‘Overcoming adversity’ new theme for CHS Athletics

By Mike Berger

Canton High School Athletic Director Danny Erickson is looking forward to another exciting sports year for the Bulldogs, beginning this coming Monday, August 19, with the first day of tryouts/practices for most fall sports programs.

Erickson said the theme for all CHS athletes in 2024-25 is overcoming adversity, and that will be the focus of this year’s Athletics Night for parents, athletes and coaches on Tuesday, September 24, beginning at 7 p.m. in the school’s auditorium. Sponsored by the CHS Athletic Booster Club, the evening will feature a talk by Noelle Lambert, a former Division 1 college lacrosse player who went on to become a record-setting Paralympian after she lost her leg in a moped accident during a summer trip to Martha’s Vineyard.

USA Paralympian Noelle Lambert (Source: noellelambert.com)

During her rehabilitation, Lambert learned that many young amputees do not have the financial resources to obtain specialty prostheses, which allow them to run, swim, and take part in various other sports. Determined to help other young amputees lead fulfilling and active lives, she launched the Born to Run Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing athletic prostheses to young amputees. Lambert also returned to UMass Lowell and rejoined the Riverhawks, scoring a goal in her first game back with the team.

After graduating cum laude from UMass Lowell in 2019 with a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice, Lambert tried out for and was ultimately chosen for the U.S. Paralympic track and field team. She went on to break the U.S. women’s record in the 100-meter dash at the 2019 World Para Athletics Championship in Dubai, and at the 2021 Paralympic Games in Tokyo, she finished sixth in that event while also breaking her own American record. Lambert said her accident is the best thing that ever happened to her as she is able to help others by sharing her experience.

Originally from Londonderry, New Hampshire, Lambert is a recipient of the Myra Kraft Community MVP Award, the Wilma Rudolph Student Athlete Achievement Award, the New England Women’s Leadership Award by the Boys and Girls Club of Dorchester. She was honored by the Boston Celtics as a “Hero Among Us” for her commitment to helping others and received the L’Oréal Women of Worth Award for her charitable work in her community.

In other athletics news:

* Due to recent enrollment growth at Sharon High School, the Eagles will be moving to the Hockomock League’s Kelley-Rex (Large School) Division this year while the North Attleboro Red Rocketeers are returning to the Davenport (Small School) Division as part the league’s biennial realignment. Canton will remain in the Davenport along with fellow returning schools Mansfield, Foxboro, Oliver Ames and Stoughton, while Sharon joins a Kelley-Rex Division featuring Franklin, King Phillip, Attleboro, Taunton and Milford. While in many sports, Canton will play each Davenport opponent twice (home and away), in other sports such as football, the Bulldogs will only play each Davenport foe once along with similarly sized nonleague teams.

* Erickson reported that Canton’s Masciarelli gymnasium will be getting new scoreboards this year, with installation planned for sometime in the fall. The existing scoreboards pre-date the last major renovation of the school in 2003-04. Also on the drawing board are new outdoor lights at Gibson Field, home of the CHS varsity baseball team. Erickson is also hoping to soon have new LED lighting installed at Memorial Field to replace the existing halogen lights, which are over 20 years old.

* Erickson said sometime during the coming sports year, he hopes to roll out a new communications platform called sportsYou (sportsyou.com), which bills itself as the “No. 1 communications platform for high school athletics” with over 250,000 teams participating. Erickson said it may take a year to fully implement the new program, which helps to facilitate communication among coaches, parents and athletes.

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