 career victories and also was a star player at Ocean City High School and Stockton University, leading the Red Raiders to a state championship and the Ospreys to an NCAA D3 national championship. player really stood out among the rest, as it was more a collective group of very talented players. “The way I liked to play — and the way our coach wanted us to play — I was more into the distribution part of the game. I was able to score 38 goals in my career, but more importantly, I had 58 assists, which for a while was the record at the high school until Chad Severs took it,” he said. “The way we played back then and the team we had, nobody scored more than 20 goals in a season, we just all contributed, and that was my part of the game — trying to get the ball out to those guys who could finish.” Lambert said now he has a little something to hold over the heads of his players, in case they don’t believe how good he was when he was their age. He also knows it took more than just talent to get to where he is today, and believes his hall-of-fame induction can be celebrated by both the Ocean City and Egg Harbor Township soccer communities. “There’s not much I can hold over my players anymore — I can’t really play with them anymore — but now I can hold that over them. Even though I was at Ocean City, we won a championship and that’s our
goal at EHT, to try to get there and win it. I hope these boys enjoy what I was able to experience. I was fortunate to experience the wins and the championships, and in college winning a national championship. That’s what I want my players to do, and to feel the same joy I did. That’s my goal as a coach,” said Lambert, who is the all-time winningest coach in EHT history with 133 victories. “I’m very fortunate to be in the position I’m in, having played the game at a high level and now to be able to be able to coach at a great school like EHT and be able to give back. It’s been a fun ride. My family has been a big support, my wife has been phenomenal with supporting the players and she’s our No. 1 fan. It’s a great sport, a great game, and it’s built a lot of bonds and friendships through the years. This is pretty cool. I like representing South Jersey, and even though I’m an Ocean City alumni I’m also representing EHT, and this is big for EHT. It’s not a ‘me’ thing, it’s a ‘we’ thing and I enjoy this moment with friends, coaches, players and former teammates. That’s what it’s all about.” Contact Dave O’Sullivan: sully@acglorydays.com; on Twitter @GDsullysays
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FOOTBALL
‘Ahead of his time’ Former NFL player Earl “Bubba” Wilson remembered fondly as one of best to ever come out of Atlantic City High By DAVE O’SULLIVAN Staff Writer egends grow over time, and as the years pass the players get taller, stronger, faster, and the feats more amazing and difficult to believe. But for anyone who knew Earl “Bubba” Wilson at Atlantic City High back in the mid-1970s, well, they didn’t come much bigger, taller, faster or stronger. Time didn’t make Bubba Wilson a legend — what he did on football fields and how he made some boys simply quit the game altogether, that’s what cemented his status as legendary when it comes to South Jersey football. Wilson passed away late last year at the age of 61, and the presence of the 6-foot-4, nearly 300-pound former defensive lineman has been hard to replace, said one of his many siblings, Valerie Kelly. “He fought a long battle (with diabetes.) He was getting better and was talkative,” Kelly said. “I remember him at Atlantic City High School, my mom and I would attend games and they even made a song about him. That’s where he got the name ‘Bubba’ from. They had a song called, ‘Atlantic City High’ and one of the lines was, ‘we got Bubba, that’s enough, Atlantic City High!’ That’s where he got that name, from the cheerleaders, basically.” Ray Ellis Jr., father of former Holy Spirit star Ray Ellis III, was a teammate of Wilson’s back at the old Atlantic City High. Ellis was nicknamed “Earthquake” because he was so big
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and strong, but even he couldn’t compare to Wilson — a boy who was too big to play youth football and only played a couple years of high school and college ball before playing professionally in Canada and then with the San Diego Chargers in the NFL. “I grew up with Bubba from Day One. I was the only one who could practice against him, so I had to get beat up. I was one of the bigger guys along with Bubba, and he would just run over me. I thought I was the man until I had to go up against him. Bubba was really ahead of his time. If Bubba was a 20-year-old today, he’d be worth $20 million. That’s the type of ballplayer he was,” Ellis said. “Kids today have strength, speed and conditioning coaches. We didn’t have all that stuff. We didn’t have weights, we had bricks and bars. But Bubba was the strongest dude. I played college ball, went to Canada, and Bubba was probably the strongest guy I’ve ever seen. He was just naturally strong and naturally fast. He was nearly 300 pounds, and he was big, strong and fast. He was the biggest, strongest, meanest thing I’ve ever seen in all my years of football. He beat me up every day, and that was saying something because they called me ‘Earthquake.’ I hate to admit it, but he ran me over every practice. When the scouts would come we’d have one-onone drills and the coach would make me go in front of him, and that made me look bad in front of the scouts because he could run over anybody. He was a real nice guy off the field, though, and
Photo submitted by Valerie Kelly
really cared about his family. He was a great guy.” “When he was a freshman at University of Kentucky, he would tell me at practice he was tearing people up on the front line, and word got out and it appeared in the paper that Kentucky had a senior practicing with the freshmen. They had to say, ‘no, he’s not a senior, he’s a freshman.’ And the coach said he wasn’t going to be practicing with the freshmen anymore, and he
went straight to varsity,” Kelly said. “He was really good, and I want the people of Atlantic City to know they had somebody really good come out of this city who did do well. Back in 1976, they finally beat Holy Spirit, and it was a long time before Atlantic City beat Holy Spirit again. He had a great career with the CFL.”
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April 21, 2020 w Glory Days Magazine w Page 7 Wilson, from page 6 Wilson graduated from Atlantic City High in 1977 and then went on to play for the University of Kentucky, where he helped lead the Wildcats to a 10-1 record as a freshman. After his college career he went on to play for the Toronto Argonauts from 1982-84 and then the San Diego Chargers from 1985-87, where he notched 8.5 sacks in three seasons. Kelly says she remembers having some good conversations with Earl last summer, just talking about life, and, of course, football. “I’ll remember all the talks we had about football, and how we were just talking in August and how he glowed when he talked about playing at UK and in the CFL. He talked about a playoff game in the CFL and how his team was down, but nobody complained. Everybody expected them to lose, but he said they went out there and at halftime they talked, and in the fourth quarter they won that game by a couple of points. He said the fans were throwing beer bottles and trash at them. Nobody thought that they would come into the opponents’ brand new stadium and take that game from them,” she said. “He also talked about when he got on the football team at Atlantic City he would tell his teammates, ‘it’s nothing personal, but I want to get out of Atlantic City and go somewhere.’ He made a tackle on this one guy, and the guy quit football the next day. Earl didn’t mean any harm, he was just trying to go somewhere. He played like it was his last day of football every game.” He certainly did go somewhere, as when he eventually returned to the area he was involved with a very successful landscaping business.
“I’ll never forget, Bubba came home from Canada and he had a black Mercedes, we were riding around and he took me on the Expressway and we were doing about 130 miles-per-hour, and I was like, ‘Bubba, get me outta this car!’ He never changed one bit, he would come home and get together with his friends,” Ellis said. “He took a turn later in life where he got really into the church, he started a landscaping business that really blew up big. I didn’t see much of him recently, we’d run into each other from time to time. He was working hard, he was into the church and he was into his family. He really was a great guy and I was really sad to learn that he passed away.” Ellis has been around the game of football for a long time, both as a player and a coach, and he said in all his years he’s never seen anybody like the great Earl “Bubba” Wilson. And doesn’t expect to anytime soon, either. “No kid was like Bubba. There was a Bubba Green from Millville, and he was big, but he wasn’t as aggressive and as strong as Bubba Wilson. Bubba back
in the 70s was 290 pounds of solid muscle, his legs looked like a bull or something. He was so strong. We had one little universal gym set at Atlantic City High in this little cage and it was only 220 pounds, maximum, and Bubba could do that with one hand. He was so damn strong. And he was fast, too. You’re talking about a 6-foot-4 guy, nearly 300 pounds, running a 4.7-second 40-yard dash. Nobody back then could do that. He had college coaches from all over the country coming to Atlantic City High School. Every coach heard about him and came to see this kid who was that big, that strong and that fast,” Ellis said. “Off the field, he was a gentle giant. On the field, he was the meanest, strongest, fastest kid you ever saw back in the 70s. Bubba Wilson was one of the best players in the whole state. Back then you saw big guys, but not big, fast, strong and aggressive like that. I was tough back then, but I’d never say I was tougher than Bubba. This is my 39th year coaching youth football, I did 20 years with the (Atlantic City) Dolphins and 19 with Egg Harbor Township. Bubba never got to play youth league because he was too big, so I helped start the unlimited league in EHT for kids like Bubba. In those 39 years, I’ve never seen another Bubba anywhere. I go to watch a lot of high school football, too, and I’ve never seen a kid like him. Bubba was ahead of his time. If he was around today he’d be a first-round draft pick and could damn-near go straight to the pros (from high school). He was unbelievable. If anybody ever said they went up against Bubba and won the war, trust me, they’re lying.” Contact Dave O’Sullivan: sully@acglorydays.com; on Twitter @GDsullysays
“Bubba back in the 70s was 290 pounds of solid muscle, his legs looked like a bull or something. He was so strong. We had one little universal gym set at Atlantic City High in this little cage and it was only 220 pounds, maximum, and Bubba could do that with one hand. He was so damn strong.” Ray Ellis Jr., former Atlantic City High teammate of Earl “Bubba” Wilson
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SENIOR SPOTLIGHT: Gianna Hafner, Absegami Soccer, Basketball
‘Once a Brave, always a Brave’ Galloway native Gianna Hafner was destined to make her mark at Absegami By DAVE O’SULLIVAN Staff Writer tar guard Jackie Fortis went down with a thumb injury in preseason that kept her out of Absegami’s entire regular-season schedule, so somebody had to step up. It wasn’t surprising to coach Bob Lasko — or anyone familiar with the Braves’ program, for that matter — that senior Gianna Hafner had the best season of her career and led the team to 17 wins and a berth in the South Jersey Group 3 semifinals with her trademark consistency and selfless play. Hafner, also a star midfielder on Absegami’s soccer team, could have scored a lot more points than she did, but she knew her role as the point guard and was the ultimate distributor. She was one of the most careful point guards in the league, in terms of turnovers, and was methodical in setting up the Braves’ offensive sets. It was that relentless, methodical approach that helped the Braves go 17-11 and score a pair of heart-pounding, come-from-behind victories in the state playoffs that had Absegami on the doorstep of playing for a sectional title, before a tough loss to Mainland Regional. “When I first had her, junior year, I could tell she was a really hard worker but she kind of shied away from contact. I wanted her to play a lot tougher, so I really challenged her during her junior year and by the end of the year she was one of our better players. And senior year, she was one of our best players. She ran the team,” said Lasko, a former Holy Spirit assistant who just
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finished his second year as head coach of Absegami. “Without her, we can’t even run our offense. People don’t realize she can hit an open shot, she can take it to the hoop and score with either her left or right hand, and her turnoverto-assist ratio is probably one of the best in the league. There aren’t many who can even compare to her. And she’s such a leader that she doesn’t even care about being in the spotlight, she just wants to lead the team, and I thought she did a really good job of that this year. Without her, we would have been in serious trouble. “The two things people forget about are field-goal percentage and turnoverto-assist ratio. She was really good at both of them,” he added. “If we had a six-point lead late in the game, the game was over, and that’s a testament to her. She’s a really hard worker. Her dad is a referee, and you can tell basketball runs in the family. Just a really high basketball IQ kid, and a really nice kid.” Hafner, the daughter of Cape-Atlantic League referee John Hafner, grew up a soccer player but decided to get into basketball during her days at Galloway Township Middle School. She emulated former Absegami star Julia Dolan, and six years after picking up the game full-time in seventh grade, Hafner will be graduating as one of the top guards in the CAL. “Even when I was younger I was able to pick things up very quickly. I did a bunch of sports when I was younger, gymnastics, volleyball, tennis. My dad wanted me to be a point guard because
Glory Days photo/Dave O’Sullivan
Senior point guard Gianna Hafner helped lead Absegami to a 17-win season that included a berth in the South Jersey Group 3 semifinals. he said dribbling the basketball was the most important thing. If you can’t handle the basketball, how do you expect to play? So handling the basketball really became my focus — not necessarily scoring, although that’s a big part of the game. I think playing controlled and being composed and finding the open player so they can score is just as important as scoring 1,000 points,” Hafner said. “I watched so much basketball. Ever since I was in middle school my dad and I would go out and watch games. I just loved watching the game and picked up things from other point guards and how they play. And
coach Bob got me to play with the mentality that you don’t have to rush things. There’s no shot clock in high school, so he really taught me to take my time and let the game come to me, and not force anything.” Hafner made some big-time plays down the stretch in an opening-round win over Toms River South in the state playoffs, and she finished with 10 points, five rebounds, two assists and two steals. In the quarterfinals, she once again helped engineer a fourthquarter comeback as the No. 4 Braves
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April 21, 2020 w Glory Days Magazine w Page 9 Hafner, from page 8 rallied to beat No. 5 Timber Creek, 48-44. “My senior season was probably my best season of all my years at Absegami. With coach Bob coming in and this only being his second season with us, he really was able to get us all on the same page and make us gel. He saw what we had and really worked with us and put people in the best position to be successful. Our chemistry was so good and we would do anything for each other, which is why I love this team so much. And being able to go as far as we did just made it even more special. I give a lot of credit to coach Bob for being able to do that in just his second season,” Hafner said. “That first round — we knew no game in the playoffs was going to be easy — Jackie came back and we didn’t know how that would go because it was her first game back. She only had a couple of practices (in December, before she got hurt). But having her back really lit a fire under us and we thought, ‘we can do this.’ We didn’t let any adversity stop us. We didn’t get that far just to stop there. We just kept working for each other, and that’s why we made it as far as we did.” “She doesn’t really get on kids, but she’s very positive and encouraging, and kids want to be around her. That’s the best thing about her,” Lasko said. “The cool thing about our team was there wasn’t really any jealousy or anything like that, and I put that on her,
she really made sure our team was on point and was a real leader. She’s a tough kid who plays no matter what.” The 13-year-old who used to look up to stars on the Absegami High School team has now become someone that kids at GTMS want to be like, and that’s a special feeling, Hafner said. The future Stockton University student said she hopes she has become the kind of role model that Dolan, now a star soccer player at Temple University, was for her. “My career was even better than I thought it would be. We got to a position at the end of the season that I didn’t expect, and I think these girls worked so hard for each other. We might not be the best team, but we had the most heart, in my opinion. Looking back on it, I wouldn’t change anything. It made it special that we were able to put Absegami on the list of teams to look out for,” she said. “Playing for Absegami means everything to me. I grew up in Galloway my whole life, and going to GTMS and then Absegami — it’s like a family here. I looked up to Julia Dolan, she was my role model coming into high school, and when she wore that shirt with Absegami across the front, she did it with pride and I wanted to do the same thing. I hope I did, and I hope kids will look up to me. It warms my heart to see kids who want to be like me. I’ve made a lot of mistakes — as everyone does. I wish I could play every game perfectly, but
I learned something in every game and I’m still going to keep learning throughout life. Basketball has taught me a lot of lessons, and I hope little girls can look up to me and say they tried their hardest and they worked hard, like I did. I wouldn’t be in the position I was in if I didn’t work hard on my own.” “She has a nice little handle for a point guard and a good spin move, and all the younger kids see that and try to emulate that. We already know how much trouble we’re going to be in next year without her. We have to find somebody who can run our offense, and that’s a hard thing to do. Guards are at a premium, and she was a premium point guard. We know we can’t replace her, we just have to find somebody who can come close,” Lasko added. “The one thing to know about her is she never had anything easy, nothing was ever easy. She earned everything she got, and that’s the best thing you can say about anybody. She won me over, she took control of that team and really ran our team.” Hafner is Absegami through-and-through, as mom Ann and dad John have sent four children through the school, including Hafner’s brother, Corey, and older sisters Carlyn and Bon. When asked to sum up what Absegami brown-and-gold has meant to her, Hafner said simply, “Once a Brave, always a Brave. I’m proud to be one.” Contact Dave O’Sullivan: sully@acglorydays.com; on Twitter @GDsullysays
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VIC’S SUBS COVER STORY
A season in limbo The Covid-19 outbreak has high school sports in a holding pattern By DAVE O’SULLIVAN Staff Writer he grass in front of lacrosse goals is lush and green, not worn down by the cleats of South Jersey goalies. Baseball and softball fields across the state sit silently, waiting patiently for the familiar ping sound of ball meeting aluminum bat. Hurdles are stacked neatly to the side of area tracks, no teenage athletes leaping over them. Tennis courts are vacant, and the tee boxes at local golf courses remain untouched. There is an eerie silence that envelops high school athletic facilities, as athletes go through home workouts provided by their coaches, hoping that something of the 2020 spring sports season can be salvaged. But hope is quickly turning to despair in the age of Covid-19, the coronavirus pandemic that has gripped the world and led to more than 46,000 deaths in the United States. Safety is the No. 1 priority for everyone right now, and coaches, athletes, parents, fans, media, athletic directors — everyone understands the magnitude of what we are going through as a nation, and world — but still, everyone who loves high school sports is longing, desperately, for the day when competition returns. It may not happen at all this spring, and at this point nobody knows how the fall season might be impacted by a disease that is ravaging countries throughout the globe. Everyone is dealing with the situation as best they can, and the toughest thing may be that there are no answers to be had at the moment. The state of New Jersey has ordered schools to be closed until at least May 15, and perhaps longer. We’ll just have to wait and see. “It’s kind of surreal for all of us right now. First and foremost, our seniors — I feel terrible for them with what’s going on and the potential loss of their season. We built this team for this year, as we always do, and we had high expectations. In the short time we were together in early March, I could really see
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Kevin Foreman and the rest of the St. Augustine Prep seniors, who were looking to make it back to the state championship game after falling to Delbarton a year ago, may not get that chance as the coronavirus pandemic threatens to wipe out 2020 spring sports. the makings of what it takes to be a state championship team,” said St. Augustine Prep baseball coach Mike Bylone, who led the Hermits to a state championship game berth in 2019. “If we’re not able to have a chance to fulfill that it will be a shame and my heart goes out to our guys and all the seniors on the local teams. Personally, it’s weird. This is the first time in 17 years I’m not hitting fungoes in April. It’s just crazy, but you just have to sit back and think that we have to be careful and this is something we’re not used to, and I don’t know what it’s going to be, but I hope something good can come out of all of this. “It was Friday, March 13 and we were getting ready to go scrimmage Highland, and we got the message they were shutting everything down,” he added. “That’s when it all started, and we didn’t think it was going to come to this. But as the days went on it started getting more serious.”
The situation has been especially tough on seniors, most of whom will not be continuing their athletic careers at the collegiate level. “It’s hard to wrap your head around the whole idea that this is mandatory and there’s nothing you can do about it. It’s a sad situation. Ever since freshmen year, and even before that, you dream about your senior game and walking out onto the field with your parents, having your name called and all that. And now it’s taken away from you. It’s sad, but at the same time, we need to be in quarantine,” said Holy Spirit senior Lauren Mevoli, a goalie on the field hockey and lacrosse teams who hopes to continue playing lacrosse at Stockton University. “I get these weird feelings that something bad is going to happen, and
See Season, page 11
April 21, 2020 w Glory Days Magazine w Page 11 Season, from page 10 ever since the beginning of preseason I felt that something bad was going to happen, like we weren’t going to have our senior game. I just had this feeling that something was going to happen. Everybody was like, ‘why are you being so negative?’ But I just felt something didn’t feel right. This year, something is off, and I just had this feeling. And now everything is shut down and we’re in quarantine. That’s what that bad feeling was.” Athletic directors and coaches have done their best to continue to crank out positive messaging, knowing it’s a difficult time, mentally and emotionally, for all the athletes. “Our baseball team, in particular, I feel terrible for the kids, they were looking forward to this season so much. They were ready to go and they were looking pretty good. I would highly doubt there will be a season at this point. As the Cape-Atlantic League we’ve done numerous zoom meetings, we’ve redone the schedule with a May 1 deadline and now it’s pushed back to May 15. We’re just waiting to hear
what the state says at this point. I feel terrible for all our kids,” said Mike McGhee, athletic director at Cedar Creek. “It’s a tough job but our spring coaches are giving motivational tips to the kids each day, giving them home workouts, they’re checking in with them. Our softball coach, Shawn Cohen, has done pretty much a virtual softball schedule. So he has the girls still playing in their heads, how they batted the day before — he has a whole thing, like it’s windy today, it’s a little rainy, we have Oakcrest at 4 p.m., the wind is blowing in. He has a whole virtual schedule going on with them right now. None of us have ever been through something like this before and we have kids who are just devastated, but they also see the big picture and that’s the message we tried to explain to them. Everything we’ve tried to teach them athletically over the years, you can use those skills and lessons right now when we’re dealing with adversity. It’s something we all have to deal with, unfortunately.” Back in February, this spring season promised some great storylines. In baseball, many teams were loaded with talented pitching staffs, including
St. Augustine Prep, Mainland, Ocean City and Cedar Creek. The Pirates, in particular, have at least three pitchers who throw 90+ miles per hour and were coming off their best season ever, one that included a trip to the South Jersey Group 2 championship game. In softball, Oakcrest was looking to build on a solid 2019 campaign, Ocean City was fresh off a sectional semifinals appearance, EHT was eager to see what it could do after the departure of highly successful coach Mary Dunlap, and Mainland’s Bella Canesi was poised to build off one of the best freshman seasons we’ve seen in the Cape-Atlantic League in a long while. And Ocean City senior Abbey Fenton — who has won more championship trophies than most athletes in school history — was set to close our her incredible threesport career on the lacrosse field. Not to mention all the impressive track, tennis, golf and crew performances we were sure to see. And there are all the other things that go along with closing out a high school career, the special moments like prom and graduation, that may be missed this spring.
Despite the disappointment, however, everyone seems to be keeping up as positive an attitude as is possible in a situation like the one we all are facing. “I am planning on playing lacrosse in college. Even though it’s sad we’re not having our senior season, at least I can play next year, or if I don’t make the team there’s always club lacrosse. It’s sad, but it’s not the end of the world, that’s what I keep thinking,” Mevoli said. “Luckily, I went to prom last year. It is sad that we might not have a prom this year. But I always think in my head, there are those people who never get to go to prom or play a sport, so they never get to experience these things. So, I am privileged. Yes, it’s sad, but it’s not the end of the world. They’ll end up doing some kind of graduation when (the lockdown) is lifted. It’s not the end of the world, you just have to keep pushing through it. Safety is always first.” “In particular, at our school, we’re throwing around some ideas. From the Cape-Atlantic League standpoint, we’ve reached out to the Shore Confer-
See Season, page 13
April 21, 2020 w Glory Days Magazine w Page 13 Season, from page 11 ence and talked about all-stars, maybe senior all-stars — if we get back into school for a few weeks can we do a senior all-star game for the kids? We did a mock schedule with a 6-game season just to give the kids something,” McGhee said. “I know the discussion in the state has been can we go into the summer? You have the non-publics closing down earlier than the public schools. We’re spitballing a lot of ideas, but until we can get any confirmation — we have a lot of ideas to try to put something together for these kids. And everything, the prom, graduation, they’re missing out on a lot of things and my heart goes out to them.” The toughest thing for administrators and coaches is not being able to tell their athletes, definitively, what is going to happen in the next six-to-eight weeks. “(The hardest thing is) just trying to give kids answers. I’ll get messages, ‘do you think we’ll have a season, Mr. McGhee?’ And my answer is, ‘keep your fingers crossed.’ Just me not being able to tell them an emphatic yes or no and being able to deliver a direct message is the part I’m dealing with the most,” McGhee said. “I’d like to be able to tell them this is our plan, but this is such a fluid situation, and it’s bigger than sports. We’re part of the Positive Coaching Association and we’ve tried to deliver stuff to them. Herman Edwards spoke recently, different things of that nature. They do really good podcasts for the kids, dealing with the disappointment. They have free parent workshops about parenting in the age of disappointment and helping your teen get through the loss of spring sports, and they do a phenomenal job.” “I’m kind of a dinosaur when it comes to social media, but I’ve been emailing the guys and giving them updates. Our athletic director, Mike Rizzo, is great with keeping our spring coaches up to date with what the state is doing and I just reiterate that to my coaches and our players throughout the whole program. There really are no answers right now. I can send all the emails in the world but right now it’s wait-and-see. Our school is going to be closed for the remainder of the year and my phone has been getting blown
“(The hardest thing is) just trying to give kids answers. I’ll get messages, ‘do you think we’ll have a season, Mr. McGhee?’ And my answer is, ‘keep your fingers crossed.’ Just me not being able to tell them an emphatic yes or no and being able to deliver a direct message is the part I’m dealing with the most. I’d like to be able to tell them this is our plan, but this is such a fluid situation, and it’s bigger than sports.”
Mike McGhee Cedar Creek Athletic Director
up with questions about whether our season is over, and I just don’t have any answers. We just have to keep the guys working out and staying safe,” Bylone added. “This is really killing me because I’m a baseball lifer. I have my job to get my mind off things, but I just feel bad for the kids. It’s all about the kids and you hate to see them lose a season, but this kind of puts things into perspective. But every day at 3:45 p.m. I have goose bumps thinking about standing at home plate and handing in my lineup card. I’ve been doing this for quite a long time — this has been my life — and it’s tough.” The statewide lockdown has left everyone antsy and eager to get back to normal life, but Mevoli said she hopes that years down the road missing a sports season will be worth it if lives can be saved. “I think we’re all just going to look back on it and be like, ‘wow, that was such a strange time period,’” she said. “I heard on the news that when we look back on this, I hope we think we were overprepared instead of underprepared. That’s a good thing.” Contact Dave O’Sullivan: sully@acglorydays.com; on Twitter @GDsullysays
Page 14 w Glory Days Magazine w April 21, 2020
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q&a
Lauren Mevoli HOLY SPIRIT SENIOR/FIELD HOCKEY, LACROSSE
L
auren Mevoli is a senior at Holy Spirit High and plays field hockey and lacrosse for the Spartans. Recently, Glory Days Magazine Publisher Dave O’Sullivan caught up with “Mevoli The Goalie” to talk with her about what could be a lost senior lacrosse season due to the coronavirus pandemic, what she’s been doing to stay busy, and what her future plans are. Here’s the conversation: Sully: What’s been going through your mind? I know it’s been tough on all the seniors who were looking forward to their final season. Mevoli: It’s hard to wrap your head around the whole idea that this is mandatory and there’s nothing you can do about it. It’s a sad situation. Ever since freshmen year, and even before that, you dream about your senior game and walking out onto the field with your parents, having your name called and all that. And now it’s taken away from you. It’s sad, but at the same time, we need to be in quarantine. Sully: When did you realize there was going to be a shutdown? Did you have a feeling it was coming before it happened? Mevoli: I get these weird feelings that something bad is going to happen, and ever since the beginning of preseason I felt that something bad was going to happen, like we weren’t going to have our senior game. I just had this feeling that something was going to happen. Everybody was like, ‘why are you being so negative?’ But I just felt something didn’t
feel right. This year, something is off, and I just had this feeling. And now everything is shut down and we’re in quarantine. That’s what that bad feeling was.
Sully: Are you planning on playing either sport in college?
See Mevoli, page 17
Page 16 w Glory Days Magazine w April 21, 2020
April 21, 2020 w Glory Days Magazine w Page 17 Ocean City, from page 22 Mevoli: I am planning on playing lacrosse in college (at Stockton). Even though it’s sad we’re not having our senior season, at least I can play next year, or if I don’t make the team there’s always club lacrosse. It’s sad, but it’s not the end of the world, that’s what I keep thinking. Sully: How much hope are you holding out that there will be some kind of season, or is it getting to the point where it’s too late? Mevoli: There’s no season. I’m even thinking, are we even going to get to go back to school? The sports season is over in my mind, but I’m more worried about are we even going to go back to school or will they say finish it out online? I know some districts are (going to finish out) all online, even the AP test is online. Sully: How tough is that as a senior, all the things seniors look forward to, like the prom, graduation — that whole 4-to-6 week span where your whole high school career culminates? Mevoli: Luckily, I went to prom last year. It is sad that we might not have a prom this year. But I always think in my head, there are those people who never get to go to prom or play a sport, so they never get to experience these things. So, I am privileged. Yes, it’s sad, but it’s not the end of the world. They’ll end up doing some kind of graduation when (the lockdown) is lifted. It’s not the end of the world, you just have to keep pushing through it. Safety is always first. Sully: What’s been the most frustrating part about being in a lockdown? Mevoli: Time management, I would
say. Waking up and doing your school work, but not getting too stuck in the school work. You have to take breaks. And I’m still working my job on the weekends, so that’s kind of crazy. Sully: What kind of things do you do to keep yourself entertained? Mevoli: I’ve been picking up hobbies. I was skateboarding and I haven’t done that in years. I’ve been trying to teach my dog some tricks, working on crafts, drawing. Just anything that will take time. And doing lots of cleaning. Sully: What’s the best part about it? Mevoli: In the strangest way, I feel like I’m learning more and getting more accomplished because it’s being forced onto you. You can’t not pay attention with your school work because you have to hand it in. You can’t just goof off, like you might in class, you actually have to do the work, take the notes, send everything in to your teachers. So, weirdly, I feel like I’m learning more. Sully: What’s the strangest TV show or movie you’ve come across during quarantine? Mevoli: If it’s on Netflix, I’ve probably seen it. I’ve watched pretty much every show on Netflix. Sully: What do you think you’ll think about this whole time 10 or 15 years down the road? Obviously it’s so much different than anything we’ve ever had to deal with. Mevoli: I think we’re all just going to look back on it and be like, ‘wow, that was such a strange time period.’ I heard on the news that when we look back on this, I hope we think we were overprepared instead of underprepared. That’s a good thing. Contact Dave O’Sullivan: sully@acglorydays.com; on Twitter @GDsullysays
snapshots Holy Spirit wrestling coach Ralph Paolone reacts during sophomore K.J. Sherman’s opening bout at the NJSIAA State Championships at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City in early March. Glory Days photos/ Dave O’Sullivan
Ocean City senior first singles player Jordan Moyer competes in the quarterfinals of the Cape-Atlantic League Tournament at Vineland High School in October.