January 2021

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22Lulu HardingHead of SportsZachary NedallReporterWith the pandemic causingsome major changes to thisyear’s sports seasons, one of thebiggest has been the cancellation ofwhat would have been this year’s133rd Malden-Medford Thanksgivingfootball game.The Malden-Medford rivalry isthe second oldest football rivalry inthe nation. This being said, the traditionalgame played on Thanksgivingis something that both the Maldenand Medford communities lookforward to every year, whether theyare playing on the field or cheeringfrom the sidelines. Althoughcancelling this game was the safestoption due to the current situation,these communities, the coaches andespecially the football teams weregreatly impacted. Malden High’sfootball coach Stephen Freker saidthat he feels “badly for the MaldenHigh players the most, especiallythe seniors, since [it] was their lastchance to play in a game that has thelongest tradition in school history.”Senior Captain Muneer Odallystated that he was honestlyextremely disappointed with thecancellation of the Thanksgivinggame because it “had always beenthe highlight of [his] season andof Thanksgiving, and it was such ashame [they did not] get to have itor play in it since [they] all workedreally hard.” This is definitely acommon view amongst the teamas a whole, and having the seasoncancelled on top of this was a frustratingexperience for them.Freker felt the effects of theabsence of this game as well. He hasbeen on the Malden High footballcoaching staff for 20 of the Thanksgivingfootball games, “two as HeadCoach and 18 as assistant coach.”He has also played in three of them,so it was definitely a letdown to findout that he was not coaching thegame this year.For Senior Captain GiovaniMemeus, this game has alwaysmeant a lot to him. Before transferringto Malden High, he attendedMedford High for two years, givinghim experience playing with bothteams. He stated that not being ableto play a Thanksgiving game wasdifficult, especially being a senior.It also “hit [him] hard” because hewas looking forward to making sure“Medford High [did not] score a singlepoint just like last year’s game.”Last year, Malden claimedvictory against Medford, 29-0, atthe Thanksgiving game. MemeusSportsmaldenblueandgold.comCancellation of the Malden vs. MedfordThanksgiving football GameLast year’s Thanksgiving Day victory. Photosubmitted by Coach Freker.Juliana LuongLead ReporterAdaptive P.E. is a class establishedupon grade level ingrades K-12 with modified activitiesthat are safer and more feasible forspecial educated students. AdaptiveP.E. is sometimes taken in place of agym class, but it is similar. The studentstaking this class participate inplaying sports, although sometimeswith balls such as volleyball orbaseball, the coaches will use biggerand or softer balls that are easier tocatch, hit or kick.The Cupid Shuffle is one of thefavored parts of class. “AdaptiveP.E. really brings a different aspectto [the students] day, especiallyduring the COVID-19; pandemicstudents are really stressed and primarilytuned into academics as wellas focusing online, it’s a good breakin the day to do something fun,”said Pamela MacDonald, Director ofSpecial Education.described how the team“showed up and came to playagainst Medford to make surethat the seniors got the bestfinal game in their high schoolfootball career.” Senior CaptainMatthew Bessey addedthat although the game wascold and wet, “it was reallyfun to play ball one last timewith the seniors and end upwinning the game.” By takingthe win last year, Malden wasable to keep Medford’s Foot-ball team on a winless season.Malden High’s football teamhas worked incredibly hard aftertheir outstanding efforts at lastyear’s game. Although the pandemichas put team practices on pausefor now, the players have been puttingin a lot of effort to find waysto begin practicing for next season.Most of the athletes tend to usuallytrain year-round anyways, but thisyear has made individual or smallergroup strengthening sessions especiallycommon.Bessey stated that “somepeople have been practicing on theirselect position to try and get betterfor whenever they are able to playagain,” this usually being either inthe weight room or at MacdonaldStadium. And according to Memeus,“sometimes some of the guyseven attend a couple of Coach EliseePompilus’ training sessions, whichreally helped [them] out a lot.”Besides the letdown of not beingable to play the Thanksgivingfootball game, one of the main setbacksof the season as a whole hasbeen getting players to be noticedby college scouts. Normally, scoutswould be at some of the footballgames, seeing which players standout and they believe have the potentialto perform well at their college.With the absence of a fall season, thewindow of opportunity for playersto play in front of college scouts hasbecome greatly diminished.The same could be said for thesecollege’s opportunities of findingfresh talent for their teams. Withouthigh school football games beingplayed, it is difficult for scouts tofind players and draft them to theirteams. The setback of all the athleticseasons has posed this challenge forsports across the board, and manycolleges are already working onaccommodations to be able to getMalden High Schools’ SpecialEducation students, for the past twoyears, worked hard to have MaldenHigh School revered as a UnifiedChampion School. A Unified ChampionSchool “is a school and/ordistrict that exhibits an all-inclusiveatmosphere for children with [eitherphysical or cognitive] disabilities,”explained Charlie Conefrey, Directorof Athletics and P.E.. UnifiedSports was created when Maldenpartnered with the Special Olympicsof Massachusetts.The class also partakes in manythings to be a part of the Maldencommunity. Conefrey stated that“through athletics, we do Unifiedbasketball in the fall, but that wascanceled or moved to hopefully inMarch or April.” There are about15 to 20 girls and boys that sign upto participate and travel along withcoaches for their basketball team. Inthe spring, the Adaptive P.E. classcompetes in outdoor track, and accordingto Conefrey, plays gameswith “neighboring communities”including Melrose. This makes thestudents’ athletic experience similarto the rest of Malden High School’ssports.Although Adaptive P.E. is agym class, there are so many otherways students participate and canbe involved. For example, studentsare offered leadership roles in theclass. “We’ve had captains of thecheerleading team that were a partof the PACE program, some were apart of the Captain’sCouncil,”said Conefrey.The captainwas also a partof the generalThe Blue and GoldJanuary 2021Adaptive Physical Education In MaldenMalden Highcheerleadingteam, and wasnot a “separateentity.”COVID-19these players drafted.When asked about playingfootball past the high-school level,Odally has said that “football issomething [he] would really like toplay in college and still plans on it,but the pandemic has kind of made[him] more flexible with whether [heplays] at the college level or not.”Similarly, Bessey brings upthat “[he hopes he gets] the opportunityto play football in college andcontinue playing. The pandemichas made it harder to get collegesto see you for athletics, but like a lotof other people in my position [wewill] make something happen.”However, with the cancellationof the Thanksgiving football game,there may be also some good newsto look forward to.“As it stands now, we may havethe opportunity to have a shorterfootball season in Fall II,” Frekerstated. The Fall II season is currentlyset to happen from February 22ndthrough April 25th. “If [the Footballteam get to have their] season, [they]will play Medford for what will bethe 133rd time.” The game mightpossibly be played on Patriots Day,2021. It will not be exactly the same,but there will be some excitement.With the possibility of aMalden-Medford game still beingplayed, the football team still hassomething to look forward to. Thereis a lot of hope for next season, andthe team will continue training forthe next time they get to play theirMedford rivals.As Memeus brought up, “Likethe Great Kobe Bryant said, ‘everythingnegative- pressure, challenges-is all an opportunity for me torise.’” He concluded that personally,he simply sees the “pandemic as justanother opportunity for [him] to improveto be better than how [he] waslast year.”has taken much of a negative toll, buteven despite being remote AdaptiveP.E. continues to keep its enjoyableatmosphere. During class, studentsuse the chat room and enjoy seeingeveryone dancing. In-person class issafe and socially distanced, everyonewears masks and are spread acrossthe gym. “It’s a time to interact withyour peers in a non-academic way,”said MacDonald. Adaptive P.E isstanding strong and will remain aplace where there is a fun, safe, andlearning environment.The Malden High School Special Education Basketball Team.Submitted by Charlie Conefrey. Taken prior to the pandemic.
The Blue and GoldJanuary 2021Sportsmaldenblueandgold.com23Malden HighAwardedSportsmanshipHonor RollAll photos from The Blue and Gold archives.Sarah Alves MarquesReporterFor the fifth year in a row, Malden High School was awardedthe Sportsmanship Honor Roll in District 5 by the MassachusettsInterscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA). Acrossthe state, there are nine districts organized by the MIAA. Maldenis in district five along with the Northeastern Conference,Cape Ann League and Commonwealth Athletic Conference.This award is granted to schools for not having anystudent-athletes or coaches disqualified or suspended froman athletic contest during the school year. Good sportsmanshipconsists of honest competition, good relationships withteammates and accepting the results of the game, regardlessof the outcome.Schools should practice the ability to accept defeat withoutobjection or complaint, victory without bragging and thetreatment of opponents with integrity and respect. With thisaward, it reveals how coaches are now more of a role model tostudents rather than having an individual training them for agame only to win. Charlie Conefrey, the Director of Athleticsand Physical Education in Malden, stated that by achievingthis award “it shows that the kids are following the lead ofthe coaches, who are following the lead of our athletic departmentand administration from Malden High school.”Conefrey believes that “sportsmanship permeates virtuallyevery aspect of our culture as ethics and fair play [which]applies in all facets of life.” He mentioned that the award “isa measure of our school’s understanding and commitment tothe educational nature of interscholastic athletics.”He further added that “[Malden High School] tries toteach sportsmanship in all aspects.” Conefrey also explainedthat sportsmanship simply consists of respect, and it is foryourself or your opponent. Moreover, that “it is [about] respectin all aspects of gameplay, being gratuitous when youwin, and being just as gratuitous when you lose.”Overall, it is one of his favorite honors because it directlyreflects how the Malden community “work[s] well together”and on top of that, represents Malden as an athletic departmentand that what they are essentially teaching is that sportsare not always about winning, rather it is about “havingrespect for yourself, your peers, your school, and your community.”
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January 2021

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