SCC > News Releases

9/13/04

The Southern Connecticut Conference hosted its Fall Captains Council luncheon on Monday, September 13th at Anthony’s Ocean View in New Haven.

Captains of fall sports from each of the 23 member-schools, just over 300 in total, participated in the event. Seating was arranged by sport so captains in a particular sport could meet and interact before the actual season starts.

An ice-breaker exercise commenced the event. A series of questions about parental involvement were passed out and discussed by each table. The captains’ responses were then reviewed by the moderator, Fred Balsamo, the AD at East Haven.

New commissioner Al Carbone was introduced and made some remarks, welcoming the student-athletes back for the 11th year of the conference and thanking the league's corporate sponsors (NewAlliance Bank, New Haven Register and The United Illuminating Company). Carbone also acknowledged former commissioner Bill O'Brien and thanked him for his service to the league and introduced each of the school's athletic directors in attendance.

The guest speaker of the event was Dan Gooley, the head baseball coach at Quinnipiac University. A former standout athlete at Hillhouse H.S. and Quinnipiac, Gooley has coached 18 seasons at both Quinnipiac and University of Hartford. He also worked on the corporate level as the director of Major League Baseball team services for the Starter Corporation.

In his remarks, Coach Gooley talked about the great opportunity to be a captain, and how student-athletes should really embrace the role. He also commented about the unfortunate place that drugs/alcohol/gangs play in our schools, and encouraged the captains to recognize and be up front with their teammates who may have a problem.

The Winter Captains Council luncheon will take place on Monday, December 6 at 11:00 a.m. at Anthony's Ocean View.

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