By Holly D’Addio, Courier Sports
Writer:
It was an unexpected
turn in his football career, but Tucker Doane took it in stride. After a knee
injury sidelined him for his entire junior season—the first year he was to
start on varsity—Tucker took it upon himself to aim to play his best season yet
for the Valley football team his senior year—a season where the Warriors so far
hold a 5-3 record.
“The biggest part of
our success so far is that our whole team meshes well and we’ve all played
together since junior varsity,” says Tucker. “Coming into this season and up
until now, there has been a lot of teamwork and everyone has the same goals.”
Tucker, who has
played football since his middle school years when he was a member of Tri-Town
Football, had surgery on his knee last year after the injury but was able to
heal fast enough for lacrosse season in the spring, which just goes to show his
work ethic and determination to heal.
As a center, Tucker
has trained hard at summer football camps over the years, including a camp at Rutgers University this past summer, a 2007
Special Teams Solutions Camp at UMass Amherst and then Cornell, and a 2006
UConn camp.
“So far, we are in
the running for the playoffs,” says Tucker. “It’s been awhile since the Valley
football team has made some noise in the postseason so we’re playing hard and
hoping for the best.”
Just three years
ago, Tucker joined the Valley lacrosse team, which was only a junior varsity
team before becoming varsity for the first time his sophomore year. The
Warriors made the state tournament last season—the first time since the team’s
beginning—and Tucker worked on his skills at the North Branford Sportsplex at a
winter camp for the past two years.
“Lacrosse was one of
those sports that I was initially dragged into,” says Tucker. “It looked
interesting so I went along with it and now I love it.”
Besides sports,
Tucker focuses his time on being a part of the Youth Advisory Council at Valley Regional
High School and is an
unofficial member of the Lions Club where his dad is a member. He attends all
their fundraisers and helps out where he can, such as with the Lobster Bake
over the summer and Thomas the Train event at the Essex Steamtrain.
College is
fast-approaching for Tucker, whose first-choice school is the United States
Merchant Marine Academy in Kingsport, Long Island.
“I would really like
to get into a marine engineering systems degree,” says Tucker. “If I get
accepted, I’d like to try and continue to play football.”
Sidelines with
Tucker Doane
What is your most
memorable sports moment?
Our Thanksgiving
game last year at HK, it was the only game I played last year because of my
injury and I went out there and made a good block so we had the opportunity to
score.
Who would you like
to thank?
All the coaches for
putting the time and effort into getting me ready physically and mentally for
the season. I also want to thank my parents for pushing me. I want to mention
that I am playing next to my younger brother and it is a very rare experience
and I am proud to be able to stand with him on the field. I also want to thank
my fellow linemen for battling it out with me every day.