& Albany County Post - The Altamont Enterprise

The Altamont Enterprise – Thursday, December 20, 2012 33
Birds adjusting to roster changes
By Jordan J. Michael
VOORHEESVILLE –– After
losing a core of fortified seniors
to graduation, the Voorheesville
girls’ basketball team is building
from the ground up.
The Blackbirds followed up a
2010 state semifinal bid with a
playoff run to the Class C finals in
2011. But, with seven new players
this season, Voorheesville has to
adjust.
“We have a
huge learning
c u r v e , ” s a i d
H e a d C o a c h
Bob Baron this
w e e k . “ T h e
a d j u s t m e n t s
aren’t so easy
now.”
The Birds started the season
with losses to Watervliet (63 to 46)
and Fonda (72 to 61). However,
the team has followed up with two
wins –– over Schalmont (43 to 41)
and Ichabod Crane (34 to 32).
“We’re starting to play better
defense,” Baron said. “We’re
adapting to the speed of the
game.”
Senior Anna Feller is leading
the Blackbirds in scoring with
13.5 points per game. She’s a
returning starter and has been
on the team for three years.
Seniors Anna Norris and Carla
Planz played last season, but
didn’t start.
“The goal is to improve,
but there is no easy
way of getting there.”
New to Voorheesville are juniors
Rebecca Bogart, Katina
Wallace, Rachel Treiber, Alexis
Pelletier, and Anita Salisbury,
and ninth-graders Victoria Coluccio
and Stephany Keenan.
“The seniors are very vocal,”
said Baron. “They know how
hard the team has to work to be
successful.”
Voorheesville is making only
53 percent (27
of 51) of its free
throws, but Wallace
and Norris
have each
m a d e s e v e n
three-pointers.
Baron told The
Enterprise that
the team needs
to cut down on turning the ball
over, too.
“I expect a high level of play
from the girls who make varsity,”
he said. “It’s not a question of effort,
but a question of execution
and decision making.”
The Blackbirds’ recent past
has been quite successful. The
team will be taking this season
game by game with steady steps
forward.
“We have to play fast,” Baron
said. “The goal is to improve, but
there is no easy way of getting
there.”
The Enterprise –– Melissa Hale-Spencer
Tug-of-war: Voorheesville’s Anna Norris, right, fights with a Schalmont player for the basketball last
Friday during a game in Voorheesville. The Blackbirds won, 43 to 41, and Norris scored three points.
Carla Planz and Katina Wallace each scored eight points for Voorheesville.
Empire State Sports Foundation launches appeal
The Empire State Sports Foundation
has launched a public
fundraising campaign with an
appeal to all supporters, alumni,
and athletes across the state to
get involved and help bring back
the games. In the coming year,
the winter games are scheduled
to take place in Lake Placid
on Feb. 7-10, and the Empire
State Summer Games will be
re-launched July 24-28 in the
Rochester area.
“The Empire State Games are
the premier amateur sporting
event in New York State, and
a source of pride for all New
Yorkers,” said Stephen Gionta,
National Hockey League winger
and Empire State Games alum.
“These games were one of the
best experiences of my hockey
career. It was an experience
that changed my life, and I hope
that all alumni, and New York
sports fans as a whole, come
together to support the work of
this foundation and help relight
the torch.”
Under the new privately-funded
model, the games will depend
primarily on individual donations
and corporate sponsorship
to enable the work of the Empire
State Sports Foundation, a registered
501(c)3 non-profit. With
thousands of alumni across the
state and around the country, the
foundation hopes all the people
whose lives have been touched by
the games will join the effort.
The foundation has established
several ways individuals and organizations
can get involved and
give to the games. The easiest
way to give is through the “Fuel
the Torch” appeal, which can be
found on the game’s new website,
www.empirestatesummergames.
org.
In addition to “Fuel the Torch,”
individuals able to make larger
donations can become official
“Friends of the Foundation.” And
corporate sponsors can also get
involved with various sponsorship
levels.
“Work is progressing every day
to bring back the games,” said
foundation COO Scott Bell. “But
to make these the biggest and
best Empire State Games they
can be, we need athletes, alumni,
and all the people of New York
to show their support and give
from their heart.”
The Empire State Sports
Foundation hopes the annual
“Fuel the Torch” appeal and the
“Friends of the Games” campaign
will not only help the games
grow, but also guarantee that
the games will be a permanent
fixture for decades to come.
“Our goal is more than just
bringing back the summer
games,” said Bell. “It’s our
hope that we will be able to
make certain that the games
are better than ever, and around
for the next generation of New
Yorkers.”
To get involved in supporting
the Empire State Games, visit
www.empirestatesummergames.
org, or contact the foundation
by visiting www.essfoundation.
org.
Sign up now for
YMCA basketball
The Guilderland YMCA winter
basketball leagues start on Jan.
12. The youth basketball leagues
are for children in kindergarten
through third grade.
To sign up, contact Kyle Anderson
at 456-3436 (ext. 1151) or
kanderson@cdymca.org. Parent
volunteers are wanted to help
coach.
The Enterprise –– Melissa Hale-Spencer
The Voorheesville girls’ basketball team moved to 1-2 on the
season with a home victory, 43 to 41, over Schalmont last Friday.
Here, the Birds’ Anna Feller, left, turns her head towards the referee’s
whistle. Feller, a senior, and Voorheesville’s leading scorer,
had 10 points against Schalmont.
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