Photos provided by Saratoga Springs Varsity Softball Booster Club. Not pictured: #21 Ava Goodman – Freshman, Utility
SARATOGA SPRINGS — The Saratoga Springs varsity softball team put it all together at the right time last season, capturing the Section 2 Class AA Championship. This season, the Blue Streaks are off to a strong start in their quest for a second straight sectional crown.
Head coach Geoff Loiacono said that while the team has gotten off to a great start, the remainder of the Blue Streaks’ league schedule will be “a grind.”
“It’s a grind from day one right through the rest of the season. Suburban Council is competitive, it’s always competitive, it’s always there for the taking,” said Loiacono. “It’s who gets hot, and it’s who gets the right hit at the right time.”
Saratoga returned much of last year’s championship squad, with 10 of the team’s 12 players returning from 2022. The Blue Streaks are 11-1 to start this season, with their only loss coming on April 18 against Troy.
“I feel like we feed off of each other, especially in our batting lineup,” said senior infielder Karley Austin. “If we start off good, everyone’s good for that entire game. … Our energy’s a lot better this year than it was last year.”
The Blue Streaks feature a pitching combo of sophomores Jacqueline Cutting and Charlotte Drabek, who Loiacono said have been “holding down the fort” on the mound.
“You’ve got to have girls who throw strikes, play defense, throw girls off here and there,” said Loiacono. “They’re both doing a really nice job, and we’re going to continue to use them how we can.”
Seniors Karley Austin, Mackenzie Waghorn, Zaynah Aparece, Maddy Vaughn, and junior Sarah Decker have been key players offensively for Saratoga, but Loiacono also stressed that the Blue Streaks have many different players “that step up at different times.”
“Some nights it’s our hitting, some nights it’s our defense, some nights it’s pitching. It just really depends on the game, and on the situation, on what sticks out best for us,” Loiacono said. “When we put it all together is when we’re great.”
Saratoga has seven games remaining in the regular season, with several tough league opponents still on the schedule, which Waghorn said will be “a good test for sectionals.”
“I kind of prefer it, because then we get that kind of atmosphere at the end of the season, and it feeds right into sectionals, which I think will definitely help us,” said Waghorn.
“I think our biggest thing is we just have to stick together as a team,” Austin added. “We can’t separate, we can’t think of just us. We definitely have to stick together.”
SARATOGA SPRINGS — The Saratoga varsity baseball team is off to a quality start to the 2023 season, as the Blue Streaks begin the hunt for their second straight Section II title.
Saratoga beat Shaker in the Section II Class AA Championship series last season and were off to an 8-1 start entering Wednesday’s games. Head coach Andy Cuthbertson said the team’s mindset is to “reload, not rebuild.”
“Our expectations are very high every single year. I’d be lying if I didn’t say that we were going for it every single year,” Cuthbertson said. “Obviously, coming off as the Section II champs last year, we’re going to have a bullseye on our back.”
The Blue Streaks returned much of last season’s team, with Cuthbertson saying while the team lost some key returners, they also have a strong group of “core guys” returning.
Cuthbertson named juniors Michael Mack and Christian Mello as two of the team’s top pitchers, also saying Trevor Duthaler and Adam Weiss will factor in on the mound. The Blue Streaks’ head coach also made note of freshman shortstop Raul Rodriguez, who took over the position during Saratoga’s sectional run last season as an eighth-grader.
“We threw him right into the fire,” said Cuthbertson of Rodriguez’s role last season. “He saw a ton of quality at-bats. He’s already getting looks from colleges. He’s on the 40-man roster for the 15U USA baseball team. Bright future ahead for that kid.”
Junior catcher Camden Rhude, and senior outfielders Matt Salway, Owen Redick, and Drew Adams have also been key players for the Blue Streaks early in the season.
Cuthbertson said early on, the team was focused on developing culture and chemistry, saying he wants the squad to “eat strategy for breakfast.”
“Really trying to develop Team 84. That’s a concept that we have, (the) 84th team in the history of our school,” said Cuthbertson. “We try to latch onto that, making sure our program is rich in culture. Kids really feel part of something.”
Playing in a deep Suburban Council, Cuthbertson said the Blue Streaks will look to take things pitch by pitch as they move further into the season.
“Our league is very strong, well-coached, a lot of good kids,” Cuthbertson said. “Really, it’s playing pitch by pitch, inning by inning, and being in a good spot. Hopefully you’re playing your best baseball at the end of the season.”
IRVINE, CA — The Adirondack Northstars 14U AA girls hockey team traveled west last week, and returned home as national champions.
The Northstars beat Team Colorado 2-1 in the championship game of the 2023 Chipotle-USA Hockey Girls Tier II 14U 1A National Championship, the first national title won by the program. Head coach Ben Marcantonio said the win was “surreal.”
“Honestly, it still feels surreal,” said Marcantonio. “The past week has been a whirlwind.”
The team played six games in total from March 30 to the championship on April 3, winning all six. The Northstars defeated teams from Wyoming, Texas, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and Tennessee prior to the championship victory over Colorado.
Marcantonio said entering the tournament, he told the team to simply “play their game.”
“They’ve been playing great all year long, and I didn’t want to put any added pressure on them to feel like they had to perform,” Marcantonio said. “So they just went out there and played their style of play, and force what we know and what we do best on other teams.”
Marcantonio said the team plays a very similar style to the Adirondack United varsity girls high school team, who are coached by Northstars 16U head coach Jeff Willis. 11 of 18 players on the 14U team were members of the United squad this winter, Marcantonio said.
“(Jeff) and I kind of have the same philosophy. We don’t really stop playing offense,” said Marcantonio. “The best defense is a good offense. We pressure other teams to make mistakes when they’re in their defensive zone and capitalize on those. When we are in our own zone, we don’t give the team time and space to actually make a play or make a decision.”
In the title game, Queensbury’s Emily MacAuley scored both goals for the Northstars, initially giving Adirondack a 1-0 lead in the first period before making it 2-0 early in the second.
Team Colorado responded with a strong third period, and cut it to 2-1 with 3:36 remaining, but the Northstars held strong defensively in the final minutes to lock up the national championship. Marcantonio said the win was “a total team effort.”
“Emily was the goal scorer for both of our goals in that championship game, but our team really rallied around each other and made a commitment to each other to finish out the game as strong as we started,” said Marcantonio.
Marcantonio said Adirondack’s ability to buckle down defensively in the final moments “says a ton” about the character of the team.
“We have seventh-graders, eighth-graders, and ninth-graders on the team,” Marcantonio said. “Their ability to adapt to adverse situations, it just shows me how much heart (they have) and how much they wanted this for each and every one of those girls on that team.”
The team was recently honored at Cool Insuring Arena during the Adirondack Thunder’s 4-1 win over the Maine Mariners on April 7. Marcantonio said the championship is “very special” for the squad.
“It’s a special group of girls. They worked hard all year long,” Marcantonio said. “They constantly came to work. … They definitely were all-in when it came down to the commitment to the game and to each other.”
SARATOGA SPRINGS — The Saratoga Central Catholic varsity softball team enters 2023 on a mission. The Saints did not field a varsity team last season, but have their eyes set on a sectional appearance this year.
“It’s a young group, but I think a very talented group,” said head coach John Dowd. “We’re up in the varsity waters, so we’ll see what happens. But I’m expecting good things.”
The Saints are led by junior catcher and team captain Ryan McDonald, who homered in a season-opening loss to Tamarac on April 5. Dowd also said the team will feature a strong pitching trio of Grace Schaefer, Hailey Ogniewski, and Paige Bujno.
“Our pitching, although it’s young, we have three very good pitchers,” Dowd said. “All travel pitchers.”
“I think the team is definitely really young, but I think we’re strong,” said McDonald. “Coming up, I think we’re going to be pretty good this year.”
Dowd said that while the team has a very young lineup, with no seniors on the roster, he feels the offense will “come to fruition” as the season progresses.
“We lost a couple players from last year, but I’m expecting the offense to pick up as the season goes along,” said Dowd.
“We’re just trying to grow a lot as a team,” added Ogniewski, a sophomore. “I think, by the end of the season, we’re going to be pretty good.”
The Saints’ goal this season is to reach sectionals and “make some noise,” Dowd said. While many of the current varsity squad spent last season at the JV level, that team lost only two games in 2022.
“We had a couple girls that had to play varsity the year before, that came back down to play JV, which is obviously a huge ask for them,” said Dowd. “I told them that if they made that commitment, that our goal was to get to sectionals. Our goal is not only to get to sectionals, but to get to sectionals and make some noise.”
SARATOGA SPRINGS — Saratoga Bridges’ 11th annual Autism Expo and Art Exhibit will be held April 23 from 12 to 3 p.m. in the Saratoga Springs City Center, offering a wide variety of resources for individuals and families with autism.
The event first began in 2012 at Skidmore College, and has continued to grow each year. Over 900 attendees are expected at this year’s Expo, said Saratoga Bridges assistant director of communications Pamela Polacsek.
The Expo also allows attendants to connect with each other, and share experiences and resources.
“I think that’s where you’ll get a lot of solid parental input,” said Mariah Hahn. “It helps you feel part of a community. You don’t have to be desperate, we’re going to figure this out.”
Hahn, who attended last year’s Expo, knows this well. She and her husband Juergen are the parents of Lucas, an 11-year old boy with profound non-speaking autism. The Hahns say that Lucas’ condition has been challenging due to a variety of factors, including a lack of research and treatments for profound autism.
“There are areas that we felt weren’t being explored,” Mariah Hahn said.
“The reality of a lot of medical research, including on autism, is they focus more on people who are actually least-affected by it,” said Juergen Hahn. “It’s much easier to deal with. If you have somebody who is nonverbal, you can’t really ask them the question, ‘How do you feel?’”
Both Mariah and Juergen Hahn are faculty members at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, studying biomedical engineering. They attempted standard therapies and treatments for Lucas, including applied behavior analysis, occupational therapy, physical therapy, and speech therapy. They also looked into supplements and medication for ADHD and mood dysregulation.
“Unfortunately, those have been non-beneficial, in fact sometimes have even been harmful,” Mariah Hahn said.
But a new method has given the Hahns hope. Called Spelling 2 Communicate or the rapid prompting method, it utilizes a letterboard to allow a person with non-speaking autism to communicate by pointing to letters on the board.
The Hahns say it is often assumed that because Lucas and other children with profound autism are non-speaking, their intelligence is also impaired. But the Hahns don’t necessarily believe that to be the case.
Many communication devices restrict speech to simple phrases, and Mariah Hahn is questioning if this is truly the highest level of communication possible, or simply a confine of the communication method.
“They really confine your speech. Like, he can say, ‘I want more fish,’” said Mariah Hahn. “Right now, they’re like, ‘Well that’s the level he can communicate at.’ Is it? That’s where we have to stop. We have to ask, is it? Or is it a confine of the situation?
“We never question, is the type of communication or the modality in which it’s delivered, combined with their own deficits, or their own struggles, preventing them from saying more? And, if they are present, is this really what they would want to be confined to?”
But the S2C/RPM method has also seen some resistance, with a lack of scientific evidence surrounding the method. Juergen Hahn even admitted he was a bit skeptical at first, before seeing Lucas utilize the method with a practitioner.
“I can tell you, I was very skeptical myself,” said Juergen Hahn. “But I’ve seen my son work with this, with a skilled practitioner. I have no doubt that these are the things he wrote. And he wrote some fantastic things.”
“There is a lot of resistance to these methods, because the children show, on average, such high level of ability compared to what they’re believed,” Mariah Hahn said.
Since beginning the S2C/RPM method with Lucas, the Hahns are hopeful that word will spread and it will become more widely used. Mariah Hahn said she is “so excited” about a new documentary called, ‘Spellers,’ following the journey of eight nonverbal people who have learned to use the letterboard method to communicate.
“One gift that they can give Lucas and all those with profound autism is to go see it,” said Mariah Hahn. “I can’t tell you how excited these kids are about it.”
Local showings of the film will be held April 26 at 5:45 p.m at the Upstate NY Autism Alliance in Queensbury, April 29 at 1:45 p.m. at the Clifton Park Library, and April 30 at 2 p.m. at RPI.
Hahn said she knows of five other families in the area who are practicing the S2C/RPM method. She said she is hoping to start a homeschool group to teach children at grade level using the letterboard.
“What I’m trying to do is build a community where this is acceptable,” said Mariah Hahn. “There are other schools that have been started. There’s only three in the country, but they’ve been successful, and I’m hoping to start one here.”
This is where Saratoga Bridges’ Autism Expo factors in, allowing families such as the Hahns to meet, discuss ideas, and exchange valuable information. The Hahns said places like the Expo are valuable for finding services, support groups, medical and dental care, and more.
“There is a lot of collective knowledge among families who have children and adults with ASD, and it’s fantastic to tap into that knowledge,” Juergen Hahn said.
The expo will offer therapeutic opportunities, employment resources, recreational activities, academic programs, and more. This year’s Autism Expo features over 70 exhibitors and vendors, and will offer a children’s activity zone, a sensory room, an exhibit displaying works by artists with disabilities, and more. The Expo is free to attend.
“I’ve actually seen practitioners become inspired to do things, and open their practices to those with severe autism, profound autism, having attended this,” added Mariah Hahn. “In fact, one person in the area is actually being trained in S2C. … She’s now pursuing training in S2C because of what she saw when she attended the Autism Expo a year ago. It’s kind of an all-around community thing.”
SARATOGA SPRINGS —Kristi Wagner achieved her dream in 2021, qualifying for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo as a member of the United States rowing team. Now, she’s back at it, and she’s inviting everyone along for the ride.
Wagner is hosting a new podcast titled ‘The Other 3 Years,’ hosted by Bright Sighted Podcasting. The show, which is set to release its first episode on April 21, will document Wagner’s training process and time spent between Olympic Games.
The podcast was born after Wagner met with Christine O’Donnell, the founder of Bright Sighted Podcasting. O’Donnell is a Saratoga Springs native who rowed at the Saratoga Rowing Association before joining the team at the University of Minnesota, and said she was put in touch with Wagner by SRA head coach and executive director Eric Catalano.
Wagner said the podcast will provide insight into what an Olympic athlete does during the time between Games, and the work that goes into preparing for the Olympics.
“Every year kind of looks similar, in that we do all of our training and competing and selections and camps and everything, but we just have a world championship, world cups, and domestic races and stuff instead of the Olympics,” Wagner said. “I think that’s something that people don’t really know.”
A native of Weston, Massachusetts, Wagner said she began rowing in high school before eventually joining the team at Yale University. After deciding to begin her Olympic journey, she moved to Saratoga Springs in 2016 to train with ARION (Advanced Rowing Initiative of the Northeast), a rowing team consisting of Olympic hopefuls.
“The whole idea was, there’s this elite team which will bring athletes in and give them subsidized housing and also give them a job,” said Wagner. “I coach the middle school and high school rowers at Saratoga Rowing. We had coaching, a training plan, equipment, transportation to races, and that kind of thing.”
Wagner said her experience in Tokyo at the 2020 Olympic Games (which were delayed to 2021 due to COVID-19) “was awesome,” despite the precautions taken.
“It was bigger than life, almost,” said Wagner. “I really wish that my family had gotten to go, because they have made a lot of sacrifices and done a lot to support me.”
Wagner said that due to COVID-19 restrictions, the rowing team traveled home almost immediately following their final race.
“Literally 24 hours after our last race, I was walking down Broadway,” Wagner said. “That was a really weird aspect of it, to watch the closing ceremonies on TV and be like, ‘Was it a fever dream? Was I actually there?’ But it was really awesome.”
Wagner placed fifth in the double sculls at the 2020 Games. Now, she’s aiming to make it to Paris for the 2024 Summer Olympics, saying she feels she can keep improving and that she is still enjoying the sport.
“I just think it’s a very cool and special thing, to try to get the most out of yourself, in any regard. I feel like I’m not at my best yet,” said Wagner. “I feel like I can still improve, and I’m still having fun in the process. It’s also a bit addictive. Finding that level of success is like, ‘OK, well that felt so good. I want to try to feel it again, but I want it to be even better.’”
O’Donnell said the experience of working with Wagner on the podcast has “been really awesome,” so far.
“Kristi is magnetic. She’s really easy to be around,” said O’Donnell. “I enjoy spending time with her and producing these episodes. I actually feel like producing her show has helped me become a better human. It’s been really cool.”
Wagner said she is a huge fan of podcasts, and also said working with O’Donnell has been “incredible.”
“She’s really awesome. She’s made the whole process very smooth and seamless for me,” said Wagner. “But it’s also been really nice for me to kind of reflect on things. I feel like normally, this is true with anything, you kind of have some sort of goal or something you’re working towards, and you just kind of work and do it. It happens, and then you kind of reflect. This has been more, in the process, I’ve had to reflect. Which has been fun, and exciting.”
Wagner also said that while the Olympic aspect of her story is unique, many parts of her life will be relatable to a wide audience.
“I just think that my story, it’s unique in that there aren’t that many people that do this, but also a lot of things in my life are the same as anybody’s life,” said Wagner. “I still do a lot of the same things that other people do and have the same concerns and worries. I just wanted to share that, because I think sometimes people get afraid or think that they can’t have big goals because they’re so far away.”
O’Donnell echoed this, saying Wagner feels “like someone they already know when they listen to her.”
“She just is very relatable,” said O’Donnell. “But I think people are going to listen to her because she’s reminding them if they have a dream or a goal or this thing that they want to do in their life, they have to go all-in to make it happen. That’s what she’s done during the three years between the last Olympics and this Olympics. Anybody who has a dream who wants to make it a reality should listen to this show.”
Ultimately, Wagner said she hopes the podcast inspires people “to chase their own dreams.”
“I think I’ve spent a lot of time in my life feeling that people who accomplished really big things had tons of confidence and woke up like that. Just everything was easy for them, and they had this goal, and they just did it,” said Wagner. “That hasn’t been my experience. You fail a lot on your way to success. But there’s no reason that other people are allowed to have bigger dreams than anybody else.”
‘The Other 3 Years’ will release its first episode April 21 on all major streaming and podcasting platforms.
Saratoga Independent School teacher Shauna Swiminer speaks with students prior to releasing rainbow trout into the Kayaderosseras Creek. Photo by Dylan McGlynn
BALLSTON SPA — Kindergarten and primary students at Saratoga Independent School released a group of juvenile rainbow trout into the Kayaderosseras Creek on Friday, capping off nearly six months of hands-on learning about water conservancy, life in water, Native American culture, and more.
The school took in nearly 100 rainbow trout eggs in October, and students watched and assisted as the fish hatched and grew in aquariums at the school. On Friday, the students finished their aquatic journey, releasing the fish into the wild.
Shauna Swiminer, a kindergarten teacher at Saratoga Independent School, said the project was “a perfect fit” for the school’s hands-on learning style.
“This year, we were studying both water, water conservancy, life in water, and Native American culture,” said Swiminer. “That idea of something so hands-on, that the kids can see, touch, and do, is really what we do at the Independent School.”
The eggs were provided by the Department of Environmental Conservation, and were part of the National Trout in the Classroom curriculum. Students met at Kelley Park in Ballston Spa to release the fish, which was preceded with words from Perry Ground, a member of the Onondaga Nation.
Ground spoke about indigenous culture, the importance of water and fish to the Haudenosaunee people, and led students through the Haudenosaunee Thanksgiving Address. The Thanksgiving Address was established as a way to give thanks to “everything in the world around us,” Ground said.
“Once those five tribes joined together, they shared lots of stuff. One of the things that we share is, whenever we join ourselves together, is something called the Thanksgiving Address,” said Ground. “Gratitude and appreciation for the things we have around us. … The Thanksgiving Address is something that we say to say thank you to everything in the world around us.”
Swiminer said her students were “so excited” when she returned to school with the fish in October.
“They were whispering like they were real babies,” said Swiminer. “Two days later, they all started to hatch out. So there was no real waiting time, which was really meaningful to the kids, to be able to get that immediate gratification.”
The students quickly grew attached to the fish, with SIS primary teacher Kathleen Johansson saying they wrote “trout poetry” and letters to the fish. She said working with hands-on projects such as this can make it “so much more real” to the students.
“I think it just makes it so much more real to them, when they’re thinking about these creatures that we’ve had and taken care of since October,” said Johansson. “They might think twice when they see some garbage floating down, and think, ‘Hey, I really don’t want my trout to get wrapped up in that.’”
But even though the fish have been released, the project has not stopped just yet. Johansson said the students will participate in a quilt exchange through the National Trout in the Classroom curriculum.
“We’re going to make individual little quilt squares with paintings on it, decorating, and we’re sending them all off, and we’ll get some in return,” said Johansson. “So we’ll have a giant quilt made from students all around who participated in the program as well.”
This year was the first time the school has participated in the Trout in the Classroom program, but Saratoga Independent School emphasizes many similar hands-on activities. Johansson said earlier this year, her class raised monarch larvae until they became butterflies.
“We did a butterfly garden last year in the spring, and we’ll start that again in a few weeks when it warms up,” Johansson said. “The kids love going out in the springtime. When they see that first monarch, they go, ‘That’s the great grandkids of the ones we let go.’ … Any of those projects where they see it happen in front of them, they just have a very different connection to it.”
Both teachers said they hope the project can help teach their students about different cultures, environmental conservation, showing compassion and empathy, and more.
“I think learning in general is best hands-on. It is important to create citizens that care about the world around them,” Swiminer said. “There were so many experiments about pollution, garbage, and watershed, just the general learning that the kids did. Those are human qualities. Those are things you want your kids to grow up and pass on.”
“I think these are the types of activities that will really stay with them,” added Johansson. “Any of them that are interested in the environment, or watershed, it makes them aware of why it’s important for all of us to care. That would be the biggest lesson, I think.”
SCHUYLERVILLE — The Schuylerville varsity softball team enters 2023 with a strong group of returning players, and strong team chemistry as they look to compete in the Foothills Council.
The Black Horses return seven starters from last year’s team and enter this season without any seniors on the roster. Head coach Katie Bottisti said she is “excited for this year, and this group.”
Despite graduating six seniors from 2022, junior Sophia Wahl said the team’s chemistry has been “really good already.”
“We all just have a lot of fun together,” said Wahl. “I love them all, and I feel like they all feel the same. It’s kind of like family that way.”
Bottisti said Wahl and sophomore Kenna Hart will be the Black Horses’ main pitchers this season and will be backstopped by the catching duo of sophomore Taylor Dennis and junior Cat Carpenter. Bottisti said the team is full of “athletes who are going to make plays,” and emphasized the team’s chemistry.
“They want to be here, they’re really good friends,” said Bottisti. “Just the team chemistry is going to be great. Our bats are hitting the ball like crazy already, so I’m excited to see them pull it all together.”
Junior Gracelyn Kilburn also said the team is “like a family,” saying she is excited for the season to begin.
“There’s a lot of us who have played together throughout modified up to now,” Kilburn said. “We have a really great group of girls here, so I hope we go far in sectionals.”
Bottisti said the Foothills Council is “anybody’s this year,” saying the Black Horses have the ability to “go far” in the postseason.
“We play a lot of really good teams, so the competition’s always going to be difficult,” said Wahl. “If we can keep working together the way we have been, and play our best each day, I really think we can do well.”
“I think that we’re going to give everybody a good run on any given day,” said Bottisti. “I keep it simple for them, I say, ‘Have fun. Pitchers throw strikes. Fielders make plays. Hitters make good contact, and good things will happen.’”
SCHUYLERVILLE — The Schuylerville varsity baseball team enters 2023 with both high hopes and high expectations, coming off an appearance in the Class B state championship game last year.
The Black Horses won 20 games in 2022, defeating Ichabod Crane for the Section 2 Class B Championship before advancing to their second state championship since 2019. Head coach Darrin Renner said the deep postseason runs can act as a “program builder” for the team.
“Any time you can take a team that far, it’s really a program builder,” said Renner. “Which is basically what we saw in 2019. A lot of these guys were young and watched that. The hunger was there last year, we were able to pull the team together and go and have that success again.”
Senior outfielder Ashton Morris said it was “unbelievable” to experience last year’s playoff run.
“This team has come together so much,” said Morris. “Everyone pushes each other to their limits and look where it got us.”
Brenden Steinberg, a junior pitcher, said he felt the team gained valuable experience during last season’s run.
“It was an amazing experience,” Steinberg said. “I think as a whole team, we learned a lot, and we’re ready to come back this year.”
Now, the Black Horses enter 2023 having graduated only three players from last year’s squad. While Renner acknowledged the three were “some valuable guys,” he said the team still has “a lot of guys who have gone through a successful season.”
“So far, the work ethic and leadership has been really spot-on of what we were hoping for and expecting,” said Renner.
Renner said Steinberg and Luke Sherman, along with Trevor French, will be key pieces of the Black Horses’ pitching staff this season. He also named senior first baseman Anthony Luzadis, junior third baseman Griffin Brophy, and Morris, the centerfielder, as other key players.
Renner said the team’s goal every season is simple: qualify for sectionals, and go from there.
“Last year, we had back a team that was 6-10 and ended up going all the way to the state championship game,” said Renner. “I think it also adds a nice element to the program, that the guys saw that we had so much success after a season where we were down. I think their expectations of themselves become higher. I think that’s a good thing.
“But as we go into this, we’ll think about sectionals first. Once we get there, we’ll take the next goal into consideration.”
SARATOGA SPRINGS — The Saratoga Springs City School District Bike Rodeo returns on May 4, offering district families the opportunity to practice safe bike riding, play games, and more.
The event first became a district-wide offering last year, originally beginning at Lake Avenue Elementary School. This year’s event will be held at East Side Recreation Park from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m., and will offer minor bike maintenance, a helmet-fitting station, games, an obstacle course, raffles, and more.
Lake Ave physical education teacher Jake Zanetti said the event initially grew as an extension of the school’s annual ‘Bike-to-School’ day. He said between 200 and 250 Lake Ave students bike to school on the annual date. SSCSD’s Bike-to-School Day will take place May 19.
“We have a huge walking and biking community at Lake Ave,” said Zanetti. “So we kind of came up with this Bike Rodeo thing that we do two weeks before the Bike to School day, to get kids and their families prepped for safe bike riding. Then it kind of just kept growing and growing.”
Now, the event is sponsored by local companies such as BikeaToga, Saratoga Shredders, Trek Bicycles, Grey Ghost Bicycles, and more. The Bike Rodeo also receives support from the Saratoga Springs City Police and Fire Departments, and Boy Scouts Troop 4016.
Zanetti said around 80 to 85 Lake Ave students attend the Bike Rodeo yearly, and that roughly 150 students from the district’s other five elementary schools attended last year. He also emphasized that the event is not solely for bike enthusiasts.
“We try to encourage kids who don’t even have a bike, ‘Hey, come and we’ll try to get you a bike,’” Zanetti said. “If you don’t have a helmet, we’ll try to give you a helmet. Give kids opportunities just to learn what it takes to get on a bike, how to do it safely, where they can participate outside of school, outside of bike rodeos.”
The Saratoga Springs City Police will be in attendance, allowing kids to register bikes in their bike registry, making for an easier recovery if a bike is lost or stolen.
“The kids love that, because they let the kids sit in the cop cars and flick the lights and do the sirens,” said Zanetti.
Boy Scouts Troop 4016 will be running a hand-signaling station, teaching kids proper hand signals for riding a bike on streets. From there, kids will move on to the helmet-fitting station, where Zanetti said they can either receive or donate a helmet.
Local mechanics will also be on site, offering examinations of air pressure, brakes, and chains for any kids having problems with their bikes.
“If you have bigger issues than that, they’ll recommend you to one of the local bike shops that can fix you up better,” said Zanetti.
After advancing through the stations, kids proceed to the Bike Rodeo course, located on the track at East Side Rec. Zanetti said the rodeo course contains “lots of different practices,” including starting, stopping, turning, and other basic bike traffic safety.
“Then the event kind of runs itself there,” Zanetti said. “Kids are free to loop around the obstacle course.”
All kids participating will have a chance to enter a raffle for a $350 gift card to Trek Bicycles. The Bike Rodeo also includes other fun activities, with Zanetti saying the Boy Scouts will bring an archery set, and that the National Guard has brought a rock-climbing wall in past years.
As a Saratoga native, Zanetti said “it’s really special” to see the Bike Rodeo grow in the community each year.
“Growing up, we went to East Side Rec all the time,” said Zanetti. “Saratoga being a very bike-friendly city, it’s cool. It’s fun to be a part of. It’s all for the kids, so it’s great. …It’s a really cool, big-time community thing that we want to keep going and moving in the right direction.”
The 2023 SSCSD Bike Rodeo will be held May 4 from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. at East Side Recreation Park.
