Share: 

A coach talking the talk shows spiritual strength without cursing

Alvontae Drummond, the inspirational leader of open mats wrestling
July 5, 2019

Alvontae Drummond - A born-to-coach personality type, Alvontae wrestled for Milford (2013 state champion) and McDaniel College, where he was Centennial Conference champion and 2016 East Regional champion. Alvontae runs the open mats program in the Cape wrestling room Monday and Thursday nights from 6 to 8 p.m. in the summertime. Alvontae is a former Centennial Conference Wrestler of the Year and was a Division III All-American while at McDaniel. Here are some Facebook quotes regarding Alvontae. “Miss seeing him wrestle. So glad he can impact future generations,” said Cole Pavlik. “The boys love him! What a huge help he has been for Carson,” said Lisa Kammerer. “Wonderful individual,” said Mike Tkach. “A Henlopen Hammers Wrestling Club product,” said Benny Mitchell. Alvontae graduated from McDaniel with a degree in accounting and works as a manager for Capstone Homes. Scott Kammerer of SoDel Concepts described Drummond as, “A good church kid who doesn’t drink and doesn’t curse.” Now that is talking the talk.  

Unassuming - Kathleen Sheehan is the vice principal at Beacon Middle School. When she interviewed, Sheehan didn’t even mention she played lacrosse in college. Kathleen is in the West Chester University Sports Hall of Fame. Here is some data taken from their website: “A two-time All-America pick and two-time NCAA Division II National Player of the Year. She helped West Chester to the 2002 NCAA title as well as a pair of PSAC crowns in three seasons with the Golden Rams. She ranks 12th all-time in NCAA history with 231 career goals, and her 93 goals during the 2004 campaign set an NCAA single-season record. She led the nation in points that year with 131 (93 goals, 38 assists). West Chester posted an overall record of 41-12 in her three seasons at the school. She was a two-time first-team All-PSAC pick and a two-time PSAC Tournament MVP (2002, 2004), scoring eight goals in the PSAC title game in 2004. She was named the NCAA Tournament MVP in 2002. Her senior season, she was named a CoSIDA Academic All-American as well as the PSAC Athlete of the Year for all sports.” Pretty impressive, unassuming person whom most people describe in one word, “awesome!”  

Cape Cradle of Coaches - You can add Shemik Thompson to the list of head coaches of high school or college now or in the past who are Cape graduates. The list also includes: Kai Maull, JD Maull, Janet Maull, Bill Collick, Troy Hazzard, Ed Waples, Tim Bamforth, BJ Joseph, Bud Hitchens (Milton), Bill Cordrey (Milton), Ruth Skoglund (Rehoboth), Dave Lemmon (Lewes), Rex Dickerson, Robin Adair, George Pepper, Rob Percival, Damon Ayers, Ben Evick, Dan Cook, Greg Smock, Jack Lingo, Poochie Hazzard, Tyrone Gray, Scott Myers, Ricky Pitts, Billy Cunningham, Clara Hollingsworth and there may be others. 

Coach Fred jacket - I coached cross country only one year, 1977, and we won a state championship. The team was Lance White, Glen Smith, Phil Wilson, Nick Miller, Linwood Downing, David Lewis, Jeff Jones and Ronnie Wright. We ran down Savannah Road on a November afternoon and jumped in the bay to celebrate. I then went to a Lewes Lions Club meeting at Hucky Hudson’s house, and I remember Gilbert Holt was there, and asked them to buy us jackets. I found mine in the attic just last week. I took a photo and posed the question to social media, asking whether a 42-year-old state championship jacket made me local. The answer came back, a resounding “No!”     

Sports and Society - If you make the course sound boring enough, you can add it to a school curriculum. I’ve been a teacher, coach and sportswriter most of my life, often at the same time. I don’t really want to write about Megan Rapinoe’s protest of the president’s policies through the national anthem or his tweets bashing her. I don’t care much about Nike and Betsy Ross shoes either, but these are issues and they facilitate great discussions. There are lots of intersections of sports and society, and there are many places where no one cares about any of it. Most athletes in high school and college don’t talk about this stuff, which is weirdly sad because what do they talk about?  

Snippets - Shuna Harmon, a Cape grad and lead tech in the laboratory at Beebe, threw out the first pitch at a Phillies game in May. May is stroke awareness month. Harmon suffered a stroke in December; she was treated at the Beebe ER and transported to Jefferson Hospital. After a successful procedure by Jefferson neurosurgeon Dr. Michael Gooch, Harmon was discharged home three days later. Gooch recommended Shuna throw out the first pitch. As an aside, Shuna is simply one beautiful person and has always been that way. Saw about 35 young football hopefuls Monday night doing agility drills on the Legends Stadium turf after having completed their weight training. There were some nice-looking athletes out there. It’s time to coach them up. The proof is in the pudding. For football, it is always hitting or the lust for contact. Go on now, git!   

Subscribe to the CapeGazette.com Daily Newsletter