Today was a banner day for Wellesley Media Sports Producer Rebekah Caron as it was learned that she recieved an Access Center Professional Award in the Sports category as part of the Hometown Media Award Winners for her documentary Two Points chronicling the 2014-15 girls hockey season! Congratulations Rebekah and you can find her listing here http://www.allcommunitymedia.org/latest-news/2016-hometown-media-award-winners. Also Caron released a segment today about the alumni lacrosse game held a few weeks ago in memory of Connor Darcey. That segment can be found here! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mh54zbKIZfo&feature=share

Tonight was a big night in Wellesley Little League summer baseball as it was night one of the Williamsport Tournament with both Wellesley North and South kicking off district pool play. How did it turn out, let’s find out!

Result for 7-6-16

Newton American 6 Williamsport North 4

Williamsport South 12 Newton National 2

Despite the rainy start to this day after Independence Day it turned into a beautiful night for baseball as both 11 year old travel teams took to Reidy Field for a doubleheader against Walpole. Could both pull out a win, let’s find out!

Results for 7-5-16

U11 North 7 Walpole American 7

U11 South 11 Walpole National 9

As first reported on The SWellesley Report earlier today George Campbell has stepped down as head coach of the Raider Girls Hockey team. Campbell leaves following a 20 year career, as the only coach thus far in the programs history which began in 1996. Campbell led the program to it’s only state title back in 2006 and to the state finals the last 3 years straight at TD Garden. Campbell will remain in Wellesley as the middle school football and softball coach and will begin coaching middle school girls hockey this winter. I would personally not only like to congratulate Coach Campbell on a successful career but also thank him for all his help during both my writing and broadcasting careers!

First of all happy Independence Day everyone! No matter what you are up to on this July 4th, I hope you have a great day celebrating with family and friends! That being said what better way to kick off this holiday than talking some Raider Pride with the latest answer to the question “What does Raider Pride mean to you?” Today’s answer comes to us from Peter Santo a recent WHS graduate who holds the perspective of having been an athlete at WHS and also covered the various WHS teams over the years. Here’s what Peter had to say!

What Raider Pride Means to Me

By Peter Santo
Having just graduated from Wellesley High School last month after playing four years of varsity athletics and covering Raider sports for many years, I know about Raider Pride just as well as anyone.

Raider Pride is all about motivation. It gave me the motivation I needed to succeed both on and off the field. It made you feel like you were playing for much more than just yourself, you were playing for everyone, your teammates, coaches, and your entire school.

Raider Pride is something that gets thrown around a lot in this town, and to be honest it took me four years of competing at Wellesley High School and 18 years living in Wellesley to gain a full understanding of what it meant. I took until my final high school golf match this past October for it to hit me.

It was our last match of the season against our archrival the Needham Rockets, I certainly did not play my best that day, and neither did my teammates. We ended up losing to a Needham team we had beaten easily earlier that season, and it was a huge letdown for our squad.
No one ever wants to lose, especially to Needham, but that day it felt like it meant something more. Neither myself nor my fellow seniors would be playing college golf at the varsity level, so that last match against Needham would likely be the last time we ever competed for a team like this. Our team had been very successful the last four years, while we had a bit of a down year this season, we went undefeated my junior year. The sense of camaraderie, of playing for something more than just yourself, was something we would likely never experience again.Raider Pride is so much bigger than just one person, it was a sense of school spirit that brought everyone together as one. Next year I will attend Auburn University in Auburn, AL, and Raider Pride was one of the inspirations I used to help me choose where I would attend school next.
At Auburn we always talk about the Auburn Family, we say War Eagle to every family member we see, and it really brings us together. It’s the same thing with Raider Pride, in the end that’s what it comes down to, bringing people together, playing and competing for more than just your own personal gain. It may have taken me 18 years to understand it, but man am I glad I did.

As we enter July 4th week, we have another full slate of summer little league action, including the kickoff of the Williamsport Tournament. So without any further ado here is what’s on tap for the week ahead!

Monday 7-4

No Games

Tuesday 7-5

U8 South @ Dedham (Collins) 6 pm

U10 North Ahern @ Newton (Lyons) 7:45 pm

U9 South @ Walpole American (Restaino) 5:45 pm

U9 North vs. Walpole National (Kelly III) 6 pm

U11 North vs. Walpole American (Reidy) 5:30 pm

U11 South vs. Walpole National (Reidy) 7:30 pm

Wednesday 7-6

Williamsport North @ Newton American (Lyons) 5 pm

Williamsport South vs. Newton National (Casey, Watertown) 5 pm

Thursday 7-7

U11 South @ Dedham (Capone) 7:45 pm

U8 South vs. Canton Green (Brown) 6 pm

U10 North Ahern vs. Walpole National (Reidy) 5:30 pm

U10 South vs. Walpole American (Reidy) 7:30 pm

Friday 7-8

U10 North Lee @ Natick (Hunnewell 3) 6 pm

U9 North @ Newton (Albermarle) 6 pm

Williamsport South vs. Brookline (Lyons, Newton) 7:15 pm

Williamsport North vs. Waltham (Billings, West Roxbury) 5 pm

Saturday 7-9

No Games

Sunday 7-10

Williamsport South vs. Parkway American (Albermarle, Newton) 1 pm

Williamsport North vs. Parkway National (Albermarle, Newton) 5 pm

 

Today we take a look at another response to the question of “What does Raider Pride mean to you?” as we look at it from the perspective of another honorary Raider Rebekah Caron, sports producer at Wellesley Media. Rebekah has the perspective of having covered all 3 seasons of Raider sports since she joined the station back in 2010. Here’s what she had to say.

“Raider Pride defines what it means to Never Quit. The determination to Outplay & Outwork any opponent until the final whistle no matter the outcome. It’s not about ‘you’ it’s about the team.
It’s giving everything you’ve got no matter the obstacles, & proving people wrong with heart, hustle & hard work. #OnceARaiderAlwaysARaider”

After posting my thoughts on the definition of the well coined term “Raider Pride” earlier other former/current/honorary Raiders are sharing their thoughts as well. The first response comes appropriately enough from my own mother Leone Johnson who has the unique perspective of being the mother to two WHS alums, neither of which actually played a sport at the high school. She is also on the board of Community Investors, a non-profit after school sports and recreation organization here in town. Here is her response, which focuses on that very perspective.

“Raider Pride should not be a spectator sport or reserved for only the star athletes….All Wellesley High Students should feel Raider Pride because they should have ample opportunity to participate in a variety of intramural and club sports. In Wellesley, as in many towns, participation in recreational sports takes a nosedive at age 13/14, just when the stress of school increases by a huge percentage. Sports and recreation is a “no side effects” way of combating stress and making kids healthier and happier, but we don’t do anything as a school system because of huge budget pressures in other areas. Let’s think about bringing back and making cool intramural sports…Play for All….”

So a little while ago I posted the question
“What does Raider Pride mean to you?” and after some thought on it I wanted to give my definition to the phrase as best I could. Simply to me Raider Pride means always giving everything you have, even when you don’t think you have anymore to give. Raider Pride means committing yourself to what’s best for your team even if it means sacrificing individual spotlight. Raider Pride means playing the right way, following the rules and always respecting your opponent no matter what the result. Finally it means being true to yourself, your team, and your school and always remembering where you came from and who you play for, even after your playing days are through. Simply, Raider Pride is a motto for both on and off the fields and courts alike, it is a motto for life as well as sports.

As promised here is the answer to the Raider Friday Trivia question I posed last night. The answer is… district 11, the district Wellesley competed in for the Williamsport tournament up until 2011 when they joined district 10 which they compete in now. No correct answers so the next Dunkin gift card will have to wait till next week!