Thames River to play home football games at East Lyme
The Thames River Crusaders will call East Lyme High School home this fall for their inaugural football season in the Constitution State Conference.
The Crusaders, formerly the St. Bernard/Norwich Tech cooperative program, formed a tri-op following the 2014 season with the addition of Grasso Tech athletes and are no longer a member of the Eastern Connecticut Conference.
Coach Sean Ladyga said Monday night he contacted East Lyme following discussion with Norwich Tech officials (Norwich Tech is now the lead school in the three-school collaborative) in which everyone agreed the St. Bernard athletic complex did not meet their safety standards.
"There was gravel and stones in the midfield area and we found some glass near one of the end zones," Ladyga said. "I told St. Bernard (officials) if nothing is done to improve the field, I can't put kids on it. It's a safety thing and they offered no argument.
"I knew East Lyme wanted people to use their field, so I saw it as a great place to play our games. (East Lyme coach) Rudy Bagos and I have a great relationship, so we're better off while we make the transition."
Thames River will play four regular-season games (all on Saturday afternoons): Sept. 26 vs. Harding, Oct. 3 vs. Hartford Capital/Achievement, Oct. 10 vs. Wilcox Tech and Oct. 24 vs. Quinebaug Valley. Ladyga said the Crusaders will also scrimmage O'Brien Tech on Sept. 5 at East Lyme and join the Vikings in a quad-scrimmage on Aug. 26.
Ladyga said the team will practice at Norwich Tech, utilizing both the soccer and baseball fields, and that logistics like bus transportation for Grasso Tech and Norwich Tech players are still being worked out. He expects about 50-55 players (he finished with 26 last season), the majority of them Norwich Tech student-athletes.
"We're in a state of flux; it's a situation none of the players or assistant coaches have ever been involved in before," Ladyga said. "There is going to a sacrifices made by many because this is like building a new program and starting from scratch."
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