Best of the Best: Malden Fall GBL All-Stars Reflect on Season

The leaves falling off the trees signifies the beginning of the winter sports season for high school sports. However, it also coincides with the end of the fall season and the naming of Greater Boston League All-Stars.

Fourteen Malden High athletes earned the award in the fall across seven different sports: Addison McWayne and Amelia Berliner for Girls’ Soccer, Ben Jean Baptiste for Boys’ Soccer, Slade Harding for Boys’ Cross Country, Ivana Marinkovic for Girls’ Cross Country, Keira Lin and Chloe Chen for Girls’ Volleyball, Jerrell Calixte and Earl Fevrier for Football, Christopher MacDonald for Golf, and finally Daniel O’Toole, Anthony Ford, Ashlyn Cullity, and Lilleana Desantis for Field Hockey.

The Blue and Gold brought in four of those All-Stars – McWayne, Harding, Chen, and Ford – for a question-and-answer session about their respective seasons.

These were the questions that the interviewees were asked:

1. How many years have you been playing your sport, and do you have any individual stats or awards that you would like to share?
2. How did your coaches help both you and your team succeed this season?
3. What did you do as a leader to help rally your teammates and improve team morale?
4. Which game or meet was the best representation of your team? Which did you feel was your best game? Why?
5. If you could say one more thing to all of your teammates, what would it be?

Addison McWayne for Girls’ Soccer:

1. I have been playing soccer since I was five through Malden. I have always been interested in playing competitively for a high school team but part of me was scared. When I tried out for the team I ended up getting varsity, and whether I deserved it or not I learned a lot about the game. It taught me how to play new positions and the value of each player. It also helped me make relationships that have lasted over the past three years. Before high school, I was always a defender, but Coach Rick [Caceda] put me into midfield and I love it. This past season I have been switching from midfield and defense. It allowed me to see every part of the game. 
2. Our coach has always made it one of his top priorities to support everyone on the team. I know personally he understands my other extracurriculars and supports me in them. He makes it easy to talk to him about personal conflicts because he has always been there for us. I think our coach has strengthened everyone's skills by placing us in different positions and making us challenge ourselves. 
3. I always try to communicate on the field. Communication is one of the key components of soccer and it doesn’t always have to be verbal communication. Trusting, respecting, and knowing your teammates strengthens your relationship with them and it shows on the field. Throughout the season our captains created opportunities where we could have team bonding, one of which was hosted by me. I also lead warm-ups sometimes or exercises if given the opportunity. 
4. I believe that the second Malden vs. Everett game was one of our best games and demonstrated how far we came as a team. When we had gone against Everett earlier in the season we lost by one point. It was a hard loss since we knew we could have beat them. In the second game, it was very even (one team would score and then the other team etc.) but at half time we talked and something sparked in everyone and the second half was amazing. I don’t think any of us have worked so well as a team.
5. I would say that I am thankful to have such a connected team and to have gotten the opportunity to play soccer with all of you. Everyone should join soccer and play Malden Youth in the spring.

Slade Harding for Boys’ Cross Country:

1. I started cross country during my sophomore year, although I had some running experience going into it since I did track my freshman year. I recently competed in the D1 state championship as well.
2. Our coaches were great this year. They were always very uplifting and encouraging, no matter how hard our workout of the day was. During our races, they were always there to cheer us on and provide support for everyone.
3. As a leader and an experienced member of the team, I always made an effort to help out some of the new people on the team, whether they had questions about the workout, or if they were doing something right or not. I also tried my best to encourage people during a hard workout or a race.
4. In my opinion, the meet that represented our team the best was the GBL Championship meet. Everyone ran their hardest and did their best in order to score points for our team. And for those who weren't running at the time, they did amazing cheering on their teammates from the side. 
5. If I could say one thing to my teammates it would be that you all did an amazing job pushing yourself this season, whether you have been running for years, or this was your first time trying it out. Either way, great job.

Chloe Chen for Girls’ Volleyball:

1. I've been playing this sport since the summer of sophomore year, so two and a half years. I don't have individual stats or awards besides this GBL All-Star award.
2. My coach, Dan Jurkowski, boosts our team by ensuring that not everything is about winning. He appreciates our team who can have fun and joke around, but reminds us to always stay focused when playing. He supports me specifically by showing that he not only cares about me as a volleyball player, but as a person as well and wants the best for me.
3. As a leader, I was someone they could trust on and off the court to play well, communicate while playing games and making decisions, and stay calm when the team morale needed to be improved. When my teammates are down on themselves for how they played in a game, it is important to remind them that volleyball is a team sport and we could've all done something to better support each other on the court.
4. I think one of our first games against Medford or Dracut best represented the team as a whole because we played competitively, had great energy on and off court, and didn't get in our head as much as later games. My best game was away versus Somerville because I had many assists during the sets and got some good passes in the back row.
5. I am thankful to have met all of them and I will cherish the memories made during the seasons. I hope next year's varsity team misses the seniors dearly.

Anthony Ford for Co-Ed Field Hockey:

1. I have not played this sport before, this was my first year.  Two awards that I got at the end of the season were the Best Rookie of the Year and the Hat Trick Award.
2. The coaches helped us succeed by always giving us confidence.  Another big thing that the coaches did was have us work on new things and improve on old ones.  
3. What I did as a leader was "staying hungry," as the coaches said, by always staying active, wanting the ball, and wanting to put another ball in the net to put a score on the board.  One way that I helped with motivation on the team was by always talking, staying confident, and encouraging my teammates by either talking to them or putting us back in the game and keeping our heads high. 
4. I'd say that our best game was our homecoming game. It went perfectly. It was such an amazing game and an even better experience. That game highlighted how good of a team we can be if we all work together. All and all, it was a really fun and amazing game.    
5. One more thing that I could say to my teammates would be that it was really fun. I love you guys. Without you guys, I wouldn't be here and we wouldn't be GBL Champions. I really will miss you guys and it was such a pleasure being a part of the MHS field hockey team and family. I'm gonna miss you guys so much.