Vitulano

** A Pre-Game Warm-up **
 * Winter/Spring 2012 Mr. Dunne **

What do sports mean to you as an athlete and as a fan? I think that sports are a way to bring people together. An example is Friday Night Blackouts at Thayer, which turn into a bonding experience for students and also allow athletes to display their talents and show off their hard work. When sports and athletes are supported, I think the athletes have more drive to play harder because they have a sense of pride on the line.

What has been your experience with youth sports? Describe your best and worst experiences. I was not a fan of youth sports because I always felt that people got overworked over them. I didn't like feeling pressure to score as an 8 year old playing soccer and ended up dancing for most of my childhood. However, now in high school, I realize that pressure drives us to compete harder.

Do athletes make good role models? Identify one or two professional athletes to make your case. Athletes can make good role models, however often they make mistakes which can cause quite a bit of ridicule from the public. I'm not really aware of athletes who are good role models specifically. However I do know that many athletes dedicate their free time to charity work and are very successful with it because of the name recognition they have. I believe Curt Schilling has been involved with Children's Hospital, though I'm not 100% sure of this. When professional athletes take the time and effort to help others it sets an example for young athletes for the future.

What sports/teams do you pay attention to the most? How much time do sports occupy in your life? How do you spend that time (attending, watching, reading, talking, participating)? Generally speaking, I'm not a huge sports fan. I occasionally watch a Red Sox or Patriots game with my family, but that's about it. I participate in crew and am a coxswain at Thayer. During the school year crew occupies a large portion of my life because we have practices and races in the Fall and Spring, and training in the Winter. Every summer I attend usually one or two rowing camps as well. So technically sports are a large part of my life, just not professional sports.

What sports-related issues would you be disappointed //not// to cover in this class? Why? I would like to cover some information on the Olympics as well as women in sports. The Olympics are such a huge deal worldwide and I've never learned much about them in high school. I only recall learning basic historical facts about the Olympics in elementary school. Since I am a girl, I feel like it is important to learn more about the history of how we've been slowly allowed to participate in Sports. I have seen an HBO documentary on this topic while at a rowing camp and would like to dig a little deeper into the subject.