The Case for High School Activities

The following are excerpts from the National Federation of High School document, ‘The Case for High School Activities’.  The full document can be found through the Federation’s Web site: www.nfhs.org

At a cost of only one to three percent (or less in many cases) of an overall school’s budget, high school activity programs are one of the best bargains around. It is in these vital programs - sports, music, speech, drama, debate - where young people learn lifelong lessons as important as those taught in the classroom.

When the season started DHS Coach Barney Earle knew that Brett Bartlett would be the ace of his staff. Little did he know the right-hander would be a major contributor with his bat too.

The DHS sailing team continues to sail through the competition with ease and now stands at 6-0 after reeling off five more wins last week.

Duxbury’s Michael Morse laid down a spectacular run to win a gold medal in the moguls competition of the Sprint U.S. Freestyle Championships at Deer Valley Resort in Park City on Saturday of the last weekend in March.

A Sunday Dinghy Sailing Series in 420s will begin sailing out of DBMS on April 13 at 2 p.m.  This series is designed for adults and juniors with some sailing experience, and will include an on-water warm up, 5-6 short course races, a post-race discussion and refreshments.  The 420 is a double-handed dinghy and is commonly used by college and high school sailing teams. 

TOP NOTCH GUY: Senior hockey co-captain Rich Sciretta was recently named the winner of the team’s Hobey Baker Award given to the player who exemplifies the character and sportsmanship of Hobey Baker. Joining Sciretta at the recent hockey banquet are his parents Marylynn and Michael.

The Duxbury HS sailing team won the deciding fifth race in a five-race battle with BC High on Saturday to open its season with a 3-2 win over the Eagles in Duxbury Bay. Overcast skies and chilly 40-degree weather marked the opening of the sailing season, while light winds around 5-mph came in from the east-northeast.

It’s no secret that our athletic department is not funded as well as we would like.  However, we are lucky enough to have one central boosters club for all sports teams that is able to raise money for many of our higher priced needs. Soccer goals, field hockey goals, wrestling pads, football goal posts, cheerleading competition pads, high jump pads, and weight room equipment are just some of the plethora of equipment that the boosters club has been able to donate throughout the years.

The DHS girls’ tennis team stumbled in its first match of the season last Wednesday against Cohasset, dropping a 4-1 decision to the Clippers on the road.

Senior Jill Dubuisson won the only match for Duxbury at #3 singles, as she played a strong match against Cohasset’s Jenny McGruder. Dubuisson began the match with a close set that ended in a score of 5-7, but proceeded to win the next two matches with identical 6-4 wins. Dubuisson stayed aggressive throughout the match and had very few unforced errors.

Pitching, speed, and defense are the name of the game in softball and the Lady Dragons appear to have what it takes to have a successful 2008 season. With junior Casey Ducinski on the mound, Duxbury is off to a fast start with an opening-day 3-1 win over Whitman-Hanson and a 5-2 home-opening win over Marshfield.